Algorithms's first winner a smasher

Claiborne Farm freshman sire Algorithms got his first U.S. winner in smashing fashion Saturday at Pimlico, as Recruiting Ready flirted with the track record while rolling to a 10 1/4-length victory in a maiden special weight.

Recruiting Ready got his 4 1/2 furlongs in 51.78 seconds, just 0.28 seconds off the mark of 51.50 established by Countess Diana on June 6, 1997. Countess Diana would go on to be a multiple Grade 1 winner and champion 2-year-old filly of 1997.

Recruiting Ready comes from a Claiborne female family that has produced the likes of Grade 1 winner Zensational and multiple graded stakes winner Departing. The colt was a $110,000 purchase by Sagamore Farm at the Keeneland September yearling sale.

“We got him from Florida in late April, and he’s been really forward since Day 1,” trainer Horacio DePaz said. “With a win like that, you want to definitely take care of him and put him in the right spot. He’s got a lot of talent.”

Algorithms was unbeaten in his brief racing career, highlighted by a win in the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes. The son of Bernardini is a half-brother to Grade 1 winners Justin Phillip and Greenpointcrusader as well as graded stakes winners Keyed Entry and Successful Mission.