The Racing Hub : Curlin

Controversy or Boredom?

cdawahare — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:33:00 GMT

In days gone by, the Breeders' Cup Classic would be so laden with talented horses that I would anticipate the running over and over in my mind, days or even weeks before the gates ever opened. Looking at what we might see this year, I may find myself watching the Alabama-Tennessee game instead. Forgettable....(read more)

Big Brown is No Curlin

cdawahare — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:44:00 GMT

By John Clay, Lexington Herald Leader

Unlike last Saturday, this time the superstar delivered.

Big time.

There is only one true superstar on the Thoroughbred racing planet right now, and it isn't that worn-out 3-year-old who dissolved into a Big Brown meltdown in the Long Island heat during last Saturday's Belmont Stakes.

Curlin is king of the Sport of Kings, as the reigning Horse of the Year proved again Saturday, carrying 128 pounds in comfortable fashion, assuming control at the head of the stretch and cruising to a 4¼-length win in the Grade I Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs.

Remember that pre-Belmont chatter of a possible matchup, if not match race, between Big Brown and Curlin somewhere down the line?

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Great Horse?

cdawahare — Mon, 19 May 2008 13:53:00 GMT

By Joe Drape, NYTimes.com

BALTIMORE — It’s hard to find fault in Big Brown’s performance here in the Preakness. He was barely asked to run by the jockey Kent Desormeaux and buried an overmatched field.

Still, between now and the Belmont Stakes, we’re going to hear a great deal about whom Big Brown has beaten, and whether or not he is merely a superior horse in a mediocre crop of 3-year-olds. I ran into Robby Albarado Saturday night — he’s the regular rider for Curlin, the reigning Horse of the Year, and finished fourth in Saturday’s Preakness aboard Racecar Rhapsody.

Albarado laughed when asked if Big Brown was in Curlin’s league.

“It’s the difference between men and boys, and hopefully we’ll get to see that in the fall if they meet in the Gold Cup or Breeders’ Cup,” Albarado said. “Frankly, there were at least four 3-year-olds last year who were as good as Big Brown if not better. Street Sense, Hard Spun, Any Given Saturday and Curlin.”