Verstappen wins but not in F1 as namesake horse scoops £281k prize

A racehorse named after reigning Formula One world champion Max Verstappen has earned £281,000 in prize money after winning an event in the United States on Saturday. The Red Bull ace is currently preparing to battle for victory at next weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix as he looks to increase his advantage at the top of the Driver’s Championship standings, but it seems as though he is also making waves outside the F1 paddock in the unlikely setting of American horse racing.

Verstappen, a horse trained by Brendan P. Walsh, came home in first place at the Elkhorn Stakes at Keeneland, Kentucky after he was deemed to have crossed the line ahead of Red Knight by the smallest of margins following a photo finish. The four-year-old’s record now stands at four wins from just seven races, with his career earnings already totalling over £360,000.

The horse certainly appears to be on the up as he continues to perform well at events across the Atlantic, with Walsh insisting after Saturday’s race that Verstappen will only keep improving as he gains experience and age.

“We’ve always liked him,” Walsh told Bloodhorse.com. “As he was going to get older, we always thought he’d get better. Coming in here, we said if he ran well today, if he ran in the first three, it would open a big door for him, so I think anything from a mile and a quarter to a mile and a half, I think he’s still going to get better and better.

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“I don’t think we’ve seen the best of him yet. Declan [Cannon] rode him to perfection. I’m delighted for him. He does a lot of work for me, rides a lot of my work, so it’s a great reward. The guys that own the horse are huge supporters of mine, and my own team at home. It’s just a great team effort all around.”

It remains to be seen whether Verstappen the horse will ever cross paths with the Red Bull driver himself, who has never spoken about or shown a public interest in racing outside of the motorsport variety. The horse will now be looking ahead to his next event, which is likely to be in May at the £180,000 Louisville in Churchill Downs, Kentucky as he aims to keep winning in order to maintain his meteoric rise to prominence across the Atlantic.

The driver, meanwhile, will be desperate to continue his impressive start to the new F1 season by taking the chequered flag at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix next weekend. The event will see the return of the sprint format for the first of six occasions in 2023 but Verstappen has been vocal in his opposition to the concept over the last few weeks and even threatened to quit the sport altogether as a result of the changes earlier this month.

“I hope there won’t be too many changes, otherwise I won’t be around for too long,” he said. “I am not a fan of it at all. When we do all that kind of stuff, the weekend becomes very intense and we already do a lot of races, but it is not the right way to go about it.

“Even if you change the format, I don’t find that is in the DNA of Formula One to do these kind of sprint races. F1 is about getting the most out of it in qualifying and have an amazing Sunday over a long race distance. That is the DNA of the sport and I don’t understand why we need to change that.”

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