Horse Racing Fantasy Community

No races at 2, richest ever at 4! Since uber-community member puddles graciously shared his Breeders' Cup-day photos of Curlin, it occurred to me that our community might like to see a short review of his wonderful career. It has not been decided whether or not Curlin will come back as a 5-year-old or if he'll be retired to stud. Of course the racing public would love to see him come back, but the cost to insure a horse like him is so expensive theses days makes that a tough proposition. Anyway, I must tell all of you that Curlin, and many other amazing horses of recent vintage, can be yours to ride in our online racing game for peanuts (click here). After seeing what this remarkable horse could do, I want to get into the game right away and get Curlin his Triple Crown or re-run this years' BC Classic.

Like Cigar, the horse that he surpassed atop the money list, Curlin did not follow the traditional beginning for most great horses. Instead, he did not race as a 2-year-old. His maiden race was on February 3, 2007, and it wasn't a typical 5+1/2 or 6 furlong sprint. Rather, it was a 7 furlong debut, and what a debut it was! Take a look:

After that impressive debut, Curlin was sold for a whopping $3.5 million. He then headed won his next two races, the Rebel Stakes and the Arkansas Derby, the latter of which was his final Kentucky Derby prep race. Again, dominated the field:

Some people, myself included, felt that Curlin's lack of seasoning as a 2-year-old would hurt him in Kentucky Derby, where he'd be going a mile and a quarter for the first time, and also racing against the biggest field of his life. Now, of course we know he finished third in that race behind Street Sense and Hard Spun. The debate continues as to whether it was his #2 post position and the traffic-jam that resulted or whether it was the aforementioned lack of seasoning. Looking back, maybe it was a bit of both. Doesn't matter, because Curlin bounced back in the Preakness, turning in his most impressive win yet:

Curlin was the favorite for the Belmont three weeks later, but an agonizingly slow pace in the first half of the race set the stage for a great-granddaughter of Secretariat, Rags to Riches, and one of the great stretch-battles in recent racing history:

When he finished third in his next race, the Haskell Invitational, a lot of people were down on Curlin, but he rebounded with a gritty performance in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, battling the older Lawyer Ron down the stretch:

That performance secured his place in the Breeders' Cup Classic, where he was not made the favorite. Instead he went off as the fourth betting choice in the biggest race of the year, run at Monmouth Park on a sloppy track. In this race, Curlin made the best colts in the world look pitifully inferior:

With that smashing performance, Curlin finished his 3-year-old campaign with a record of 6 wins, 1 second, and 2 shows in 9 starts and won Champion 3-year-old Colt honors as well as horse racing's most coveted accolade, 2007 Horse of the Year. His winnings also set the stage for him to make a run at Cigar's all-time record, something his owner and trainer declared they would shoot for in 2008.