NAGIRROC kept his never-off-the-board record intact while setting a new track record in the $100,000 James W. Murphy Stakes, run just before the 148th Preakness Stakes-G1 at Pimlico on Saturday.

As Dan Illman wrote in the Daily Racing Form, “When the best horse gets the best trip, it’s usually curtains for the rest of the field. So it was on Saturday at Pimlico, where Nagirroc won the James W. Murphy Stakes.”

Aided by firm turf that produced sharp times throughout the afternoon, Nagirroc and Flavien Prat stopped the clock at 1:33.11 for the flat mile contest. Breaking from the far outside #9 post and wearing blinkers for the first time, Nagirroc “came out of the stalls running,” Illman went on to say. “Prat was merely a passenger in the final three-sixteenths as Nagirroc streaked under the wire.”

“The horse has turned into a very special horse,” Graham said. “He couldn’t have been more professional today.”

Chervenell Thoroughbreds LLC bred the 3-year-old bay colt by Claiborne Farm’s stallion Lea from Zamindar mare Emma Spencer (IRE). He was purchased privately by owners Little Red Feather Racing, Madaket Stables LLC and William Strauss. We know there was much celebrating in Baltimore Saturday evening!

Watch replay:

NAGIRROC wins James W. Murphy Stakes

Photos by Jerry Dzierwinski/Maryland Jockey Club and Maggie Kimmitt/BloodHorse