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Curlin wins tragic Classic
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A jubilant Albarado after taking the Classic with Curlin
(Alex Evers/Horsephotos.com) |
Stonestreet Stables et al's CURLIN (Smart Strike) asserted his supremacy over one of
the toughest
Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) fields assembled in recent history on
Saturday at Monmouth Park, staking his claim to Horse of the Year honors.
However, the chestnut's score was overshadowed by the breakdown of two-time
European champion George Washington (Ire) (Danehill), who was euthanized due to
the severity of his injuries.
"George Washington sustained an open fracture of the cannon bone in the right
front fetlock joint and disarticulated the joint at the same time and had both
sesamoid fractures broken," explained Dr. Wayne McIlwraith, the on-call
veterinarian. "It was a hopeless injury as far as repair. (Trainer) Aidan
O'Brien was on the racetrack with the horse right after it happened and he
requested euthanasia."
In an ironic twist to the tragedy, George
Washington was bred by Roy and Gretchen Jackson, the same couple who bred last
year's Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Barbaro, who garnered so much attention before
losing his fight with laminitis after suffering a life-threatening injury at the
start of the 2006 Preakness S. (G1).
"He did well to stay up," said an obviously emotional Mick Kinane,
who flew in to ride George Washington. "He was brave. He didn't go down.
He stayed up on it. He saved me."
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Hard Spun (Danzig) found himself in a familiar spot heading into the first
turn of the Classic, leading the way through a quarter in :23, a half in :45 4/5 and six furlongs
in 1:10 3/5. As he rounded the turn, the bay found himself confronted by two
familiar rivals in Kentucky Derby hero Street Sense (Street Cry [Ire]) and
Preakness victor Curlin. Street Sense and Calvin Borel kept to their now
familiar spot on the rail as Curlin and Robby Albarado circled around Hard Spun, and the race was
over from there. The Steve Asmussen-trained three-year-old sprinted away from
the field to post the 4 1/2-length victory, finishing 1 1/4 miles in 2:00 2/5
over the sloppy, sealed dirt. Hard Spun took second by 4 3/4
lengths and Awesome Gem (Awesome Again) just got
the best of Street Sense to take third by a length.
"It was truly awesome," Albarado said. "Everything went perfectly starting
with all the speed up front. It unfolded just the way we wanted, but it also
takes a hell of a horse to get this done. Curlin was there for us every step of
the way."
Asmussen earned his first Breeders' Cup victory here, but gave all the credit
to his charge.
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Curlin (in front) drawing away from familiar rivals
(Mathea Kelley/Horsephotos.com) |
"It's all about Curlin," he said. "He's the one who did it. I was
extremely nervous about (the track), extremely nervous. Robby
gave him the chance. He got him on his feet. First time by (the stands),
he was carrying Robby nicely and he ran extremely well from there. He is
an incredible horse."
Sent off at 4-1, Curlin paid out $10.80, $5.20 and $4.20 while Hard Spun was worth $7.60 and
$5.80 in second at 8-1. Awesome Gem, the second longest shot on the board at
28-1, gave back $9.40 for overtaking 5-2 favorite Street Sense, and
it was another 8 1/4 lengths back to Tiago (Pleasant Tap). Any Given Saturday (Distorted Humor),
Lawyer Ron (Langfuhr) and Diamond Stripes (Notebook) completed the order under
the wire. The exotics returned
$70.80 (exacta), $645.30 ($1 trifecta) and $2,146.20 ($1 superfecta) (4-8-6-2).
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"He ran an awesome race," jockey Mario Pino said, full of praise for
Hard Spun. "He cruised to the lead easy. Lawyer Ron had some speed and
I wanted to stay in front of him. I tried to go as slow as possible.
When we shook off Lawyer Ron, I said 'great, we still have a chance.'
Then Curlin powered on by, but my horse fought to the very end. It was
just an awesome race."
Fellow Cajun and friend of Albarado, Borel had no excuses for Street
Sense, who will now head off to stud.
"We just got outrun today," he said. "Curlin ran a beautiful race. At the
quarter-pole, I thought I would go with him, but he just kicked away. I couldn't
have had a better trip. (Street Sense) tried hard with me. Curlin is the genuine
article and I just couldn't go with him."
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The top three sophomores in the country laid it all on the line in the Classic
(Patrick Tyrrell/Horsephotos.com) |
Curlin's year began while with Helen Pitts at Gulfstream Park, where he gave
notice by dominating his career debut by 12 3/4 lengths on the same card that
saw Nobiz Like Shobiz (Albert the Great) win the Holy Bull S. (G3) while preparing for the Triple
Crown. Sold privately and transferred to Asmussen right after that, Curlin proceeded to add the
Rebel S. (G3) and Arkansas Derby (G2), by a total 15 3/4 lengths, making his
case for the upcoming Kentucky Derby. He suffered his first career loss in that
10-furlong test, running third behind Street Sense and Hard Spun, but got the
better of those rivals next out the Preakness.
After stumbling and nearly going to this knees at the break of the second leg
of the Triple Crown, the chestnut raced in midpack while off the rail. Street
Sense passed his rival in the stretch, but Curlin wasn't to lose to that
rival again, re-rallying and getting his head in front on the line to put his
name in for year-end champion honors. While the Derby winner skipped the Belmont
S. (G1), Curlin tried to add another Triple Crown score to his record but ran
into a star named Rags to Riches (A.P. Indy). Those two battled all the way to
the line, with the filly just getting her head in front of Curlin.
After a two-month break, Curlin suffered his worst loss to date when third by
4 1/2 lengths in the Haskell Invitational (G1) over Monmouth's fast dirt. He
received another nearly two-month layoff and returned in the form of his life to take
the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) last out, with Classic contender Lawyer Ron in
second on that day. With this win, the sophomore now owns a 9-6-1-2 line and
more than doubled his earnings to $5,102,800 with the winner's share of the
$4,580,000 purse.
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Bred in Kentucky by Fares Farm Inc., Curlin sold for $57,000 as a Keeneland
September yearling. He is the first stakes winner out of the unraced Sherriff's
Deputy (Deputy Minister), who has since produced an unnamed yearling filly by
Medaglia d'Oro and a weanling filly by Saint Liam. This is the same family as
1997 champion two-year-old filly and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1)
victress Countess Diana (Deerhound) as well as the ill-fated multiple Grade
1-winning Exogenous (Unbridled).
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