Comments on: Curlin grinds out win in the Woodward

By: Brian A.

Brian A. — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:21:06 +0000

It’s the Jockey Club Gold Cup for Curlin next!! I hope he destroys the field. It’s in NY again, which means I can go see him again!!!

By: Jerry

Jerry — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 01:08:43 +0000

I really like seeing Curlin come out of a fast race for once. He needed this race to be get back in top form. Look for him to run like a monster next time out!

By: Kevin Stafford

Kevin Stafford — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 22:54:08 +0000

It sounds like it’s either the Goodwin or the Jockey Club Gold Cup next. I also thought it sounded more and more this week like there wouldn’t be a 5-year-old campaign for Curlin. A few weeks back I was convinced there would be.

Regarding the Woodward – I think it’s worth pointing out that Curlin had to run for a good 3/4 of a mile to close the ground between him and the speedball. That’s taxing for any horse, but he still did not appear to be laboring to me the way say Big Brown did in the Haskell.

If he did look heavy, well – this horse is a monster, and he eats like Michael Phelps. I think he’s fine. The M.O. to beat him seems to now be to have ridiculous early fractions and then hope you can hang on. I doubt anyone will be able to make it close once he gets back to 1 1/4 miles. I wonder how many lengths he would’ve won the Woodward bye if he had another furlong?

As for the syn-dirt thing – I don’t blame them (his connections) one bit. I know it’s glorious to run in the Classic and in a perfect world we’d do that, but I agree with them that he’s been there/done that, and I also agree that th synthetic tracks favor a different type of horse.

An analogy i”ve been using to explain this goes to my beloved St. Louis Rams in there “greatest show on turf” days in 1999 – 2001. Take them off the turf and onto regular grass and suddenly they weren’t twice as fast as every other team. Yet put those same teams on the turf and the Rams ran circles around everyone.

I think it’s a big enough concern that if I were making the decisions on Curlin, I’d probably skip the Classic as well. Hate to say it, but there it is. Believe me though – I dream of a Breeder’s Cup weekend this fall that features Curlin, Zenyatta, Street Boss, Ginger Punch, etc.

By: Gregg

Gregg — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:54:45 +0000

Hi Kevin, I have been very busy..But glad to see Curlin win,,,,However he
started to get tired late—This was not the same tease win like pre-world
cup………..Lets hope he gets that strong zip back..

When i last left you i was a little upset with Curlin’s connections about
syn turf-Well i think they are coming around, the Goodwood could be in there
plans…….The next big thing other then winning the Arch—Would be to win
the Classic and then win the World Cup in March and then retire to stud…
What do you think? I beleive no one has done that……GREGG

By: Valerie

Valerie — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 00:17:15 +0000

I hate to say it, but when I saw Curlin in the paddock (albeit via Twinspires’ video), the first thing I thought too was he looked a little fat around the middle. Given the way he labored home, I’m thinking he could do with more frequent workouts. Maybe Asmussen isn’t really training him as much as letting him get by on pure talent. That was my complaint about his turf effort–they barely trained him over the surface. I can understand he’s worth a ton of money as a potential stud, but he can get hurt from lack of training too.