TDN RISING STARS

May 27, 2024 - Churchill Downs, Race 9, Msw, USD $120,000, 7F

World Record, G, 3, 2021 by Gun Runner

1st Dam: Marwa (GB), by Exceed and Excel (Aus)
2nd Dam: La Cucina (Ire), by Last Tycoon (Ire)
3rd Dam: Fandangerina, by Grey Dawn II

Owner: Siena Farm LLC & WinStar Farm LLC
Breeder: Runnymede Farm LLC, Falguieres Bloodstock, Gestut Zur Kuste AG, et al (KY)
Trainer: Rodolphe Brisset

Beaten just a neck into third while earning a competitive 75 Beyer Speed Figure on six-furlong debut at Keeneland Apr. 26, Siena Farm LLC and WinStar Farm LLC's World Record (c, 3, Gun Runner–Marwa {GB}, by Exceed and Excel {Aus}) added an eighth of a mile for this second go and turned it into a one-horse show in the stretch, becoming the newest 'TDN Rising Star' for his boom sire.

Drawn the fence as the 8-5 chalk, the $410,000 Keeneland November weanling–the most expensive of his sire's 23 foals reported as sold in the fall of 2021–was offensive minded and secured the front before the field exited the chute, covering the first couple of furlongs in a slick :22.40. Nudged along just a bit on the turn, he was by the half in :44.92 and when Florent Geroux hit the gas in upper stretch, World Record was well and truly off and gone. The Frenchman roused his mount left-handed with a good four lengths in hand entering the final eighth of a mile, but put the stick away at the sixteenth pole and the duo reported home an eased-down, 6 1/4-length winner.

World Record makes an even dozen 'TDN Rising Stars' for his Three Chimneys-based stallion.

Racing in the colors of owner Saeed Manana and trained by Ed Dunlop, World Record's dam was unplaced in four racetrack appearances at two and three and was purchased by an entity called Magna Carta Bloodstock for $180,000 in foal to Speightstown at the 2018 Keeneland November Sale.

There was some pedigree to recommend Marwa, as her dam La Cucina produced 12 winners from 17 runners, including 2003 GII Arkansas Derby hero Sir Cherokee (Cherokee Run); Miss Isella (Silver Charm), a three-time graded winner at Churchill and second in the GI Go For Wand H.; and MSW Guam Typhoon (Distorted Humor). Another daughter of La Cucina, the MGSP Lady Linda (Torrential), was responsible for G1 Preis der Diana (German Oaks) winner Penelopa (GB) (Giant's Causeway).

Marwa is also the dam of the 2-year-old filly Everloving (Violence), an $80,000 purchase by Kentucky Oaks-winning owner Joel Politi at Keeneland September last fall, and a yearling filly by Maxfield.