March 25 - Curlin

One of my most memorable days at the track was the day Curlin ran his debut at Gulfstream and broke his maiden by more lengths than I have fingers to count.

It was Fountain of Youth Saturday and there was an impressive group of three-year-old scheduled to run later in the feature race of the day.

I pulled up a seat in the theater style seating that Gulfstream Park had introduced that year after tearing down the old track. I was sitting with Jeff Schweitert of Four Horsemen Farm in Ocala. Jeff and family had been in the business for decades. I'd like to think that we had a pretty good eye for horses. We sat there with our racing forms inspecting each horse in the sunshine before they went under the grandstand out to the track. There was a maiden race early in the card. I learned a long time ago that betting on a first-time starter was a fool's game (usually) especially when they were going up against horses with a few races under their belts. There was a pretty Smart Strike colt in the race, but he was a first-time starter, so our thought was that today was not his day, WRONG!!!

That shining chestnut horse didn't just win, he crushed this group of nice three-year-old, like I said earlier, by more than 10 lengths. First time starters might win sometimes, but they don't win like THAT very often! Jeff and I were stunned, and we did what everybody does after a race that completely catches you by surprise. We went back to the racing form to try and see what clues there might have been for this incredible performance. We were left shaking our heads and I can say that we talked about that race and THAT horse the rest of the afternoon.

The Fountain of Youth came up later and it was an amazing race with four horses hitting the wire within a half stride of each other. I think there was No Biz Like Showbiz, Stormello, Adore the Gold, and the winner Scat Daddy.

But when the day was done as Jeff and I went our separate ways, we were still marveling at that chestnut colt named Curlin.

Obviously, we weren't the only ones watching. By the following Monday, Curlin had three new partners in his ownership group including Jess Jackson, George Bolton, and Satish Sanan.

Curlin would go on to be the Horse of the Year that year after his win in the Breeders' Cup Classic at muddy Monmouth Park. Legal complications with the original owners dictated that Curlin would race again as a 4-year-old which meant a trip to the Dubai World Cup where we won the richest race in the world (at that time). This would lead to Curlin repeating as Horse of the Year as a 4-year-old.

I painted at the Eclipse Awards after his 2007 campaign and of course his win at Monmouth was my subject that night. I also have the ONLY halter he ever wore during his racing career, but that's another story for another day. It just hangs without fanfare on my easel. If you want fanfare, go see Curlin on a sunny day - HE SPARKLES!!!

Curlin was one of the greatest American racehorses of the modern era and a two time Horse of the Year. He was foaled in 2004 and trained by Steve Asmussen for Stonestreet Stables, Padua Stables, and George Bolton. His sire was Smart Strike, and his dam was Sherriff's Deputy, a daughter of Deputy Minister. He was a big, powerful chestnut with a stride that ate up the ground, and he was as tough as he was talented.

Curlin burst onto the scene in early 2007 with a stunning maiden win that set racing fans buzzing. He came up just short in his first stakes try in the Arkansas Derby, where he beat older rivals after a rough trip, and he ran third in the 2007 Kentucky Derby behind Street Sense. Two weeks later in the 2007 Preakness Stakes, Curlin caught Street Sense in a thrilling stretch duel and won by a head. That win stamped him as a true champion. He capped his three year old season with a huge win in the 2007 Breeders Cup Classic at Monmouth Park, beating older horses by more than four lengths in slop. He was named 2007 Horse of the Year.

His four year old season in 2008 may have been even better. He shipped to the Middle East and won the Dubai World Cup, becoming the first North American based horse to win that race. He came back home and won the Stephen Foster Handicap, the Woodward Stakes, and the Jockey Club Gold Cup. He even tried the grass for the first time in the Man o' War Stakes and finished second to Red Rocks. He ran fourth on a sloppy synthetic surface in the 2008 Breeders Cup Classic, but the writing was already on the wall. He was named 2008 Horse of the Year for the second straight year. Curlin retired with 11 wins from 16 starts and over 10.5 million dollars in earnings, a North American record at the time.

At stud, Curlin has become one of the most important sires in the world. He stands at Hill 'n' Dale Farm in Kentucky and has produced Eclipse champions and classic winners. His best runners include Stellar Wind, Palace Malice, Exaggerator, Good Magic, Vino Rosso, Connect, and Keen Ice. His 2024 son Sierra Leone ran second in the Kentucky Derby and won the Breeders Cup Classic. Curlin is now a true sire of sires and one of the cornerstones of the modern American breed. He is remembered as a horse who combined size, speed, stamina, and pure heart.

Sources:

• Curlin - Wikipedia

• Hill 'n' Dale Farms - Curlin

• Bloodhorse - Curlin