#1: the sixth annual Twelve Days of Curlin Babies

December 31, 2019December 31, 2019 rowan wardLeave a comment

Welcome back to the Twelve Days of Curlin Babies, where we celebrate the twelve most memorable races from Curlin’s progeny through 2019. Among all the hundreds of races in which they ran this year, these are the ones to which my mind keeps wandering back.

#12: Curlina Curlina Finds the Wire
#11: A Pleasant Surprise, Volgograd
#10 Ajaaweed Emerges as a Juvenile to Watch
#9 Lady Apple Trains On
#8 Tenfold and Cordmaker Stretch Out
#7 Chaos Theory Defies His Inexperience
#6: Global Campaign, Standard Deviation, and Curlin Grey Hit the Trifecta
#5 Point of Honor Lives Up to Expectations
#4 Risky Risky Risky Comes Home
#3 Gladiator King Rediscovers His Talent
#2 Solar Maximus Finally Conquers Cleveland

#1 Raise a Toast to a Banner Day

November 2 was as as good a day as Curlin’s progeny have ever had, no mean feat. After all, on May 17 of this year, Tenfold, Point of Honor, and Mylady Curlin all won graded stakes races at Pimlico. On November 4, 2017, Good Magic and Solomini formed the exacta of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1). But, on November 2 of this year, Curlin babies were winning all over the country, at every rung on the class ladder.

The day began in modest yet thrilling fashion. In the second race at Finger Lakes, a $7,500 claimer for non-winners of three, going a mile and seventy yards on dirt. Four-year-old gelding Construct (Blue Catillac, by Bluegrass Cat) made the top, was confronted near the half, battled from there to the wire under the urging of rider Joel Cruz, and got his nose down between horses to win the photo. Trained by Julie Smith and owned by his trainer and Deborah M. Cornell, Construct posed for his second win picture in a row after that game effort.

A little over an hour later, Flip (Malibu Moon Dance, by Malibu Moon) took the spotlight in the Laurel fourth, a seven-furlong waiver maiden claimer on the dirt. The three-year-old gelding, trained by Dale Capuano and owned by Edward F. Schuler at the time, was trying for the third time to break his maiden. Breaking second to the outside in the field of eleven, jockey Sheldon Russell sat just off a three-way pace battle, encroached around the far turn, led near the furlong mark, and drove clear to a two-length victory. Flip went home to a different stall after that race; trainer Cathal Lynch and owner Lynch Racing LLC dropped the $35,000 slip. The move paid fast dividends; Flip returned on November 27 to win a starter optional claimer at Laurel for his new connections.

Next came Rocknroll Rocket (Rocket Twentyone, by Indian Charlie). Trained by Robertino Diodoro for owners Rick Wiest, Clayton Wiest, and Charlie Butz, he raced in a maiden optional claimer at a mile on the Turf Paradise grass, the track’s eighth race of the day. Just like Flip, he was three. Unlike Flip, he was in no way new to the racetrack. He was making his thirteenth start. He had already hit the board nine times, including a Listed-level placing: he ran third behind his odds-on stablemate Oil Money in the Manitoba Derby back in August. But, November 2, Rocknroll Rocket’s day finally came under the Arizona sun. He settled at the middle of a well-strung field, jockey Denny Velazquez loose with a circling move from the three furlong pole, and he blasted off to win by five and a quarter lengths. It may have taken him thirteen starts to break his maiden, but his first-level allowance win came far more quickly: just two starts later, on December 2, that time at a mile on the dirt.

The stakes rose for Curlin’s next big moment, in the Chilukki Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs. The race drew a field of six to go a mile on the dirt, and the favourites were both daughters of Curlin: Mylady Curlin (Ladyledue, by Slewdledo) and Sally’s Curlin (Cabo Queen, by More Than Ready). Four-year-old Mylady Curlin, trained by Brad Cox and owned by Sather Family LLC, was the proven stakes horse: she was a three-time stakes winner, including her Grade 3 win on Curlin’s big day at Pimlico back in May. Trainer Dale Romans and owners CJ Thoroughbreds, Left Turn Racing LLC, and Casner Racing, LP had high hopes for Sally’s Curlin, but she was still unproven at the stakes level. She came into the Chilukki flying high off of two consecutive allowance wins, but the three-year-old’s only previous stakes attempt had been an eleventh-place finish in the Indiana Oaks (G3).

Mylady Curlin stalked just behind pacesetter Cairenn, and outside of Divine Queen. Sally’s Curlin, on the other hand, settled to the rear, just inside of Chocolate Martini. Near three furlongs out, both daughters of Curlin began their moves. Jockey Shaun Bridgmohan urged Mylady Curlin to encroach to Cairenn’s outside. Meanwhile, Corey Lanerie switched Sally’s Curlin outside of Chocolate Martini, giving her clear running room to show her closing kick. At the three sixteenths, Mylady Curlin took the lead; Sally’s Curlin rolled up the far outside, still two and a half lengths off the lead.

