1. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; a memory coupled to the at least one processor containing a database of records; a query residing in the memory that includes a Select statement with a Fetch First n Rows Only clause, where n is an integer variable; and a query optimizer residing in the memory and executed by the at least one processor, wherein the query optimizer determines the query can be optimized and generates for the query an optimized access plan that eliminates records defined by a Where clause prior to ordering the records and then return a first n rows.