Cogburn

Australia loves speed. The racing is set up for it with the majority of races being at 1400 metres or less, and the commercial market wants to buy a horse who will get up running quickly, not just with precocity but also with pure speed. Australia’s major export market, Hong Kong, is also all about speed.

All the recent champion stallions have produced tough sprinters who get up at two and train on, and we love horses like Bella Nipotina, Redzel, Nature Strip, Imperatriz, Giga Kick, and of course, the iconic Black Caviar. Australia loves horses who sprint year after year, tough and sound and fast. Widden Stud’s newest recruit, Cogburn, fits this bill. He won at two, then raced every year until six. He was fast - a USA national record holder - and he did what Australia wants the best sprinters to do.

“I inspected Cogburn in Kentucky, and I was very impressed, he is very much an Australian style sprinter, a horse with great strength and his speed is obvious for all to see. He is 16hh with great depth, lovely balance, and oozes quality,” said Antony Thompson of Widden Stud. Cogburn debuted at two in August, equivalent to a January two year- old here, running fourth, then won his second start over six furlongs (1200 metres).

Back at three, he resumed with a win again over six furlongs, then was second over the same distance in both the Listed Oaklawn Park Bachelor Stakes and Gr3 Pimlico Chick Lang Stakes. At four, he again resumed with a win over six furlongs, then after a short freshen up, he won three in succession, all in stakes class including the Gr3 Saratoga Troy Stakes over five and a half furlongs (1100 metres) beating Nobals who went on to win the Gr1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint a few months later.  A mid-field run at Gr2 level finished his four year-old season, one that garnered him four wins, three at stakes and graded class.

Cogburn showed his longevity and toughness in resuming at five with victory in the Gr2 Churchill Downs Twin Spires Turf Sprint Stakes over five and a half furlongs, but it was his next start over the same distance in the Gr1 Jaipur Stakes that got everyone talking. Most impressive was not that he jumped well and led, but that he entered the home straight only just in the lead and then accelerated away from the others to fly home and win by several lengths.

For an American horse to sprint strongly in the last sector of the race, on turf, shows a similar racing style to Australia. “What I remember about this race is the way any of the horses who tried to stay with Cogburn as he posted those blazing fractions early just completely faded in the stretch. On this day those early fractions were in Cogburn’s wheelhouse. Looking at the chart after the race, he went :43.07 for a half-mile and still closed in less than 11 seconds.

It was something to see,” said Frank Angst, BloodHorse editorial director, in 2024. He crossed the line for the 1100 metres with the impressive North American track record time of 0:59.8s, and backed up the performance with the next start win in the Gr2 Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint Stakes over six furlongs, before running mid-field in the Gr1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint over five furlongs to conclude his career. Race times in the USA and Australia can’t be compared as Australia is timed from the gates opening, but USA have a ‘run-up’ area and time the races with a flying start.

The same system is used in Japan, so generally speaking American and Japanese times are quicker than in Australia for the same ‘distance’. For example, the track record for 1100 metres at Randwick is 1:01.67 set by Prophet’s Thumb in 2019. Regardless, what matters for Cogburn’s time is that it was a record time for America, so he was faster than his peers being timed under the same system. And importantly, the win in the Gr1 Jaipur Stakes thrust him to the top of the World Thoroughbred Rankings (Sprint) in 2024 on an equal rating with local stars I Wish I Win and Ka Ying Rising.

With nine wins from 16 starts and earnings over US$2 million, Cogburn was a serious racehorse. His sire, Not This Time, is a son of Giant’s Causeway, and he stands for US$175,000 thanks to siring seven Gr1 winners in his first five crops. A Gr3 winner at two, Not This Time was second in the Gr1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Cogburn is from his second crop. As a young sire, Not This Time’s sire sons are just retiring to stud, but his own sire Giant’s Causeway is a wonderful sire of sires with Shamardal and his son Lope De Vega both siring over 100 stakes winners and proving to have strong sirelines themselves.

Both Shamardal and Lope De Vega have had a very positive influence in Australia, with Shamardal’s current sire sons here including Blue Point and Pinatubo, while Lope De Vega has the young emerging Lucky Vega. Lope de Vega was responsible for several topline sprinters during his shuttle years such as Gytrash, Santa Ana Lane, Vega Magic and Vega One, while

3×3 pedigree

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his imported gallopers include Arapaho, Duke De Sessa and Place Du Carrosel. Shamardal also shuttled here, siring Gr1 winners Able Friend, Captain Sonador, Delectation, Faint Perfume, and Maybe Discreet. Cogburn’s damline contains several elements familiar to local breeders with his dam, In A Jif, being by Saintly Look, a son of Saint Ballado from the Halo sireline that has given us Deep Impact and More Than Ready. His second dam, Damie’s Peanut is by Stravinsky who was very successful from his shuttle times to New Zealand, leaving many successful racehorses and broodmares among his 75 career stakes winners, highlighted by Serenade Rose.

In A Jig was a wonderfully tough racemare, winning seven races including the Listed Turfway Park Holiday Inaugural Stakes, and she is a half-sister to two stakes placed winners who also have multiple victories with Son Of A Nut winning six times and Nuttin’ Faster winning five times. Third dam Damie’s Sis won the Gr3 Garden State Betsy Ross Handicap and produced Gr3 winner Chin High. With the prevalence of Danehill in the Australian broodmare population, stud farms have been hunting for the next big outcross.

There’s been a shift at the top of the leaderboard with Widden Stud’s Zoustar (from the Encosta De Lago sireline) heading off Pride Of Dubai (Street Cry) but with Zoustar being out of a Redoute’s Choice mare and Pride Of Dubai from a Danehill mare, there’s still plenty of Danehill close up in the pedigrees of the big guns. The 2024/25 sire table continues with Snitzel, I Am Invincible and Written Tycoon, followed by Fastnet Rock.

Of those four, Snitzel and Fastnet Rock are Danehill sireline, while I Am Invincible and Written Tycoon don’t have Danehill up close but they’ve historically crossed well with him, so the next generation will likely carry him regardless. The future looks like a time for a horse who will cross well with Danehill to shine when combined with our broodmare band. “Cogburn is a beautiful outcross option mares Almahmoud 7f x 6f 7f and Ballade 6f x 4m who is the dam of Saint Ballado and grand dam of Rahy.

He also carries multiple strains of Halo, Secretariat, Blushing Groom, Hail To Reason, In Reality, Bold Ruler, Mr. Prospector and will complement many of our mares on pedigree as well physically,” said Thompson. Breeders looking for speed and longevity from a very hot commercial sireline, with an outcross pedigree to Danehill which has plenty of elements that have worked here have an excellent prospect for theBB