Kentucky-bred Cogburn lowered the course record at Saratoga on Saturday, winning the $500,000 Jaipur Stakes (G1) during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga. The Jaipur awarded a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1) at Del Mar in November.
Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, Cogburn covered 5 ½ furlongs on turf in a final time of :59.80, which according to Equibase is a North American record on turf. The clocking shattered the previous course record of 1:00.21 set by Carotari in 2019.
Owned by Clark Brewster, and William and Corinne Heiligbrodt, the 5-year-old Cogburn captured the Turf Sprint (G2) at Churchill Downs on May 4 in his most recent outing.
“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 ½ furlongs in under a minute,” said Asmussen. “That’s basically a sixteenth of a mile faster than a fast horse.”
Ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., Cogburn broke alertly and within a matter of strides took command of the field of 12. He set the pace under pressure, vied in the two path on the turn, and kicked clear when asked at the quarter-pole. He was geared down late and won by 3 ½ lengths as much the best.
“Today, we obviously had extremely high expectations of him,” shared Asmussen. “He did have a tendency of getting a little bit left in the gate last year. But today, from the first jump, his head was in front, and it was all smooth from there. Smooth.”
Ortiz, Jr., added of the win, “So fast. I can’t believe it. He was a rocket ship [out of the gate]. After that, I just sat on him. When it was time to go turning for him, I felt like he was loaded.”
Bred in Kentucky by Bellary Bloodstock, Cogburn is now 4-for-5 since switching to the turf last May. A winner in eight of 14 lifetime starts, Cogburn has now banked more than $1.2 million. He was a $150,000 OBS Spring Sale graduate in 2021 and he is produced from the Saintly Look mare In a Jif.