By Alan Carasso
Clark Brewster and Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt's Cogburn (Not This Time) continued his assault on the American turf sprint division with a jaw-dropping, front-running success in Saturday's GI Jaipur S. at Saratoga, a 'Win and You're In' qualifying race for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar in early November.
And if holding the form he's in currently, he will be a very difficult nut to crack.
Drawn eight in a full field for the Jaipur, normally a six-furlong contest downstate, but shortened to 5 1/2 panels to accommodate the layout of the Mellon Turf Course at the Spa, Cogburn was bumped lightly at the break, but knifed through between 33-1 Coppola (Into Mischief) and Godolphin's 3-year-old filly Star of Mystery (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) to take up the running and was by the opening quarter in :21.33.
Pressed along on the turn by longshot Sosua Summer (Summer Front), Cogburn still traveled ominously well on the turn and cornered for home with Irad Ortiz, Jr. high in the saddle, looking every inch a winner. The teletimer read :43.07 for the half-mile, and skipped clear unchallenged in the final furlong, stopping the timer in :59.80, lowering the course record of 1:00.21 set by Carotari in 2019. Equibase reports that it a North American record for the distance. Arzak completed a Not This Time Grade I exacta.
The performance left his Hall of Fame trainer awestruck.
“I've had some of the fastest horses in the world, some of the fastest horses of all time, and he's still the first one I've ever had run 5 1/2 furlongs in under a minute,” said trainer Steve Asmussen, who won the 2011 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint with Regally Ready (More Than Ready). “Five and a half furlongs in under a minute. That's not five-eighths five, that's five-and-a-half. That's basically a sixteenth of a mile faster than a fast horse.”
As good a turf sprinter as he has become, Cogburn was something other than an abject failure on dirt, amassing a record of 3-2-0 from eight starts, including a runner-up effort in the GIII Chick Lang S. at three. Switched to the grass around this time last year, Cogburn saluted in a pair of six-figure sprints at Lone Star before handing future BC Turf Sprint victor Nobals (Noble Mission {GB}) a 3/4-length defeat in the GIII Troy S. at this track last August. The final time over soft turf on that occasion? 1:03.70, nearly 20 lengths slower. A close fifth in the GII Turf Sprint at Kentucky Downs Sept. 9, Cogburn was sidelined and resumed with a facile success in the GII TwinSpires Turf Sprint on Derby Day May 4.
Pedigree Notes:
Cogburn is the sixth elite-level winner for Not This Time, who was coincidentally represented by his first European winner when Shareholder won his maiden impressively at Beverley on Saturday.
Bellary Bloodstock acquired the stakes-winning In a Jif for $26,000 carrying the colt that would become Cogburn at the 2018 Keeneland November Sale. A half-sister to a pair of black-type horses, In a Jif is the dam of Cogburn's yearling full-brother and a colt foal by Epicenter.Cogburn is IN the #BC24 Turf Sprint @delmarracing! pic.twitter.com/Yvip4nNElF
— Breeders' Cup (@BreedersCup) June 8, 2024
Saturday, Saratoga
JAIPUR S. PRESENTED BY RESOLUTE RACING-GI, $500,000, Saratoga, 6-8, 3yo/up, 5 1/2fT, :59.80, fm.
1–COGBURN, 126, h, 5, by Not This Time
1st Dam: In a Jif (SW, $203,382), by Saintly Look
2nd Dam: Damie's Peanut, by Stravinsky
3rd Dam: Damie's Sis, by Sunny Clime
1ST GRADE I WIN. ($52,000 Wlg '19 KEENOV; $310,000 Ylg '20
FTKSEL; $150,000 2yo '21 OBSAPR). O-Clark O. Brewster,
William Heiligbrodt and Corinne Heiligbrodt; B-Bellary
Bloodstock (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr.
$275,000. Lifetime Record: 14-8-2-0, $1,237,730. Werk Nick
Rating: D+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Arzak, 124, h, 6, Not This Time–Delightful Melody, by Tapit.
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($85,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP; $575,000 2yo
'20 OBSAPR). O-Sonata Stable; B-John C. Oxley (KY); T-Michael
Trombetta. $100,000.
3–Star of Mystery (GB), 117, f, 3, Kodiac (GB)–Mistrusting (Ire),
by Shamardal. 'TDN Rising Star'. O/B-Godolphin (GB);
T-Charles Appleby. $60,000.
Margins: 3HF, NK, NO. Odds: 2.15, 7.40, 4.80.
Also Ran: Coppola, Mischief Magic (Ire), Dancing Buck, Filo Di Arianna (Brz), Thin White Duke, Alogon, Big Invasion, Sosua Summer, No Nay Mets (Ire). Scratched: American Monarch, Grooms All Bizness, Outlaw Kid, Souper Quest.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
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