The speedy World Record may not have matched his name, but he surely lived up to the expectations of his connections in notching his initial graded stakes win.
Wearing blinkers for the first time, Siena Farm and WinStar Farm's son of Gun Runner broke quickly from the rail and never looked back as he rocketed to a decisive 6 3/4-length victory in the $194,000 Amsterdam Stakes (G2) for 3-year-olds July 26 at Saratoga Race Course.
"That was very impressive," said Elliott Walden, WinStar's CEO, president, and racing manager about the colt trained by Rodolphe Brisset. "We were looking for that from him. It's nice to see him step forward like that."
What World Record needed was some blistering early fractions that left his four pursuers in the small field winded from trying to keep pace and unable to mount a serious threat as he pulled away in the stretch.
Bred by Runnymede Farm, Falguieres Bloodstock, and Gestut Zur Kuste AG in Kentucky, World Record and jockey Flavien Prat blazed through the opening half-mile in :21.56 and :44.64 and led by about three lengths in the 6 1/2-furlong sprint and then widened his 3 1/2-length lead in the final furlong.
"On paper I thought all five horses were even in terms of ability but with him making only three starts, I was hoping he would move forward and he did in a big way. He has great talent," Walden said. "He's a beautiful horse. We bought him as a foal and he has developed the right way."
Though World Record has raced only on dirt, with a mark of two wins and two thirds in four starts, there is some turf influence in his pedigree which caused some initial debate about the colt's future.
"For two years, David Hanley (WinStar's senior vice president) and I have debated whether he would need turf," Walden said.
Turns out he didn't, even though his dam, Marwa, was bred in Great Britain and is by Exceed and Excel, a grandson of Danzig.
"What his dam brings is speed and that's where he gets his speed from. Breeding her to Gun Runner, I think they were looking for speed," Walden said. "The way he looks, he reminds me of Danzig. Great mover, deep, strong. Well balanced with a good hind quarter."
Coming off a third in the Maxfield Overnight Stakes at Churchill Downs, World Traveler ($14.60) was the 6-1 fourth-choice and covered the 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:16.20. The Aug. 24 seven-furlong H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes (G1) at the Spa seems a likely target, Brisset said.
He was bought for $410,000 from the Runnymede consignment at the 2021 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.
Godolphin's Jefferson Street, the 4-5 favorite off a lopsided allowance win, took a run at World Record on the turn but could not sustain that move in the stretch and settled for second. The son of Street Sense trained by Bill Mott was 7 1/4 lengths ahead of the Steve Asmussen-trained Valentine Candy (Justify ).