No one else in the field could match the two daughters of Curlin, but the late run proved the best run. Sally’s Curlin got to Mylady Curlin in time, winning by three quarters of a length.

Vino Rosso, resplendent in the days leading to the 2019 Breeders’ Cup.

Curlin was already having an excellent day, but his biggest moment still awaited. After all, his son Vino Rosso (Mythical Bride, by Street Cry) was making his final start before retiring to stud at Spendthrift Farm, and was doing so in his division’s biggest race of the year. He was trying to become the first of Curlin’s foals to match their sire’s feat of winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1). Trainer Todd Pletcher and owners Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable had planned for it all year, going so far as to send him west for the Gold Cup at Santa Anita (G1) to test him over the track. He passed that test in May, and was coming into the Breeders’ Cup Classic off of a gritty race and a disappointing disqualification in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1).

Drawn second to the outside in the field of eleven, Vino Rosso was prominent, just behind the leading flight, down the first stretch run. With War of Will and his closest pursuers, McKinzie and Mongolian Groom, going as fast as they were — 23.09 for the opening quarter — he settled back closer to midfield around the first turn, three wide but with clear sights. Down the backstretch, he kept on a clear fourth, well behind the leading trio, through a half in 47.16 and three quarters in a lively 1:10.71.

Near the seven sixteenths, jockey Irad Ortiz asked Vino Rosso to get going. He responded, swallowing the gap on the leading group. McKinzie struck the front nearing the quarter pole, but he had company. Just past that point, Vino Rosso looked McKinzie in the eye. A class horse, McKinzie didn’t give up easily, battling Vino Rosso to the furlong mark. However, past the sixteenth, as Vino Rosso drew off to win by four and a quarter lengths over McKinzie, announcer Frank Mirahmadi punctuated the end of the greatest day in the history of Curlin babies.

“Vino Rosso: like father, like son! The son of Curlin romps in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic!”

#2: the sixth annual Twelve Days of Curlin Babies

December 30, 2019January 1, 2020 rowan wardLeave a comment

#2 Solar Maximus Finally Conquers Cleveland

If you’ve been reading the Twelve Days of Curlin Babies over the years, you’ve probably come to ask not whether Solar Maximus (Solar Colony, by Pleasant Colony) will show up somewhere, but where he will show up on the list. After all, he showed up on the list in 2015, 2016, and 2018. All of those most memorable victories came at Mahoning Valley.

In fact, leading into 2019, he had ten wins: all but one at Mahoning. The only exception? His maiden win at Indiana Grand in June of 2013, before Mahoning Valley Race Course even existed.

Over the years Solar Maximus ran into the money his share of times elsewhere: at Thistledown, Belterra, Mountaineer. But, he always saved his winning form for Youngstown, Ohio. The Mahoning off-season meant Solar Maximus off-season, too.

This year, the Solar Maximus off-season ran longer than usual. It was still exciting, in a way; he spent the first five months of his nine-year-old year trying tougher racetracks, Oaklawn and Keeneland and Churchill, much of which while his home track was still running his winter meet. He ran like Solar Maximus away from Mahoning, sometimes rallying on, but never winning. His best finishes in that time were a pair of fourth-place runs at Oaklawn, coming from the clouds.

After that, it was back to normal for Solar Maximus, his usual summertime visit to Thistledown in North Randall, Ohio, just outside of Cleveland. June 4, he rallied, battled, but came home second best behind runaway winner Clyde Park.

A month later, he returned to action at Thistledown for trainer Gary Johnson and owner Ron Paolucci Racing. It was the same level as his last race, a $5,000 claimer for non-winners in a year, going a mile and seventy yards on the dirt.

Jockey Jose Bracho got Solar Maximus out of the gate smoothly and placed him toward the rear. Not all the way back — two others trailed him — but still comfortably off the pace, confident that enough pace would unfold.

Into the first turn, longshots Haywired and Bryndies Jewel disputed the pace, with Bryndies Jewel shaking clear into the back straight. Solar Maximus continued cozily in third-to-last, on his own between the main pack and the trailing pair.

Haywired pressed the pace again from the five eighths; he didn’t make Bryndies Jewel fly, given the 23.20 opening quarter and 48.04 opening half, but at least gave him some pressure, making things better for anyone who wanted to get a run later.

Near the half, Solar Maximus got going three wide, making a circling bid around the far turn.

“Here comes Solar Maximus now! As Max begins to gear up, and he’s travelling well on the outside…”

The familiarity in the voice of announcer Matt Hook, who also calls the races at Mahoning Valley, made it feel like an hour southeast, in the middle of winter.

Bryndies Jewel was all out to keep his lead into the lane, but Solar Maximus was rolling. The pacesetter dug in, but nearing the furlong pole, it had become a one-horse race.

“It’ll be a win for Max, here…”

He drew off by five and three quarters lengths, his first victory in eleven career starts at Thistledown.

