Friday’s $194,000 Amsterdam (G2) shaped up as a competitive affair on paper, but Siena Farm and WinStar Farm’s World Record ran his rivals ragged at Saratoga. Breaking like a shot, the Rodolphe Brisset trainee widened his margin to 6 3/4 lengths over odds-on favorite Jefferson Street.
World Record went off at odds of 6.30-1, the second highest price in the compact field of three-year-old sprinters. His third-place effort in his stakes debut, the June 30 Maxfield S. at Churchill Downs, indicated that he needed improvement to break through at the Spa.
Although Brisset decided to add blinkers, he believed that the key change was tactics, not equipment. World Record had gone wire to wire with Florent Geroux in his Churchill maiden romp on May 27, but he never got into the game early in the Maxfield with Flavien Prat. Connections were determined to waste no time in sending him to the front in the Amsterdam, especially once he drew the rail for the third straight race.
“I am not saying it was Flavien’s fault,” Brisset said of the Maxfield loss, “but the horse did not run the way we were thinking he was going to run.
“If you watch the replay when Flo rode him, he kind of got him out of there and put him on the engine, and the horse was a different horse the way he was traveling. So, the plan today was to get out there and make sure we make it.”
Prat echoed the sentiment, noting that last time, World Record had been “on and off the whole backside,” and he “couldn’t get him into a good rhythm.”
That wasn’t an issue at Saratoga, when the Gun Runner colt was unleashed from the start. Blasting clear through an opening quarter in :21.56, World Record took his pursuers right out of their comfort zone. Donegal Momentum and Pure Force, initially second and third, could not maintain their positions for long.
Jefferson Street advanced into second as World Record motored through the half in :44.64, but the 0.85-1 choice got no nearer than 2 1/2 lengths. Down the stretch, World Record pulled away again to complete the 6 1/2-furlong dash in 1:16.20 and returned $14.60.
“We drew the one (hole) again,” Prat said, “so I was really committed to get him running out of there and getting him forwardly placed, for sure. I squeezed him out of there, but then I thought I was in a great rhythm. I was going a good speed but cruising, so I thought I was comfortable there.”
Jefferson Street’s rider, Junior Alvarado, paid tribute to the commanding winner.
“I was never going to catch him,” Alvarado said. “My horse ran his race; I think that he was there for me. When I turned for home and I asked him, he kind of went on, but like I said, I wasn’t gaining any ground on the winner. He ran them off their feet today.”
Jefferson Street was, in turn, 7 1/4 lengths clear of Valentine Candy, who lagged in last early and passed tired rivals late. Donegal Momentum checked in fourth, and Pure Force rounded out the five-horse field.
World Record’s resume now reads 4-2-0-2, $205,750. Unraced at two, the bay was a fast-closing third in his debut at Keeneland on April 26. Prat was aboard that day as well when the colt broke from post 2. World Record took a leap forward on the front end next time. The pattern repeated Friday, putting him into contention for the Aug. 24 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial (G1) on Travers Day.
Brisset hopes that World Record won’t have to deal with another rail draw in the Jerkens. The trainer was so concerned with the post in the Amsterdam that he was tempted to swerve the race.
“I almost didn’t come because of that,” Brisset said. “I have to give credit to Elliott (Walden, co-owner WinStar Farm’s CEO). He told me, ‘Listen, he has drawn the one three times out of four races. I just didn’t want him to be in the pocket and get all the dirt. We tried this already and he got beat.’ We decided to come and he let me decide, but at the same time Elliott can put his word in and said, ‘I think you should do it.’ We did it and it paid off.”
A $410,000 Keeneland November weanling, World Record was bred in Kentucky by historic Runnymede Farm, Falguieres Bloodstock, Gestut Zur Kuste AG, et al. His dam, British-bred Marwa, is an Exceed and Excel half-sister to Grade 2 winners Miss Isella and Sir Cherokee.
This is the family of last fall’s Golden Rod (G2) victress Intricate, most recently third in the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1), and Penelopa, the 2013 Preis der Diana (G1) heroine. Penelopa is herself responsible for stakes scorer Pennymoor and current Group 2-placed juvenile California Dreamer.
