Pietra Preciosa zoomed up the inside rail and then prevailed in a three-horse photo finish at Horseshoe Indianapolis to become the first winner for her exciting freshman sire, Maxfield, on Saturday, 3 May.
Making her career debut in the first race on the card – a five-furlong maiden special weight contest for fillies – Pietra Preciosa broke alertly and pressed the frontrunner, Mescool, through the opening stages of the race. She made her move at the three-eighths pole, ducking to the inside rail to battle Wanna Go Home in the stretch. Despite being headed in deep stretch, Pietra Preciosa battled back game to come out on top by a nose over Wanna Go Home in a blanket finish. Mescat was just a nose back in third.
Bred in Kentucky by Highlight Thoroughbreds and Haugh Stables, Pietra Preciosa is out of Dancing Alone (Kingmambo), a full sister to multiple G1 winner, Voodoo Dancer (G1 Diana, G1 Garden City Breeders Cup). In addition to Pietra Preciosa, Dancing Alone has produced Graded Stakes winner Dancing Solo (G3 Boiling Springs Stakes) and G1-placed Dancing (Bernardini).
Maxfield won his second start in the G1 Breeders’ Futurity and his last start in the G1 Clark Stakes. In between he won four more Graded races, including the G2 Alysheba and the G2 Stephen Foster. He also notched G1-seconds in the Woodward and Whitney. Never off the board in 11 career starts, he retired with lifetime earnings of over $2 million.
Maxfield is standing at Jonabell Farm for $40,000 stands and nurses.