After one more start at Thistledown in the summer, a sixth-place run on July 27, he got a break. He returned to his home track on November 13, rallying from last to win an open $8,000 claimer by a gutsy nose in a blanket finish. He ended his nine-year-old year with a fifth-place finish in starter company there on November 30.

Solar Maximus is already scheduled to kick off his ten-year-old year: he is entered at Mahoning Valley on January 4, back in the claiming ranks. He is one of the few in Curlin’s first crop still actively racing. Only four of his first crop raced in North America in 2019: Solar Maximus, Bold Shot, Imyfathersimage, and Federal Agent. Another, A Shin Epona, raced in Japan. Among those, Federal Agent, A Shin Epona, and Solar Maximus were the only ones who won at nine, with Solar Maximus the only two-time winner this year.

Though Solar Maximus’s career is certain to wind down over the next few years, I’m in no hurry to see it end, and would love to see him keep training and winning — at Mahoning and elsewhere! — as long as he loves his job.

#3: the sixth annual Twelve Days of Curlin Babies

December 29, 2019 rowan wardLeave a comment

#3 Gladiator King Rediscovers His Talent

As the year progressed, and three-year-old sprinters like Hog Creek Hustle and Shancelot came to the fore, it was easy to forget about one of the most intriguing sophomore sprinters from the first half of 2019.

Gladiator King (Golden Dawn, by Hennessy) had tried an impressive range of races before he even turned three. In just six races at two, he had tried dirt and turf, tried distances from five furlongs to a mile and an eighth. The shorter the better, it seemed. His three wins came in a maiden turf dash at Gulfstream Park West, an allowance turf dash there, and then the six-furlong Inaugural Stakes on the Tampa Bay dirt.

Coming into the Texas Glitter Stakes at Gulfstream on February 23, Gladiator King had already raced three times as a three-year-old, all on dirt. None of his races had gone well. He ran last behind Mihos in the one-mile Mucho Macho Man Stakes. He ran last behind Win Win Win in the seven-furlong Pasco Stakes. He ran last behind Harvey Wallbanger in the one-and-one-sixteenth-mile Holy Bull Stakes (G2).

The Texas Glitter was an acid test for the Jaime Mejia trainee. With all of the things Gladiator King had tried in nine starts so far, he was finally coming home, in a sense. The Texas Glitter was his first try on the grass since his allowance win back in November, and he was cutting back to five furlongs. If he was going to show that he was still a stakes horse, this was as good as spot as he was going to find.

Gladiator King digs in near the end of the 2019 Texas Glitter Stakes.

The public though Gladiator King was finding the right spot…or, at least, a better spot than the last one. He went off at 16/1, the fourth-longest shot in the field of nine. Those odds were positively chalky compared to his 202/1 odds last time out, in the Holy Bull.

Breaking from the outside, jockey Jorge Solorzano nudged Gladiator King to get involved from the outset. Never Have I Ever made the top, but Solorzano got Gladiator King in a cozy spot just to his outside.

A quarter mile in, Gladiator King made it a battle, edging up to join on even terms with Never Have I Ever. They turned for home in a head-and-head-duel, with Gladiator King going slightly the better of the two. Though, the cavalry closed in on both sides.

In midstretch, Gladiator King began to drift out. Yes I Am Free descended to his outside; Jackson sliced on through horses to his inside. Solorzano implored Gladiator King for everything he had. Gladiator King fought on.

In the final sixteenth of a mile,his all wasn’t enough to get him to the wire first. Yes I Am Free got past on the outside, Jackson on the inside. But, Gladiator King still held third over the rallying R Boy Bode, and was beaten only a length for the win. Despite a string of disappointing losses, a racehorse still lived under that chestnut coat.

After that bright spot in the Texas Glitter, Gladiator King made one more attempt going long: he entered the Fountain of Youth (G2), went off at 132/1, and finished last. But then? He cut back to one turn, and we got to see the real Gladiator King once more. In the seven-furlong Hutcheson Stakes (G3), he went off at 12/1, the longest shot in a field of four. He shot to the lead and never gave anyone else a chance. Next he won the Roar Stakes, another seven-furlong sprint, digging in to hold by a nose over the flying Garter and Tie.

He took another road trip, his first race outside of Florida since the Remsen, trying the Chick Lang (G3) at Pimlico on Preakness weekend. He disputed the pace, opened up, and missed by only a head behind the rallying Lexitonian.

His streak of big races ended in the Ocala Stakes on June 1, a six-and-a-half-furlong sprint at Gulfstream, in which Garter and Tie turned the tables and Gladiator King finished fifth. He hasn’t returned to the worktab toward a 2020 campaign…though if he does? Expect to see him shine at one turn.

#4: the sixth annual Twelve Days of Curlin Babies

December 28, 2019December 28, 2019 rowan wardLeave a comment

#4 Risky Risky Risky Comes Home

There haven’t been too many Illinois-bred Curlin Babies. The first pair came in 2012: Curlin Moon, who went on to become a Russian Group 3 winner, and a colt out of Bluestem Meadow, who unfortunately did not survive long enough to be registered and named.

