Majesticperfection sets track record at Prairie

The track on Friday night at Prairie Meadows played fast, but Majesticperfection played faster. The 4-year-old Harlan's Holiday colt owned by Padua Stables and trained by Steve Asmussen won his stakes debut in a laugher, beating favored Atta Boy Roy by 4 3/4 lengths in the

while never really being asked in the stretch by jockey Shaun Bridgmohan. Time for the six furlongs? A track record 1:07.24, .61 faster than Coach Jimi Lee's old standard set in 2004.

Majesticperfection ($8.20) won his fourth race in a row, the combined margin of victory in those wins 20 3/4 lengths. Late to the races, Majesticperfection was a $370,000 2-year-old in training purchase in the spring of 2008, but did not make his career debut until this past January at Fair Grounds. The wonder is that Majesticperfection lost that race, since no one - not in a subsequent maiden race at Fair Grounds, not in allowance races at Oaklawn and Churchill Downs, and not on Friday night in Iowa - has come close to beating him since.

"He rose to the occasion tonight," said assistant trainer Darren Fleming.

Majesticperfection did not break on top, but he made the lead in a couple jumps, setting splits of 21.53 seconds for the quarter, 43.48 for the half, and a blazing 55.11 for five furlongs on the way to his track record clocking. Cash Refund pressed the pace and drew nearly abreast of Majesticperfection around the turn, but the winner left that challenger gasping at the top of the stretch, and Atta Boy Roy, who sat third most of the way, and carried eight pounds more than the winner, never challenged. Cash refund finished third, 6 1/2 lengths behind Atta Boy Roy.

It was a Friday night in Altoona, Iowa, and undoubtedly, top to bottom, the Iowa Sprint was not the finest dash in the land. But Atta Boy Roy had beaten some nice horses at Churchill Downs this spring, and Majesticperfection looked like a sprinter to be reckoned with on a national basis the rest of this year.