Cogburn

Saturday's GII Ainsworth Turf Sprint Stakes winner Cogburn (Not This Time) jumped from 13th to fifth in this week's NTRA Top Thoroughbred poll. The top four remain unchanged with Fierceness (City of Light) leading the way ahead of Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna), Adare Manor (Uncle Mo) and National Treasure (Quality Road). Highland Falls (Curlin) held steady in sixth while Dornoch (Good Magic) dropped to seventh. New to the Top 10 this week is another son of Not This Time in Next who last won the Birdstone Stakes at Saratoga Aug....

Clark Brewster and William and Corinne Heiligbrodt's Cogburn (h, 5, Not This Time--In a Jif, by Saintly Look) made it a perfect three-for-three on the year with another powerhouse performance in Saturday's 'Win and You're In' $2-million GII Ainsworth Turf Sprint S. at Kentucky Downs. The even-money favorite blasted out to the front, raced under pressure while setting fast fractions of :21.82 and :44.14 and kept on motoring down the stretch to win going away by 3 1/4 lengths. Second-place finisher Khaadem (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and third-place finisher Axthelm...

It's been nearly 30 years since trainer Bob Baffert won his first GI Del Mar Debutante Stakes with Batroyale back in 1995. The Hall of Fame conditioner looks to have a stranglehold on this year's renewal of the seven-furlong contest, as he sends out a pair of big-money fillies, each campaigned by previous Debutante scorers. Front and center is 'TDN Rising Star' Nooni (Win Win Win), the $1.8-million topper from this year's OBS March Sale, who looks to become the second winner of the event in the last four years...

It's the surprises that keep us interested in pedigrees, and that applies as much to people as to horses. Cogburn, who recently sprinted to a world record in the GI Jaipur Stakes, is out of a mare by Saintly Look. Saintly Who? A son of Saint Ballado, and winner of the GIII Lecomte Stakes in 2003, Saintly Look covered a couple of small books in Indiana, in 2008 and 2009, and was then sold for $17,500 at the Keeneland November Sale. Cogburn's dam In a Jif was among nine named...

Three Chimneys Farm's Touchy (Nyquist) would go heavily favored in any maiden race at the Spa, but connections continue to campaign the homebred colt boldly as he remains in stakes company for his second career appearance in Saturday's GII Saratoga Special Stakes. The bay colt was bet down to 85 cents on the dollar for his debut in the June 6 Tremont Stakes on the first day of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at this venue, and he made the majority of the running before giving way late to be...

Carlos Rosas is running out of fingers to count on as he rattles off the names of Breeders' Cup champions he has sat on over the years. As an exercise rider for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen for the past two decades, Rosas has played a role in developing an impressive list of superstars. There's 2014 Distaff winner Untapable and 2011 Juvenile Fillies heroine My Miss Aurelia, plus Breeders' Cup runner-ups Midnight Bisou and Tapiture. The list goes on from there. Curlin was one of his earliest claim to...

Back on the hamster wheel, everybody. You know the drill. Usual freshman hype, please. Just remember to change the names--and not to dwell too unhelpfully on how things played out for those being talked up four or five years ago. But the legitimate, perennial challenge of the yearling circuit also abides, and likewise much of its color and character. Just not quite all. Not enough time has elapsed, certainly, to heal one aching void. For many of his compatriots, in particular, every barn we enter we still half-expect to hear...

Cogburn (Not This Time--In a Jif, by Saintly Look), who most recently won the GI Jaipur Stakes at Saratoga in North American-record time, will stand at WinStar Farm upon his retirement. The Central Kentucky nursery has entered a partnership with the ownership group of the 5-year-old, which includes Clark Brewster, William and Corinne Heiligbrodt and Lindy Farms, to acquire the breeding rights to Cogburn, his sire's chief money spinner in 2024. "There are not many times in life you get to stand the fastest horse in the world," said Elliott...

It is the typically interesting opinion of John Sikura that "a stallion's genetic switch is either on or off." The quality and quantity of his books may affect his profile, but his potency (or otherwise) will be operative the day he covers his first mare. Sure enough, six Grade I winners to date for Not This Time all belong to his first two books, conceived at just $15,000. Whatever he might yet achieve with his upgraded mares, paying $135,000 last year and now $150,000, he did not need their help...

Clark Brewster and Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt's Cogburn (Not This Time) continued his assault on the American turf sprint division with a jaw-dropping, front-running success in Saturday's GI Jaipur S. at Saratoga, a 'Win and You're In' qualifying race for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar in early November. And if holding the form he's in currently, he will be a very difficult nut to crack. Drawn eight in a full field for the Jaipur, normally a six-furlong contest downstate, but shortened to 5 1/2 panels to...

  LOUISVILLE, KY-Sharp as a razor exiting the far gate, Clark Brewster and William and Corinne Heiligbrodt's Cogburn (Not This Time) wasted not time dusting off the cobwebs, coming home a 2 1/4-length winner in the GII Twin Spires Turf Sprint early on Saturday's Derby Day card. Given an 8-1 chance will making his 2024 debut, the 5-year-old broke in front but allowed Coppola (Into Mischief) and Mo Stash (Mo Town) to show the way through a :22.61 opening quarter over a course labeled 'good'. Taking a slight edge from...

The going sticks will get stuck and with the rails down or out, the Saturday graded stakes lineup trucks in with heaps of sod for your turf racing enjoyment. Whether you are a dabbling duck or one that takes a deep dive, there is something for everyone as the Downs--Kentucky and Colonial--plus Woodbine Racetrack and the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, all feature high-level grass action. KENTUCKY DOWNS GRADED SIX PACK The uniquely designed turf course at Kentucky Downs cards the most graded stakes this Saturday, which will lead off with...