There were Chicken Noodle and Curlinup, both born in 2013. Both fillies went on to win right here in Illinois. Both are now broodmares. Chicken Noodle was bred to Da Stoops this year; Curlinup has a Munnings filly born in 2019, and was bred to Fast Anna this year.

Volgograd was also born in 2013…though he was bred in Kentucky, he is out of Magnetic Miss, an Illinois-bred who won six stakes races, giving Volgograd a certain honorary Illinois-bred status.

My mind hands out things like honorary Illinois-bred status because there are so few born here. After all, since 2013, there has been only one Curlin foal born in Illinois: a filly born in 2015, Risky Risky Risky (Katys Gold Touch, by Touch Gold).

Despite being one of so few Curlin babies born in Illinois, she did not begin her career in her home state. Instead, she began her career in Florida, in the barn of Mark Casse. No factor in a trio of maiden special weights at Gulfstream through the summer of 2018, she dropped into the claiming ranks. Claimed by David Kassen out of a fourth-place finish at Gulfstream Park West in October, she raced once more in November. Off the board again, she called an end to 2018.

Risky Risky Risky returned to the worktab on March 18 of this year. However, she was no longer in Florida. She was at Hawthorne!

She worked at Hawthorne the next three weeks, then entered a maiden special weight there for fillies and mares on April 18, six furlongs on the dirt for her new connections, trainer Patti Miller and owner Lucky Charms Enterprises. She caught a muddy track for the first time, something Curlin’s progeny generally handled well. The six furlongs looked a bit short, at least on paper — but it was her first race in four months, so perhaps it was just a tightener for Arlington.

Risky Risky Risky broke well, but was happy to settle toward the rear of a compact field of six, only two lengths off of a three-way pace battle. She had to split horses into the turn, but remained comfortably behind the battling vanguard, though walled in past the three eighths as odds-on Ghaaleb’s Magic made her move.

Past the quarter, Risky Risky Risky lied in wait: going nicely, but looking for somewhere to go. At the three sixteenths, Ghaaleb’s Magic drifted out. Jockey Constantino Roman shook Risky Risky Risky’s reins, asking her what she had.

She shot right through the opening. Roman drove her clear into the final furlong. Though Lillet made an outside rally, Risky Risky Risky was gone, two and a quarter lengths clear at the wire.

Not only was Risky Risky Risky home, but she was no longer a maiden.

#5: the sixth annual Twelve Days of Curlin Babies

December 27, 2019December 27, 2019 rowan wardLeave a comment

#5 Point of Honor Lives Up to Expectations

When a horse wins impressively on debut, you never quite know what you have until you test them against tougher company. That adage carries particular weight when a horse wins so impressively in a dirt race that was originally carded for the lawn.

Hence the cautious enthusiasm when Point of Honor (Zayanna, by Bernardini) romped by six lengths in a maiden special weight at Gulfstream on December 18, 2018. It was a good first step, and her $825,000 RNA at Keeneland September suggested that she came to the track with expectations. She was well bet, and no one looked a real threat to her as she drove clear.

But, not only would she have to answer how she would do against winners, but also how she would do against company originally intended for the dirt.

Even with that caveat, plenty of people believed she was the real deal.

Some new owners believed. Point of Honor was owned by Stetson Racing LLC for her maiden win, but Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners had bought in by the time she entered her next race.

Her trainer George Weaver believed. He had not placed Point of Honor in an easy slot for that next race. Instead, she resurfaced February 9 at Tampa Bay Downs, in the Suncoast Stakes, a race in its second year as a Kentucky Oaks points prep.

Even the wagering public believed. On the strength of that one off-turf victory, they sent her off the 5/2 choice in a field of eight. Standing at the rail at Tampa Bay Downs that afternoon, I felt like the only one whose caution overwhelmed their optimism.

They were right, and I was wrong.

Point of Honor poses in the winners' circle after the 2019 Suncoast Stakes. — Point of Honor poses in the winners’ circle after the 2019 Suncoast Stakes.

Jockey Javier Castellano settled her off the pace, two wide at the rear through the clubhouse turn. Though she brought up the rear, she was hardly far from the lead; she sat in eighth, but still only four lengths off the pace a quarter of a mile in, the field was so compact.

Passing the half-mile pole, Point of Honor was still near last, but beginning to improve. She was three wide heading into the turn: certain to lose ground, but also out of the kickback and unlikely to get caught in a traffic jam. Ridden along, she responded, and she hit the quarter pole in third position: behind only pacesetter Lady Kate and the stalking Sweet Diane.

She loomed in upper stretch, already going better than Sweet Diane, though Lady Kate wouldn’t give in without a fight. At the furlong mark, Point of Honor shifted into her next gear. She drove clear of Lady Kate, daring anyone to doubt anymore that she was for real, crossing the finish two and three quarters lengths clear, announcing herself as a three-year-old filly to watch.

