Welcome to the first installment of a new feature here at Blinkers Off.  The tagline of this little corner of the intertubes does mention “fannish glee over the Curlin babies”, mainly because I get really excited whenever any of them run, and even moreso when they win.  The least I could do is institute a weekly feature touching on how Curlin’s progeny are doing out on the track!  Tracking every workout in the blog would get a bit tedious to read (though rest assured I am excitedly doing that from my virtual stable!), however this feature will follow recent race results, entries, and other notable happenings related to Curlin’s progeny.

Race Results

• Curlin On By – A three-year-old Florida-bred out of the Nureyev mare Grandes Jetes, Curlin On By finished ninth in a $75,000 maiden claiming race at seven and a half furlongs on the Gulfstream turf on March 12.  There were ten total horses in the field, and he finished 19 1/2 lengths behind Bartiromo after stumbling at the start.  It was his second career race, and his first dropping in for the tag.
• Diversy Harbor – Even though dropping the second e in “Diversey” drives me crazy, I’m pretty sure someone was mounting some sort of subliminal attempt to make me fall in love with their racehorse.  Not only is she a Curlin baby (out of the Storm Cat mare Motokiks), but she is also named after a place in Chicago, my hometown.  Last Saturday, this promising three-year-old filly won the China Doll Stakes at Santa Anita, at a mile on the turf.  She closed powerfully to cross the wire 1/2 length in front of Nashoba’s Gold.  This was her second career race, and her second win.
• Maria Maria – Maria Maria took on the boys this past Saturday, March 8, and acquitted herself well.  This three-year-old filly out of Hollow Miss (With Approval) ran in the same one mile turf allowance at Tampa Bay Downs as Bobby’s Kitten did.  She crossed the wire 3rd, 3 1/4 lengths behind Bobby’s Kitten and 1 3/4 lengths behind the second-place Global View.  She was last early, but made a good closing move down the stretch to check in third.  I’m interested in why her connections decided to run her in this race instead of a fillies allowance, but glad to see that she managed to check in as near as she did to Bobby’s Kitten and Global View.
• Palace Malice – He may have been mentioned once or twice here, since he is only my favourite horse.  By Curlin out of the Royal Anthem mare Palace Rumor, he started his four-year-old season with a bang by winning the Gulfstream Park Handicap in the gamest way possible.
• Please Explain – Please Explain is another horse who has been discussed at length already here due to her presence in my Triple Crown fantasy stable.  This past week, this three-year-old filly out of the Pine Bluff mare Lizzy’s Bluff had her first test in graded stakes company, finishing third in the Honeybee Stakes.
• Skydeck – Skydeck, a three-year-old filly out of the Storm Cat mare Thiscatsforcaryl (making her a half sister to Rapid Redux!), raced for the fourth time of her career on March 7.  She finished 5th beaten 21 1/4 lengths in a one mile maiden special weight on the synthetic, after fading out badly late.  This brings her career record to 4-0-1-0, all in maiden specials on the Turfway synthetic.
• Slip By – Slip By, still a maiden, is a three-year-old colt out of Fortune Pending (Fortunate Prospect).  On March 8, he raced for the third time in his career, finishing 5th beaten 10 3/4 lengths in a one mile maiden special weight.  In that race, he went off at 46.8-1 — the third-longest shot in the ten-horse field.  His second out, on February 8, he finished 11th beaten 11 lengths in the same one-mile maiden special at Gulfstream in which Tampa Bay Derby winner Ring Weekend broke his maiden.

Racing Soon

• Fairness – This four-year-old filly out of the War Chant mare No Fair took eight tries to break her maiden.  However, she broke it in style in her last start.  She won a 1 mile 70 yard maiden special weight at Sam Houston on February 28th, by nine and a half lengths.  She returns to the track on Saturday, March 15 at Fair Grounds, racing about a mile.  Fairness has the rail in an allowance race for non-winners of one other than maiden, claiming, starter, or state-bred allowance, or non-winners of two lifetime.
• Jay Eye See – Jay Eye See is one of the more heavily raced of the Curlin progeny, having a race record of 19-3-3-4 to date.  On February 22nd, this four-year-old colt out of the Nureyev mare England’s Rose finished 7th beaten 11 lengths in a $100,000 Allowance Optional Claiming at Calder at 1 1/16 miles on the dirt.  He is slated to race again this Friday at Gulfstream, in a $100,000 AOC at six and a half furlongs.  He drew the outside post, but the field only contains five horses.  He was not in for the tag last race, and he is again not in for the tag this race.
• Ride On Curlin – Ride On Curlin, a three-year-old colt out of Magical Ride (Storm Cat), has been covered in detail here for a while since he is in my Triple Crown fantasy stable.  He races this Saturday in the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn.

Other News

• Ocean Knight – Ocean Knight is far from the racetrack.  However, this two-year-old colt out of the Stormy Atlantic mare Ocean Goddess caused some buzz this week after posting a bullet quarter mile in :20.60 during the second session of the OBS March Selected Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training.  He ended up selling to Stonestreet Stables for $320,000 at the auction.
• Stopshoppingdebbie – Stopshoppingdebbie, a four-year-old filly out of the Wild Again mare Taste The Passion, is undefeated in her five career starts at Emerald Downs.  Four of those wins have come in stakes races at the track.  The Emerald Downs meet doesn’t start back up again until April 12, and there is no indication she is planning on racing anywhere else.  After the winter off, she just returned to the worktab on March 8, breezing three furlongs in 39.20.
• Top Billing – Out of the A.P. Indy mare Parade Queen, Top Billing had established itself as one of the top contenders on this year’s Kentucky Derby trail.  Unfortunately, he cracked his right front cannon bone in a workout the morning of Saturday, March 8.  He had surgery the next day, which was successful according to all public accounts from trainer Shug McGaughey; he is recuperating at WinStar Farm.  It will be at least four months until he returns to training.

That’s it for this week.  It is my goal to follow all of his runners, from lower-level claimers all the way on to graded stakes winners.  If there’s a Curlin baby you think I missed, leave a comment and let me know so I can add him to my list and cover him or her in future installments of this week in Curlin babies!