Maximus Mischief gets 98 Beyer

Maximus Mischief recorded the highest Beyer Speed Figure by a 2-year-old this year on Saturday when he won a first-level allowance race by six lengths Saturday at Parx Racing. The victory came three weeks after he scored an easy 8 3/4-length victory in his debut.

The track at Parx was playing particularly slow Saturday, even by local standards. Maximus Mischief was timed in 1:25.22 for seven furlongs and earned a Beyer of 98, a point higher than Game Winner in the Grade 1 American Pharoah on Sept. 29 at Santa Anita for trainer Bob Baffert. Game Winner is the early favorite for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

The three other sevenfurlong races at Parx on Saturday went in 1:26.58, 1:30.17, and 1:30.68. The lone six-furlong race on the card went in 1:14.18.

In his eye-catching debut, Maximus Mischief was credited with a 94 Beyer for covering 5 1/2 furlongs at Parx in 1:04.81.

Maximus Mischief is based at Parx with trainer Butch Reid. He was a $340,000 purchase by Chuck Zacney at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-olds in training sale at Timonium in May and is owned by Zacney’s Cash Is King Stable and the LC Racing of Glenn Bennett.

For the second straight race, Maximus Mischief broke like a shot out of the gate for jockey Frankie Pennington. He bore out early but settled down after leaving the chute and crossing over to the main track in the scratch-reduced threehorse field.

Absentee, a debut winner at Parx on Sept. 22, chased Maximus Mischief to the best of his ability but could not keep pace though a final furlong in 13.36 seconds. Maximus Mischief’s early fractions were 23.03 and 46.67.

Reid said Maximus Mischief came out of the race well.

“He was a little tired,” Reid said. “He drank two buckets of water after the race. I think he got a lot out of it.”

Reid said Maximus Mischief could start next in the Grade 1 Remsen, a 1 1/8-mile race on Dec. 1 at Aqueduct.

“He’s had two races in three weeks, which I usually wouldn’t do, but he breezed so well after his first race and was acting so good we figured we’d go in the allowance when it filled,” Reid said. “Our preliminary thinking is the Remsen. The date is very good for him.”

Reid said there was no physical reason why Maximus Mischief lugged out early in the race under Pennington.

“Frankie thought it was just because the race began in the chute and he was in unfamiliar surroundings,” Reid said. “Once he got to the main track, he dropped right over to the inside.

“We thought he might have been fighting the bit a little, but we went over his mouth real good and didn’t find anything.”