Though any whiff of lilies in the air proved premature — she ran fourth behind Champagne Anyone in the Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) next out, and did not race at Churchill on the first Friday in May — she returned for the Black-Eyed Susan (G2) at Pimlico, overhauling Ulele to win by half a length. That made her part of a banner day for Curlin babies at Pimlico. By the time she won the Black-Eyed Susan Tenfold and Cordmaker had already finished 1-3 in the Pimlico Special (G3), and later that day Mylady Curlin won the Allaire DuPont Distaff (G3).

Her year concluded with a pair of second-place finishes at the very top level at Saratoga: behind Guarana in the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) in July, then behind Dunbar Road in the Alabama (G1) in August.

#6: the sixth annual Twelve Days of Curlin Babies

December 26, 2019 rowan wardLeave a comment

#6: Global Campaign, Standard Deviation, and Curlin Grey Hit the Trifecta

Early in the year, three-year-old allowance dirt routes at Gulfstream Park draw attention. After all, they often contain a mix of class two-year-olds trying to move forward at three, as well as up-and-coming horses who had only begun to draw attention over the last month or two in Florida. Sometimes they feature Derby contenders; other times, they reveal horses who might not be ready for the Derby but who remain horses to watch through the rest of the year.

One such race on February 9, a mile and a sixteenth N1X with a $75,000 optional tag, drew a field of seven: including three Curlin babies.

Standard Deviation (False Impression, by A. P. Indy) was the old, familiar face among the trio in the race. The Chad Brown trainee, owned by Klaravich Stables, was making his first start since running a disappointing 13th in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) the previous November. Though, Standard Deviation was ceding experience that day; it was only his third start. He had romped on debut in an off-turf maiden special weight at Saratoga in August, then come back to run third behind Knicks Go and Signalman in the Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity (G1) at Keeneland.

Global Campaign (Globe Trot, by A. P. Indy) was the hot new face, the talk of the town. Unraced at two, he debuted on January 5 of this year, romping to win a seven-furlong maiden special weight at Gulfstream. Global Campaign was bred to be a good one. His dam, Globe Trot, had produced two other starters: Bolt d’Oro (Medaglia d’Oro), a multiple G1 winner, and Sonic Mule (Distorted Humor), a multiple stakes winner who is three times graded stakes placed. Globe Trot is also a half-sister to Need: the dam of Recruiting Ready (Algorithms), Global Campaign’s G3-winning stablemate in the Stanley Hough shedrow. That’s not the only link between the two. Sagamore Farm owns Recruiting Ready outright, and owns Global Campaign in partnership with WinStar Farm.

A bit lost in the shadow cast by these two rising stars was Curlin Grey (Surf Light, by Malibu Moon). Trained by Ken McPeek for Fern Circle Stables, he was the most experienced among the three sons of Curlin, with six starts before this February allowance. He had finally broken his maiden in the sixth of those starts. That had come January 9 at Gulfstream, though it had taken a drop into a $50,000 claiming race for him to get off the mark. He still had class to prove, but it was a light-on effort in which he settled well off the pace in a field of six, swept past and drew off by four and three quarters lengths.

Global Campaign, Standard Deviation, and Curlin Grey shine at Gulfstream on February 9.

Global Campaign soon led along the inside, with Standard Deviation attending closest; Curlin Grey, just as he did in his maiden victory, found no reason to hurry. Longshot Blue Steel pulled keen to the lead outside of Global Campaign past the seven-eighths; Global Campaign was briefly keen to follow suit, but Luis Saez kept him under a hold, wrangling him back to track the pace inside of Irad Ortiz and Standard Deviation.

Nearing the five eighths, Global Campaign encroached upon Blue Steel right in, with Standard Deviation advancing in tandem to his outside. Standard Deviation soon settled just behind them, though Global Campaign took the battle to Blue Steel and edged away from the three eighths. Standard Deviation, by then driven, gave chase. Curlin Grey, with just five sixteenths of a mile remaining, remained in last though he was taking closer order.

Global Campaign turned into the lane in the clear, daring Standard Deviation to catch him. Standard Deviation kept on, well behind the leader, but clear of the rest. Curlin Grey, urged by jockey Brian Hernandez to take advantage of the sharp pace that had unfolded before him, was rolling through horses.

Eased up late, Global Campaign crossed the wire two and a quarter lengths clear of the chasing Standard Deviation. Curlin Grey picked off everyone else, crossing the wire another length and a half back, to complete the Curlin trifecta.

Due to some foot issues, Global Campaign made three more starts through the course of the year. Fifth behind Code of Honor in the Fountain of Youth (G2), he then went north to New York, won the Peter Pan over eventual Belmont (G1) winner Sir Winston, then ran third behind stalwarts Tax and Tacitus in the Jim Dandy (G2). Plans are to race him in 2020, possibly even at Gulfstream.

