Cogburn blazing a track record in the Jaipur. (Chelsea Durand)
Belmont Stakes Racing Festival Notes
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Clark Brewster, William Heiligbrodt and Corinne Heiligbrodt’s newly-minted Grade 1-winner Cogburn garnered a career-high 111 Beyer Speed Figure for his victory in Saturday’s $500,000 Jaipur presented by Resolute Racing, where his final time of 59.80 seconds for 5 1/2 furlongs set a new course record for the Mellon turf at Saratoga Race Course, as well as a North American record.
For his victory, Cogburn received a berth into the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint in November at Del Mar as part of the “Win and You’re In” series.
“We all expected him to run a monster race because he had been training so well and feeling so great,” said Brewster at Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen’s Saratoga barn Sunday. “He likes Saratoga, but who would have thought he’d set a [North American] record? He’s that good I guess.”
Cogburn entered from another impressive victory in the Grade 2 Twin Spires Turf Sprint on May 4 at Churchill Downs, where he earned a 102 Beyer for a similar front-running score. He only improved on that effort yesterday when leading at every point of call in a loaded 12-horse field before kicking clear to a three-length lead at the stretch call under Irad Ortiz, Jr.
“He came out great and Steve really thought he was poised for a big race because he won the Grade 2 at Churchill on Derby Day. We’re so proud of him,” said Brewster. “We won the Troy last year here with him, and we thought he liked the track with good [race] spacing. A Grade 1 win is amazing. These guys did a super job with him and he’s rewarding us for the care and love they’re showing him here.”
The win made the son of Not This Time a perfect 2-for-2 over the Spa’s turf, adding to a win in last year’s Grade 3 Troy by three-quarter lengths over eventual Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Nobals. This year, the 5 1/2-furlong Troy – slated for August 3 – has been elevated to Grade 2 status and could serve as a logical steppingstone to the Grade 2, $2 million Turf Sprint on September 7 at Kentucky Downs.
“Steve and I haven’t really talked about the plan, but now that he’s here, the spacing would be good for the Troy, and I think we’d look at the Troy and then the Kentucky Downs race,” said Brewster. “Then, the Breeders’ Cup.”
Bred in Kentucky by Bellary Bloodstock, Cogburn was a $150,000 purchase by Brewster at the 2021 OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training and is out of the stakes-winning Saintly Look mare In a Jif, a half-sister stakes-placed Son of a Nut and Nuttin’ Faster.
