Bob Baffert’s Grade 1 winner Brant is set to make his three-year-old return in Sunday’s $250,000 Maxfield Stakes at Churchill Downs, where the Gun Runner colt will face seven rivals over seven furlongs.
The Zedan Racing Stables runner was one of the sharper American juveniles of 2025 and now gets the chance to restart his campaign on a closing-day card that also includes the Hanshin Stakes, Bashford Manor and Debutante.
Churchill’s own race advance lists Brant as the headline name for the Grade 3 Maxfield, with Flavien Prat booked to ride for Baffert. The race is positioned as a useful reset point rather than a classic-distance test, with the colt cutting back to a sprint-mile trip after his early-season plans failed to ignite.
Maxfield Stakes gives Brant a clean comeback target
The seven-furlong set-up should tell connections plenty about whether Brant can rebuild towards the second half of the US three-year-old programme. For Churchill, it adds another proven Grade 1 name to a loaded weekend built around Sovereignty’s Stephen Foster assignment.
Brant’s return also keeps Baffert in the spotlight beyond the Triple Crown window, with the colt still carrying enough juvenile reputation to make Sunday’s comeback more than a routine stakes entry. Churchill Downs confirmed the field and supporting stakes details in its closing-day stakes advance.