Standard Deviation moved forward from that allowance race, going 2-for-7 on the year. Though, all his best form came on the grass, including victories in the Tale of the Cat Stakes and the Jersey Derby. In the Jersey Derby, he topped a Curlin exacta, winning by three quarters of a length over Current. He also added a pair of graded stakes placings to his resume as the year drew to a close, running third in both the Hill Prince Stakes (G1) and the Hollywood Derby (G1).

As for Curlin Grey, his year turned out a little tougher. After running off the board in both the Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) at Turfway and an optional claimer at Keeneland, he sold for $75,000 to Centennial Farms Niagara at the Keeneland April sale. Moved to the barn of Ravendra Raghunath, Curlin Grey struggled in five starts at Woodbine for his new owner, then was claimed to the barn of Martin Drexler for new owner 1569389 Ontario Inc. However, he had his brightest moment since his maiden win for his first start in the Drexler barn: he visited Fort Erie, got back on dirt, and made a smart last-to-first rally to win a N2L allowance there. Though his season ended with an off-the-board finish at Woodbine, the Fort Erie race was encouraging, suggesting Curlin Grey just wanted to be back on the dirt.

#7: the sixth annual Twelve Days of Curlin Babies

December 25, 2019 rowan wardLeave a comment

#12: Curlina Curlina Finds the Wire
#11: A Pleasant Surprise, Volgograd
#10 Ajaaweed Emerges as a Juvenile to Watch
#9 Lady Apple Trains On
#8 Tenfold and Cordmaker Stretch Out

#7 Chaos Theory Defies His Inexperience

Curlin’s progeny haven’t been limited by surface. Curlin himself raced mainly on dirt, of course, though his second-place finish in the 2008 Man o’ War (G1) showed he had talent on the grass as well, and his progeny have included Moulin de Mougin, a G2 winner on the lawn, and Dixie Moon, who is a stakes winner on both grass and synthetic, and Grade 1-placed on the lawn.

Even so, across surfaces, one thing seems consistent across most of Curlin’s best: distance. As a runner Curlin shined over the Classic distance, and as a whole his progeny have been best at route distances.

When you think of Curlin, you don’t think of five-and-a-half-furlong dashes.

No one told Chaos Theory (Chaotic Cat, by Tale of the Cat) that.

Perhaps he takes a bit more after his dam, whose wins both came at five and a half furlongs on the dirt. Perhaps he was just trying a little something short on debut, to ease into racing. Whatever it was, Chaos Theory made his first start in a five-and-a-half-furlong dash at Fair Grounds in February of 2018, closed mightily, and won by a length and a half. Did Curlin have a promising turf sprinter on his hands?

His next two starts came at six furlongs on dirt; the chestnut gelding finished off the board in both, then went through the sales ring at Keeneland November. Sold for just $42,000, Chaos Theory returned the next month in a first-level allowance for new trainer Brendan Walsh and new owners Marc Detampel and Sunshine State Racing LLC. They went back to what worked on debut, five and a half furlongs on the Fair Grounds grass.

Chaos Theory found the kick. He didn’t win, but he ran fourth of fourteen, only a length beaten. On January 20, 2019, making his second start for his new connections, he flew in the final furlong to win by a neck.

On February 16, things got a lot tougher for Chaos Theory. He was home, lining up to go five and a half furlongs at Fair Grounds. However, instead of facing a group of horses fresh out of maiden races or stepping up from claiming races, or even a second-level allowance? He entered the Colonel Power Stakes.

His foes included Hogy, ten years old, who set a still-standing track record in the same race two years before. Hogy had been running in graded stakes since before Chaos Theory was born. He faced Latent Revenge, who broke his maiden over five and a half furlongs on the Fair Grounds grass just a week after Chaos Theory was born, whose shining moment came when he chased Green Mask home in the 2017 Twin Spires Turf Sprint (G2) at Churchill. He faced Kid Perfect, also battle-tested, behind only Will Call (and a neck ahead of Bucchero) in the 2018 Twin Spires Turf Sprint. Chaos Theory, making only his fifth start, had to face a field forged in the fires of the toughest turf sprinters in the country.

The public knew it was a lot to ask, sending him off at 9.9/1, the second-longest shot in the field of seven.

No one told Chaos Theory that.

He chased between horses early, letting Latent Revenge and Kid Perfect dispute the early terms. Into the turn, others began to edge closer, but Tyler Gaffalione waited. He didn’t need to sit in third or fourth — after all, he never had before. Why change things now? Past the three eighths, Chaos Theory had been shuffled back to sixth, a more familiar spot.

Into the lane, Gaffalione shifted Chaos Theory out, and began to shake him up for run. He dropped his head, ready to pounce. Driven from the three sixteenths, he fought his way along: past Wings Locked up and Adonis Creed, then past turf sprint division elders Hogy and Kid Perfect. At the furlong he only had two more to pass: longtime leader Latent Revenge, and his most pressing threat, Savage Battle.

In the final sixteenth, Chaos Theory descended three wide and muscled past, getting up by a length over Savage Battle. In that moment, inexperience mattered little, nor did his sire’s long-winded tendencies. Chaos Theory was at home going five and a half furlongs on the Fair Grounds grass, and now he was a stakes winner.

