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Curlin eclipses $10 million mark in Gold Cup stroll
When the gate opened upon Curlin's bid for history, Wanderin Boy (Seeking the Gold) splashed to his customary spot on the lead, rattling off splits of :24 3/5 and :48 3/5. Merchant Marine (Tiznow) took up a close stalking position in second, with A. P. Arrow (A.P. Indy) and Ravel (Fusaichi Pegasus) forming the next flight. Curlin had settled into his powerful rhythm farther back, until a confident Albarado steered him between horses, and he commenced his inexorable advance. By the time Wanderin Boy reached six furlongs in 1:13, Curlin was steadily gaining, and when the early leader got the mile in 1:36 3/5, the champion vaulted into a menacing third. Straightening into the stretch, Curlin's piston-like strides propelled him to the front. Wanderin Boy kept digging in on his inside, desperately trying to mount a rally, but he could not do enough to trouble the Horse of the Year, who was in complete control by a cozy three-quarters of a length at the wire. "Robby was really comfortable down the backside," Asmussen recapped. "I think he knows who he is on, and he let it sort out in front of him. He lost a little bit of position on the backside when Robby decided he didn't want to be that wide. He immediately moved up in the bridle and came into the stretch the way you wanted him to be. He looked fabulous through the stretch." Wanderin Boy was himself 3 3/4 lengths clear of Merchant Marine in third. The sophomore Mambo in Seattle (Kingmambo), who had missed by a whisker in the Travers S. (G1), reported home another 7 1/4 lengths adrift in fourth. Ravel faded to fifth, trailed by Stones River (Monarchos), A. P. Arrow and Angliana (Giant's Causeway), while Timber Reserve (Forest Camp) was withdrawn. The 2-5 favorite, Curlin handed out souvenir mutuels of $2.80, $2.10 and $2.10. Wanderin Boy, who excelled himself at 7-1, rewarded his loyalists with $4.20 and $3.70, and the 16-1 Merchant Marine returned $5.70. The exotics were worth $9.40 (exacta), $49.20 (trifecta) and $120 (5-4-2-9 superfecta). The Gold Cup was the fifth win in six starts this year for Curlin, who carried a career-high 132 pounds in a Dubai handicap in his seasonal debut in February in advance of his World Cup triumph. In his first start back in the United States, he captured the Stephen Foster H. (G1) while hauling 128 pounds, but was defeated in his turf debut in the Man o' War S. (G1) on July 12 in what was to have been a prep toward a possible start in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (Fr-G1). Curlin finished second to Red Rocks (Ire) (Galileo [Ire]) in the Man o' War, ending his Arc prospects. Curlin returned to the dirt in the August 30 Woodward S. (G1) at Saratoga, where he posted a workmanlike score. Last season, Curlin earned Horse of the Year honors by virtue of victories in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), Jockey Club Gold Cup, Preakness S. (G1), Arkansas Derby (G2) and Rebel S. (G3). He just missed in the Belmont S. (G1) to champion filly Rags to Riches, and also placed in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Haskell Invitational (G1). Bred in Kentucky by Fares Farm Inc., Curlin sold for $57,000 as a Keeneland September yearling and was originally campaigned by Midnight Cry Stable, which retains a 20-percent interest. Curlin is the first stakes winner out of the unraced Sherriff's Deputy (Deputy Minister), who has since produced an unnamed yearling 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). Jackson is leaving the door open for Curlin to defend his Breeders' Cup crown on the new Pro-Ride surface at Santa Anita. "As to going out to Santa Anita, we'll probably load him up, but first we'll have to get him adjusted," Jackson said. "But it is up to him whether he likes the track and the surface. So those are concerns we still have. But we'll consider it now that we're past this hurdle. That's the next prospect for us, and we'll give it every bit of attention."
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