Curlin Returns to Win at Belmont
Smart Strike Colt Strikes Down Lawyer Ron in Another Stretch Duel
After turning in just one race where he placed third since the grueling run in the Belmont Stakes against the tough Rags to Riches, Curlin proved still stretch worthy.
Curlin, the Steve Asmussen trained Triple Crown threat of the 2007 season, had raced just once since losing by a hair to Rags to Riches in the heart pounding stretch drive of the Belmont Stakes on June 9. He finished an unexplained lackluster third in the Haskell Invitational Handicap to Hard Spun and winner Any Given Saturday on August 5th.
The youngster, unraced at the age of two, but a burly, muscle-me-in type within his stretch drives in his debut three-year-old season, returned to battle at Belmont Park this past weekend with after burners re-fired to strike down the country's best four-year-old, Todd Pletcher trained Lawyer Ron. In another scintillating, long-striding homestretch gallop, Curlin pounded down Lawyer Ron hoof by mighty hoof, looking stronger than ever in the final furlong as he won the $765,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup at 1-1/4 miles in 2:01.20.
Asmussen said he hopes to head the hearty chestnut to October's Breeder's Cup Classic at Monmouth Park, New Jersey in freshened fashion.
Curlin's resounding win likley puts him into more head-to-head combat with the likes of Lawyer Ron and Political Force, who finished third in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, as well as with the maturing, blitzing Any Given Saturday, winner of the Haskell and the $150,000 Brooklyn Handicap, as well as Hard Spun, Tiago, and Street Sense, all tough competitors this year.
The Breeders' Cup Classic could be another meat-grinder battle.
Robby Albarado and John Velazquez were aboard the first two finishers of the Jockey Club Gold Cup and have spent a lot of the summer facing one another. They'll both have their mounts in the Breeders' Cup.
Curlin's owners, George Bolton, Stonestreet Stables, Midnight Cry Stable, and Padua Stables, were excited about their colt's successful return to Belmont. After Curlin's eight-week layoff (from the Haskell), his owners are ready to let the ink dry on the colt's entry for the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic.
Curlin took his normal wide turn into the stretch lane and came on flying to chase down Lawyer Ron. Albarado says he loves to get room and fly the lane. With five wins in eight starts, Curlin increased his year's earnings to $2,402,800.
Lawyer Ron at three did well, but this season he has shown real fire and toughness. In the July $750,000 Whitney Handicap and in the $500,000 Woodward Stakes in September, the chestnut cruised to victories while impressing Velazquez and Pletcher. He's run easily and put up great numbers. In the Whitney, he beat the 2002 track record of Left Bank, another Pletcher schoolee ridden by Velazquez. Left Bank had tied the mark of 1:10-4/5 set by Tri Jet in 1974.
With a few breaks, Pletcher said, Lawyer Ron could have been unbeaten this year. Until Curlin...