He raced just twice more in 2019, both times in graded stakes company, and both times proving he belonged. He rallied for fourth behind Imprimis in the Shakertown (G2) in May at Keeneland, then for third behind World of Trouble in the Twin Spires Turf Sprint (G2) at Churchill. He returned to the worktab on December 18. In a division that has been home to so many grand old geldings in recent years, Chaos Theory will only be five years old in 2020; his best may still be ahead of him.

#8: the sixth annual Twelve Days of Curlin Babies

December 24, 2019December 24, 2019 rowan wardLeave a comment

#12: Curlina Curlina Finds the Wire
#11: A Pleasant Surprise, Volgograd
#10 Ajaaweed Emerges as a Juvenile to Watch
#9 Lady Apple Trains On

#8 Tenfold and Cordmaker Stretch Out

There aren’t enough races at the Classic Distance anymore, even in the handicap division, so it was a pleasant surprise to see the Pimlico Special (G3) stretch out to a mile and a quarter.

Though, rest the emphasis on surprise. The Special wasn’t a short race to begin with; it had been a mile and three sixteenths, just like the Preakness (G1). It had been a mile and three sixteenths dating all the way back to its beginning in 1937, when War Admiral beat Masked General by a length and a half. It had been a mile and three sixteenths for the Seabiscuit-War Admiral match race, for Whirlaway and Assault and Citation, for Devil His Due and Cigar and Invasor. It has been a mile and three sixteenths for another son of Curlin, Irish War Cry, who seized the lead and gave One Liner, Untrapped, and the rest no chance in 2018.

Thirteen horses lined up for the first Pimlico Special at a mile and a quarter. That included two four-year-old sons of Curlin, Tenfold (Temptress, by Tapit) and Cordmaker (Tanca, by Polish Numbers).

Though Cordmaker was Maryland-bred, he had never run at Pimlico before. Every one of his prior starts had come at Laurel Park, and all but two had come at one turn. His first route try, on the grass, suggested he didn’t like that footing much; his previous two-turn dirt try was more promising, a length and a half triumph in the nine-furlong Harrison E. Johnson Memorial Stakes. That race had come two starts before the Pimlico Special, and he had piled on another allowance victory at seven furlongs since that race. Form was no question for Cordmaker, though the Pimlico Special would be Cordmaker’s first try at the Classic distance and only his second graded stakes attempt.

Tenfold, however, came into the Pimlico Special with a good day at Old Hilltop behind him already. A year earlier, though he couldn’t quite topple eventual Triple Crown winner Justify in a foggy, sloppy Preakness, he fought for a mighty third, three quarters of a length short. He went on to win the Jim Dandy (G2) that summer, though with two off-the-board finishes to begin his four-year-old year, Tenfold was hoping the move to Pimlico and the step up in trip would bring him back to his best.

Tenfold and Cordmaker contest the 2019 Pimlico Special (G3).

From the start Flameaway and Flying the Flag locked in battle. Jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr. dropped Tenfold to the rail as soon as he could, though was happy to let him settled near the rear of the field while the speed duel took its toll. Cordmaker looked a coiled spring in the opening furlongs, on the stretch out from a sprint, but rider Victor Carrasco was able to set him midfield between horses, not losing too much ground and not blowing too much energy over a longer trip than he had ever traversed.

Into the far turn, as the early pouncers began to make their runs, Tenfold continued near the rear, inside, lying in wait. Things looked less cozy for Cordmaker, who was losing ground through the field while coming under a ride. Passing the three eighths, Tenfold was beginning to make his run; he had passed Cordmaker, who was all out near the rear, looking an unlikely contender for any late-race photographs.

The pace horses began to back up in upper stretch after setting such fast fractions, and Tenfold took full advantage. He had aim on the leading flight at the three sixteenths, ready to split as soon as there was a horse-sized gap. Just past the quarter pole, Tenfold was in front, responding well to what Santana was asking him.

Meanwhile, coming into the lane, Carrasco had swung Cordmaker to the outside. He put Cordmaker to a drive near the three sixteenths mark, and soon it became clear that Cordmaker was just playing possum through the second turn. He gained outside the length of the stretch, closing the gap jump by jump, just outside of the also-rallying You’re To Blame.

Tenfold hit the wire just in time: a neck in front of You’re to Blame, with Cordmaker another neck behind.

Since then, Tenfold has yet to return to those heights. In five starts since the Pimlico Special, all in stakes company, his best finishes have been a pair of fourths. One was a well-beaten one behind Higher Power in the Pacific Classic (G1) in August. The other came just two days ago, in the Tenacious Stakes, though that was as encouraging a start as Tenfold has had since the Pimlico Special: he was gaining late, and beaten only three quarters of a length by Pioneer Spirit.

Cordmaker has won three of four since the Pimlico Special, with his only defeat being a fifth-place run in the Suburban (G2) in June. He has successfully flipped between short and long distances, winning the Polynesian Stakes at seven furlongs at Laurel, an allowance at a mile and seventy yards at Delaware, and most recently the DTHA Governors’ Day Handicap over that same course and distance.

