THE ASPIRING HORSEPLAYER

The older male division of thoroughbred horse racing took yet another unexpected turn with the announcement of Heatseeker’s retirement on Tuesday.  The colt had been scratched from the Hollywood Gold Cup last weekend due to ankle fillings.  The announcement regarding his retirement took many by surprise, including me. 

Heatseeker had been my pick to go on and win the Breeder’s Cup Classic this year, due to his affinity for the synthetic surfaces on the California racing circuit.  With all the talk of Big Brown and Curlin going on this year, I was getting ready to start proclaiming Heatseeker a lock for the big race in October. 

Instead, his proud career had come to a close.  Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer and assistant trainer Dan Ward made the decision they felt was best for Heatseeker after  the swelling in his ankle did not subside.  Examinations have also indicated that he has some soft tissue damage to a ligament in his left foreleg. 

With that in mind, I tip my hate farewell to Heatseeker.  It was a pleasure watching you – especially over the last year – and I’ll look forward to seeing your offspring in several years.  Heatseeker amassed $1,180,233 in earnings over a career that included 7 victories in 17 lifetime starts.

I thought it best to wind up this discussion by remembering Heatseeker in perhaps his finest moment – his victory in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap:

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Curlin takes to the grass.  You just knew there’d be a post about this here, didn’t you?  I know at times this blog becomes almost entirely focused on Curlin.  The second half of his 2008 campaign continues to look ever greener.   On Tuesday morning the world champion hit the grass for his first official turf workout – and it seems to have gone splendidly.

Curlin officially breezed 7 furlongs over the grass in 1:31.20.  From reading reports, it appears he was a bit slow at first but once he wound up he found his trademark giant strides and was clocked in the final quarter mile at 24.20 and the final furlong in 12.20. 

It looks to me like Curlin will be pointing towards the Arlington Handicap on July 12.  I say this despite the fact that Asmussen and Jackson will not publicly commit to anything. All that we know for certain is that Curlin will work over the main track at Churchill next week  on July 7.  Steve Asmussen is also on record as saying that he’d prefer to ship Curlin overseas to prepare for the Arc as soon as possible, but he also cautions not to get carried away and look too far into the future. 

My favorite quote of Asmussen’s regarding the workout and the need to keep expectations in check was:

“A nice workout is not a graded stakes.” 

For what it’s worth, jockey Robby Albarado was on hand for the workout and according to reports appears to have felt that Curlin took to the surface well.

We’ll be keeping close tabs on Curlin’s progress and potential entry into his next race, wherever that may be and upon whatever surface they choose to run him.