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Majesticperfection runs Vanderbilt rivals off their feet Padua Stables' MAJESTICPERFECTION (Harlan's Holiday) vaulted to prominence in the sprint division with a display of high-class speed in Sunday's $250,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. (G1) at Saratoga. As he has done in his last four starts, including a track record-setting conquest in the June 25 Iowa Sprint H., the Steve Asmussen trainee blazed right to the front and sizzled home by a commanding margin. This time, however, Majesticperfection was dismissing the most accomplished field he's faced so far, advancing his record to five-for six with $310,430 in earnings.
Majesticperfection surged three lengths clear through five furlongs in :56 4/5, and his final furlong was virtually a victory lap. The four-year-old colt crossed the wire 2 3/4 lengths in front while completing six furlongs on the fast track in 1:08 3/5. "He's a nice horse and a very fun ride," Bridgmohan said. "He broke really smart and sharp, and he really made my job a lot easier. He's a pretty quick horse and really professional. Once he got there, he felt really comfortable and we got away with some nice fractions. I knew before the Prairie Meadows race that he was the real deal. I've known it since the first time I rode him." "We had Lady Tak here the year that she won the Test ([G1] in 2003), and it was that kind of performance," Asmussen said. "He's been very fast -- he's a very good horse, and I'm very proud that he ran this race on this level. "We could all read how well he'd run in the other spots, but for him to bring it up against this level of competition, it puts him exactly where we want him to be. He was away very cleanly today and you could tell Shaun was very comfortable. He had his chance to show who he is, and he got it done. I think he beat a very good group, but we've got to reproduce that performance again." Majesticperfection paid $4, $2.60 and $2.50 while spearheading the $15.20 exacta, $36 trifecta and $92.40 superfecta. Big Drama gamely repelled the late-running Bribon (Fr) (Mark of Esteem [Ire]) by a half-length for runner-up honors, returning $3.70 and $2.90 as the 4-1 second choice. "I was very happy with the way he tried," jockey Eibar Coa said of Big Drama. "I was doing two jobs -- I was trying to chase (Majesticperfection) and also holding off the horses coming from behind. So, I was proud of him, that he held on for second. That's what I was asking him to do today; I knew in the stretch he wasn't going to win the race. But again, he tried hard for us today." David Fawkes, Big Drama's trainer, was likewise proud of his effort. "He (Majesticperfection) has the perfect form," Fawkes said. "The race set up well for him. There wasn't a lot of speed in the race. He got a nice opening quarter by himself. My horse ran great. We just happened to chase the winner. I thought my horse ran a huge race by holding off Todd's horse (Bribon from the Pletcher barn). He dug in and fought him off." Bribon, who raced in last early, made a strong move to vie with Big Drama and was just outdueled. A clear third by 2 1/2 lengths, Bribon yielded $2.60 as the third choice at 9-2. "As they say, pace makes the race, and there wasn't any," jockey Garrett Gomez said of his trip aboard Bribon. "Bribon is a nice horse, but he is a closer and needs some help with pace. If you leave a good horse out there by himself, it's going to be hard to catch him." "He (Bribon) ran well," Pletcher said. "Unfortunately, there wasn't really anybody to go with the winner. The half in :45 3/5 for a horse of Majesticperfection's quality makes it hard to run him down when you get those kinds of fractions. We were where we wanted to be early, and our horse ran well." Gayego (Gilded Time) won the photo with Temecula Creek (Gulch) for fourth, completing the orderly superfecta as the 5-1 fourth choice. Mambo Meister (King Cugat) weakened to fifth after trying to keep up with Big Drama early, and Woodbine shipper Smokey Fire (Smoke Glacken) trailed in his dirt debut. Bred by Ron McPeek and Shane Floyd in Kentucky, Majesticperfection failed to reach his reserve when bringing a $25,000 bid as a Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July yearling, but he commanded $370,000 as an OBS two-year-old in training. He did not debut until this season, finishing third in a January 24 maiden at Fair Grounds. He has not tasted defeat since. After winning over the same course next out, he passed his first two allowance conditions at Oaklawn and Churchill by margins of 10 3/4 and four lengths, respectively. Majesticperfection meted out the same punishment to stakes rivals in the Iowa Sprint, where he smoked six furlongs in a track-record 1:07 1/5 at Prairie Meadows. He has garnered BRIS Speed ratings of 112, 105 and 107 for his last three wins. Majesticperfection is the first registered foal from the unraced Wavering Monarch mare Act So Noble, whose latest production is an unraced juvenile colt named Our Noble Heart (Lion Heart). His fifth dam, *Primavera (Chamossaire), was a speedy two-year-old who won the 1951 Queen Mary S. She is the ancestress of a number of group performers, including French co-champion sprinter Double Form (Habitat). Asmussen is considering the options for his burgeoning sprint star. "I would be very tentative (about his plans), and it's just one of the suggestions, but it would most likely be the Vosburgh ([G1] on October 2 at Belmont Park) and the Breeders' Cup (Sprint [G1] on November 6 at Churchill Downs)," the trainer offered.
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