Stidham's Delaware Park Work Pays Off as Godolphin's Zimmer Wins His Debut

Zimmer, a son of Maclean's Music bred and owned by Godolphin, won the first race of his career. He prepared for it at Michael Stidham's base at Delaware Park. On Sept. 25 he covered five furlongs there in 1:01 3/5, the fastest of eight horses timed at that distance that morning. A timed morning work tells a trainer more than a race-day crowd ever sees: how the colt handled the distance, how he came back, and whether he was ready to be entered. Stidham's barn read those signs correctly, and the colt won when it counted. For Godolphin, a debut winner from its own breeding program by Maclean's Music is the kind of result a breeding program is built for. For anyone who follows the Delaware Park backstretch, it's a reminder that the work done on the training track in the early morning shows up later in the race results.

With reporting from Thoroughbred Daily News.