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Curlin Has Chance to Repeat in BC Classic

Will Top Rated Colt Compete in Breeders' Cup Classic?

Oct 4, 2008

It's difficult to believe that reigning Horse of the Year Curlin may not compete in this season's Breeders' Cup Classic. Curlin is ranked No.1 and leads in earnings.

The connections of Number One ranked Thoroughbred Curlin haven't commited their charge to run in the Breeders' Cup World Championships scheduled for Santa Anita Park, Arcadia, California October 24 and 25. As reigning Horse of the Year, he would be the headliner in the BC Classic October 25. He's the only horse in training who could attempt to duplicate the feat of Tiznow by winning the Classic in back-to-back years.

Curlin Can Make History With Two Classic Wins

Although Tiznow won the BC Classic in 2000 and 2001, he was not voted Horse of the Year in both those seasons. He was HOY in 2000 only. Point Given, who won two of the three Triple Crown races in 2001, as well as the Haskell Invitational and the Travers Stakes, won Horse of the Year.

The door is open for Curlin to make a monumental historic statement. He could repeat as the BC Classic champion and repeat as Horse of the Year.

But will he even get there? And if he does, can he rise to the occasion once more and hoof it out with Big Brown and the tough Pride of England, Henrythenavigator, over the long 1-1/4 miles of the Classic?

Some have regarded Curlin as an underachiever this season, pointing fingers at his "not dominating enough" Dubai World Cup romp, his "out of his element" turf loss to Red Rocks, and his "not too exciting" Woodward victory.

Then, of course, there's the controversy over not meeting up with Big Brown, who, in fact, has his own detractors. Curlin's majority owner, Jess Jackson, has been cautious in his statements of not matching his star with IEAH Stables' Big Brown. He's chosen a proper schedule as his first priority for Curlin. "You have to be above that sort of thing," he has said in answer to questions of purposefully avoiding running against Big Brown.

Even so, it's hard to imagine that a competitor like Jackson wouldn't be chomping at the bit for the chance to be the only owner to win two straight Classics and two straight HOYs with one horse.

Top Ten Ranks and Polls Headed to the 25th Breeders' Cup

Through October 3, the statistics and NTRA Poll for the Top Ten Thoroughbreds look like this:

Curlin -- Race Record, 2008: 5 - 4 - 1 - 0 ----- Earnings: $5,039,000
Big Brown -- 7 - 6 - 0 - 0 ----- $3,576,700
Benny the Bull -- 4 - 4 - 0 - 0 ----- $1,753,080 (out of training, injury)
Go Between -- 5 - 2 - 3 - 0 ----- $1,530,000
Proud Spell -- 8 - 4 - 2 - 2 ----- $1,514,840
Well Armed -- 6 - 3 - 2 - 1 ----- $1,480,000
Colonel John -- 5 - 3 - 0 - 1 ----- $1,213,530
Hystericalady -- 7 - 4 - 1 - 1 ----- $1,182,053
Ginger Punch -- 7 - 5 - 1 - 1 ----- $1,163,924
Mauralakana -- 7 - 5 - 2 - 0 ----- $1,066,920

Curlin (Age 4, colt) --- Rank No.1 -------------------- Colonel John (3, c) --- No.6

Zenyatta (4, f) --- No.2 ----------------------------------- Indian Blessing (3, f) --- No.7

Big Brown (3, c) --- No.3 -------------------------------- Go Between (5, h) --- No.8

Commentator (7, g) --- No.4 --------------------------- Well Armed (5, g) --- No.9

Ginger Punch (5, m) --- No.5 -------------------------- Proud Spell (3, f) --- No.10

All of the above are Breeders' Cup commited, except Curlin and Proud Spell. More updates and statistics will follow in the coming days. Stay tuned to horseracing. It's sweet!

The copyright of the article Curlin Has Chance to Repeat in BC Classic in Thoroughbred Racing is owned by BarbaraAnne Helberg. Permission to republish Curlin Has Chance to Repeat in BC Classic in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.