Welcome back to the Twelve Days of Curlin Babies, where we celebrate the twelve most memorable races from Curlin’s progeny throughout 2018. Through all the hundreds of races in which they ran this year, these are the ones to which my mind keeps wandering back. #12: Timeless Curls Marks Herself a Rising Star#11: Secret Passage Comes... Continue Reading →
#12: the fifth annual Twelve Days of Curlin Babies
The end of December has come around, and unless you have been living under a rock these last five (!) years, you know what that means: it's time for the Twelve Days of Curlin Babies! As always, the Twelve Days of Curlin Babies features memorable races by Curlin's progeny at every level of the game.... Continue Reading →
a tale of two eleven-year-olds
This evening, chatter on horse racing Twitter has been dominated by news of two eleven-year-olds. Ben's Cat has been retired. Awesome Actor was entered to race this Thursday. (Update, June 28, 2017: Erich Zimny from Charles Town has announced that Awesome Actor will not be allowed to run. I am keeping the rest of this... Continue Reading →
battle of the Curlin babies at Laurel
Yesterday's Marylander Stakes featured a battle of two of Curlin's most promising two-year-old sons. Irish War Cry (Irish Sovereign, by Polish Numbers) had already proven himself once over the Laurel dirt. He debuted in a maiden special weight, drawn far outside in a six-furlong maiden special weight sprint on November 11. He rallied from well... Continue Reading →
another excellent week for Curlin babies!
Connect (Bullville Belle, by Holy Bull) carried the banner for Curlin Babies Saturday, winning a loaded edition of the Pennsylvania Derby (GII). Already a stakes winner after winning the Curlin at Saratoga, he rebounded from a sixth-place finish in the Travers Stakes (GI). He tracked inside and midpack through much of the race, was finally... Continue Reading →
Undulated proves himself on the track
High-flying racehorse auction buys can be some risky investments. After all, the old adage is "breed the best to the best, and hope for the best". Notice, they don't say plan. You can't plan that the best of each genetic line will be expressed in the foal. You can't plan whether the horse stays sound... Continue Reading →
Picks and Ponderings: De Francis Dash Preview
This Saturday, Laurel Park hosts a stakes-laden card, anchored by the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash. The race, six furlongs on the dirt, drew a field of nine. Those runners include a mix of graded stakes level shippers as well as a handful of locals trying to beat the heavy hitters. Palace may loom... Continue Reading →
a great day for sophomore fillies by Curlin!
Breeders' Cup Friday proved a good day for three three-year-old fillies by Curlin. Two daughters of Curlin lined up in the same Breeders' Cup race today. Both Curalina (Whatdreamsrmadeof, by Graeme Hall) and Stellar Wind (Evening Star, by Malibu Moon) contested the Distaff. A little over five hundred miles east, Curlish Figure (Fi, by Langfuhr)... Continue Reading →
Curlin babies, coast to coast
Not since the heady early days of Saratoga has there been such a good day for Curlin babies. From Churchill to Parx to Laurel to Santa Anita, the sons and daughters of Curlin were running big and getting their pictures taken. Curlins Pride (Lauren's Tizzy, by Tiznow) got the day started out the right way. ... Continue Reading →
Curlin’s monster weekend
Sires rarely have better weekends than Curlin just had. Curlin had nine runners hit the board, six of whom won their races. He had a pair of graded stakes winners: his first fourth-crop stakes winners, as well as his second multiple Grade I winner. From the claiming ranks to the highest level, and everywhere in... Continue Reading →
Sound Studio figures it out
Heading to post for the Keeneland 7th on October 5th, dreams of lilies danced in everyone's heads. Nine two-year-old fillies entered the starting gate, facing a mile and a sixteenth test over the dirt. Anyone who did well in that race could start to think about stakes glory. Hopefaithjoy won by daylight, and returned to... Continue Reading →
two different paths to the winners’ circle
Within the last few days, two sons of Curlin broke their maiden by open lengths. Their paths to the winner's circle could not have been more different. Three-year-old colt Top of Mind (Over the Edge, by Thunder Gulch) made his career debut on Friday at Laurel. He had a string of sharp workouts leading up... Continue Reading →
Picks and Ponderings: a grab bag of stakes action
This week at Picks and Ponderings, I previewed a grab bag of three stakes that could hardly be more dissimilar: the Red Smith (GIII) for long-winded grassy types at Aqueduct, the DeFrancis Dash for the dirt sprinters at Laurel, and the Bob Hope (GIII) for the emerging two-year-old polytrack runners at Del Mar. All three... Continue Reading →
Big ‘Cap Weekend recap: part 1!
I fared a bit better in the races away from Hawthorne this weekend than I did at Hawthorne. It would be weird, but I'm starting to do enough handicapping contests that I'm becoming familiar with a lot of the horses being entered in stakes races around the country. I'm enjoying that feeling of inching my... Continue Reading →
what a Saturday!
There are a ton of big stakes this week, and of course, there are a ton of handicapping contests going on this weekend to go with them. This weekend I'm again doing both the Danonymous Racing contest as well as the Public Handicapper contest. It's eight races in total, since all four Public Handicapper races... Continue Reading →
