Nearly the one factor Curlin didn’t do in his fabulous profession was finish “The Curse of Apollo.”
A horse who didn’t race at 2 had not received the Kentucky Derby because the aforementioned Apollo all the best way again in 1882, and Curlin gave it the outdated school attempt to finish the jinx that Triple Crown winner Justify ultimately halted in 2018.
Curlin made his debut on Feb. 3, 2003 after which ran third three months later within the Kentucky Derby.
But after that first Saturday in Might, there was no stopping Curlin.
He received the Preakness Stakes by a head and was rapidly on his approach to a profession that might see him develop into a two-time Horse of the Yr and retire as the game’s all-time main cash earner with $10,501,800 (Curlin now ranks thirteenth by lifetime earnings amongst racehorses competing in North America and Dubai).
As they are saying, higher late than by no means.
A son of Good Strike out of the Deputy Minister mare Sherriff’s Deputy, Curlin was purchased as a yearling for $57,000 by the Midnight Cry Steady of William Gallion and Shirley Cunningham Jr., class-action attorneys in Kentucky.
Educated initially by Helen Pitts, Curlin romped by an eye-popping 12 ¾ lengths in his debut at Gulfstream Park.
It was the sort of debut that immediately sparked Triple Crown goals and got here at a fortuitous time for Gallion and Cunningham who would ultimately land in jail for allegedly pocketing $90 million from a $200-million class-action settlement they organized.
Attracted by the promise they noticed in Curlin, a gaggle consisting of Jess Jackson, the founding father of Kendall-Jackson wines and Stonestreet Stables, Satish Sanan, and George Bolton gave the Midnight Cry duo $3.5-million for an 80% share of Curlin.
The preliminary reward was a 5 ¼-length victory within the Grade 3 Insurgent Stakes at Oaklawn Park in Curlin’s preliminary begin for his new connections and coach Steve Asmussen. A smashing 10 1/2-length victory within the Arkansas Derby was subsequent and it paved the best way for Curlin to be despatched off because the 5-1 second alternative within the 2007 Kentucky Derby.
Apollo’s jinx gave the impression to be on the ropes, however Curlin had some visitors points early on and, although he closed rapidly within the stretch, he needed to accept third behind the victorious Road Sense, who broke a hex of his personal by turning into the primary horse to win each the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and the Kentucky Derby.
Within the Preakness, Road Sense appeared house free in midstretch however this time Curlin’s livid late cost paid off as he surged previous within the last strides to win by a head.
And not using a Triple Crown on the road, Road Sense skipped the Belmont Stakes however the flippantly raced Curlin moved on to New York. There he wound up in a basic stretch duel with the filly Rags to Riches, who prevailed by a head to finish an extended jinx than Road Sense did, as she grew to become the primary filly to win the Belmont since 1905.
Exiting the Triple Crown, the 3-year-old crop of 2007 boasted 4 distinctive males in Road Sense, Curlin, Laborious Spun, and Any Given Saturday, all of whom have been destined to battle it out to the Breeders’ Cup to resolve the division championship.
The primary post-Triple Crown showdown got here within the Haskell Invitational, which Any Given Saturday received by 4 ½ lengths over Laborious Spun, the Kentucky Derby runner-up who beat Curlin to the end line by a head.
Whereas Road Sense received the Travers Stakes, Curlin took two months off and returned to face his elders for the primary time, bravely successful the Jockey Membership Gold Cup by a neck over Lawyer Ron.
It then got here right down to the Breeders’ Cup Traditional to find out not simply the champion 3-year-old however Horse of the Yr as properly. On a sloppy racetrack at a rain-soaked Monmouth Park, Curlin and common rider Robby Albarado splashed to a 4 ½-length win over Laborious Spun with Road Sense fourth and Any Given Saturday sixth.
“It’s unimaginable,” Asmussen stated after the Traditional. “It’s all about Curlin. He’s the one who did it. [The track] was an enormous concern. I used to be extraordinarily nervous about it, extraordinarily nervous. Robby gave him the prospect. He acquired him on his toes. First time by [the stands], he was carrying Robby properly, and he ran extraordinarily properly from there. He’s an unimaginable horse.”
Horse of the Yr belonged to Curlin, and 2008 appeared his for the taking as properly with Road Sense headed to the breeding shed.
But slightly than bully U.S. rivals initially of 2008, Jackson despatched his star abroad in the hunt for greater challenges and after a victory in a prep race at Nad Al Sheba, he romped within the $6 million Dubai World Cup by a record-smashing 7 ¾ lengths.
“What a horse,” Albarado stated. “Curlin is sort of a limousine and I’m simply alongside for the experience.”
Again in the US, Asmussen despatched Curlin out within the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Stakes and he responded with a 4 ¼-length victory.
Jackson opted for a special problem in Curlin’s subsequent begin and ran him on the turf within the Grade 1 Man o’ Warfare the place he was second to Crimson Rocks.
Again on the primary observe, Curlin posted wins within the Woodward Stakes at Saratoga and Jockey Membership Gold Cup and headed to Santa Anita Park for a second journey to the Breeders’ Cup Traditional.
This time, although, the Traditional was contested on an artificial floor that he didn’t relish and he completed fourth in his last profession begin.
The loss, nevertheless, couldn’t diminish what Curlin did that 12 months and he was as soon as once more voted Horse of the Yr, beating the 3-year-old Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Huge Brown and an undefeated filly named Zenyatta.
It was a becoming honor to shut out a profession that was completely good.
“Curlin confirmed the guts of a champion in each race,” Jackson stated previous to the 2008 Eclipse Awards. “He did every part we requested of him and extra — taking over ever-more tough challenges. He received going away, he received coming from behind, he received within the warmth and within the rain.”
Take that, Apollo.
Observe: This story was initially revealed in 2016 and has been up to date.
Enjoyable Information About Curlin
- Curlin, Smart Dan, Secretariat, Forego, Affirmed, and Cigar are the one horses to win Horse of the Yr honors in back-to-back years because the Eclipse period began in 1971. Curlin was elected to the Nationwide Museum of Racing’s Corridor of Fame in 2014.
- Curlin was the fourth horse to win the Breeders’ Cup Traditional and the Dubai World Cup the next 12 months, becoming a member of Cigar, Pleasantly Good, and Invasor. Arrogate grew to become the fifth in 2017.
- After retiring, Curlin grew to become one of many main sires in North America. His prime progeny embody 2023 Horse of the Yr Cody’s Want, champions Elite Energy, Idiomatic, Malathaat, Nest, Vino Rosso, Good Magic, and Stellar Wind, 2013 Belmont Stakes winner Palace Malice, and 2016 Preakness Stakes winner Exaggerator.
