The week's fastest horses: Old Persian's 107 tops figures

After riding Old Persian to a victory Saturday in Woodbine’s Northern Dancer Turf (G1), jockey James Doyle said some pre-race rain north of the border “played to our strengths.”

The 5-year-old Godolphin homebred accordingly returned to the winner’s circle for the first time since taking the Dubai Sheema Classic (G1) back in March — and may have set himself up for another trip from Europe for Woodbine’s Canadian International (G1).

Old Persian, a son of Dubawi who scored a 2 1/2-length victory over “good” turf, also registered last week’s fastest Brisnet Speed Rating by a fairly wide margin. His 107 figure proved seven points better than the 100s assigned to Canadian Stakes (G2) winner Starship Jubilee and Zestful, winner of Sunday’s Los Alamitos Special.

Charlie Appleby-trained Old Persian missed the break, but “we had a very clean trip all the way through,” Doyle said. “He’s a powerful stayer at this trip with a good turn of foot, and when the pace came up in the stretch, he excelled and sprinted away nicely.”

Of course, when examining this list of Brisnet Speed Ratings, it has to be considered what the 2-year-old Dennis’ Moment could have earned had Irad Ortiz Jr. not put him under wraps late in Saturday’s Iroquois Stakes (G3). The son of Tiznow received a 98, seventh-fastest of the week, when making his two-turn debut.

With the Iroquois a “Win and You’re In” race for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, along with paying out Kentucky Derby qualifying points, “I’m trying not to look too far ahead with him because it is only September,” said trainer Dale Romans. “But (Saturday’s) race gave us a lot of excitement the way he was able to take dirt for the first time and still rally to win.”

Given that, here’s a look at the week’s 15 fastest performances ranked by Brisnet Speed Rating: