BC Classic Is Curlin's HOY Effort
Smart Strike Colt Dominates On Wet Track to Catch Hard Spun
Oct 28, 2007
Preakness and Jockey Club Gold Cup champion Curlin, son of Smart Strike, struck down Hard Spun in the home stretch on a sloppy track Saturday in the $4,580,000 Breeders' Cup Classic. With the prestigious win, the powerful chestnut took a gigantic step toward winning Horse of the Year honors.
Curlin was one of two Smart Strike sons to capture glory in the Breeders' Cup championships at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, New Jersey Oct. 27th. Five-year-old English Channel, schooled by top trainer Todd Pletcher, also won his division.
Ironic to Curlin's winning situation is the fact that his owners are multiple and in disagreement on the colt's future. One owner, Jess Jackson, indicated he favors a four-year-old season for Curlin, who never raced at two, and has shown so much ability at three.
In the meantime, Steve Asmussen has handled the chestnut colt as the golden boy he has become, carefully picking his next events. After the Belmont, Curlin faded a tad, finishing third, his lowest career finish, in the Haskell Invitational. But by Breeders' Cup Saturday, Curlin was unstoppable.
He ran his familiar, widely approached thunderbolt stretch in the Classic. More remarkable was the way the colt handled the sloppy track, something he was experiencing for the first time. His power coming three-wide off the turn to give chase to the leaders was mammoth even in the wet going. As the horsepower of the mud-slicked chestnut came on display in the stretch, Kentucky Derby champion Street Sense and rider Calvin Borel hugged the rail ready to challenge. But Curlin quickly dispatched that rival.
Never bothered, never deterred by anything around him, or in front of him, and ever powerful, Curlin freight-trained his way to Hard Spun, who had led gamely through the soggy conditions. By the time he hit the eighth pole, Curlin was in command under jockey Robby Albarado, who rode Mineshaft to HOY honors in 2003.
Hard Spun was suddenly caught flat-hooved and could not muster a final drive with Maryland's champion jockey Mario Pino aboard. Curlin and Albarado blew past their last opponent and cruised through splashing click-clacks to win the 1-1/4 miles by 4-1/4 lengths in 2:00.59. Curlin was off the track record of Carry Back (1962) and Majestic Light (1977) by just 0.19 seconds.
The dominant Breeders' Cup performance carved out by Curlin, and his previous powerhouse drives, will be hard to ignore when HOY votes are cast in December.