Hopefully both Tenfold and Cordmaker remain healthy and happy, and can return for a rematch next spring at Pimlico!

#9: the sixth annual Twelve Days of Curlin Babies

December 23, 2019 rowan wardLeave a comment

#12: Curlina Curlina Finds the Wire
#11: A Pleasant Surprise, Volgograd
#10 Ajaaweed Emerges as a Juvenile to Watch

#9 Lady Apple Trains On

Through the early part of the 2018 two-year-old season, Lady Apple (Miss Mary Apples, by Clever Trick) was as good a filly as Curlin had. On debut, in a four-and-a-half-furlong baby race at Keeneland, she ran second behind Dragic, an odds-on favorite for the king of the Keeneland baby races, Wesley Ward. It was still a good enough effort for trainer Steve Asmussen and owners Phoenix Thoroughbred III and KatieRich Stables to route her into stakes company next out. She moved forward in the Astoria. She was always in range; she even led midstretch. But, Athens Queen came home just a neck better, and Wesley Ward carried another day.

After off-the-board finishes in the Schuylerville Stakes (G3) and a maiden special at Saratoga in August, both at one turn, Lady Apple went on the shelf. Despite her first flash of precocity, maybe it was once again time to let her grow up a bit.

After all, she is a Curlin baby. Her dam, Miss Mary Apples, won a Keeneland baby race and ran second in the Schuylerville, but held form at age three. Her close family is replete with horses who were like that, horses with two-year-old form who were able to train on: Miss Red Delicious, Dr. Diamond’s Prize, Parlor, even Euprhates — a Curlin half to Miss Mary Apples who ran in Turkey.

Lady Apple returned six months after that second Saratoga try, on February 7, in a maiden special weight at six furlongs over the Oaklawn dirt. One of only two experienced runners among the seven who went to the post, Lady Apple sparked the faith of the bettors, going off as the 1.1/1 favorite.

Longshot Listen Up settled on the lead, but Lady Apple did not let her slip far away. Handling the sloppy footing well, she settled just to the outside, nose at the leader’s outside flank.

Into the turn she still moved comfortably. Moving outside the leader, she drew steadily closer to even with each step. At the quarter, she drew even. Coming toward the three sixteenths, she began to separate herself. Only Summer Delivery — the only other experienced horse, and a Twirling Candy half to the dam of Promises Fulfilled, Marquee Miss, and Marquee Cal Gal — could keep pace. Even so, Lady Apple kept giving what jockey Ricardo Santana asked of her, holding a length and a half on Summer Delivery from the furlong to the wire.

Lady Apple had returned.

With the class she showed at two, the win was enough to suggest that she could be a stakes horse again at three. She ran to those hopes. After an allowance win in March at Oaklawn, her first attempt at two turns, she secured her ticket to the Kentucky Oaks (G1) with a 9/1 upset in the Fantasy (G3). She proved she belonged, running third behind Serengeti Empress. Lady Apple made three more starts after the Oaks, winning two of them: the Iowa Oaks (G3) and the Remington Park Oaks (G3).

All of that graded stakes glory had to start somewhere. Every precocious two-year-old who stays in training at three has to answer the question of whether they’ve progressed with their class. Lady Apple’s affirmative answer to that question began with victory on a sloppy February day at Oaklawn.

#10: the sixth annual Twelve Days of Curlin Babies

December 22, 2019 rowan wardLeave a comment

#12: Curlina Curlina Finds the Wire
#11: A Pleasant Surprise, Volgograd

#10 Ajaaweed Emerges as a Juvenile to Watch

Though Curlin has such a strong reputation as a sire of three-year-olds and older horses, the likes of Good Magic, Exaggerator, Off the Tracks, Solomini, and Valadorna have made clear that he can produce classy juveniles, as well. As soon as Curlin’s two-year-olds make it to the track, the question bubbles up: who will be the first one to make me throw my caution to the wind, if only for a moment, and envision their future at the highest levels?

This year, Ajaaweed (Asiya, by Daaher) earned that honour.

Ajaaweed debuted in a six-furlong maiden special weight at Saratoga, always chasing midfield and running fifth behind Tumbling Sky. Perhaps it was good that he had more of a prep race than a grand unveiling that day. It may have gotten lost in the shuffle: that debut came on August 10, the same day as the Arlington Million.

But, it gave Ajaaweed exactly what he needed to move forward a month later.

He stretched out to a mile in the first race at Belmont on September 11. The Kiaran McLaughlin trainee faced a field of seven and he wore the same #3 saddle towel he did on debut, the same blue and white colours that matched his Shadwell silks so well.

He got away more cleanly in start number two; though his start on debut wasn’t truly poor, it showed signs of roughness, inexperience. This time he came out smoothly.

He settled inside, a couple of lengths off the pace. Jockey Joel Rosario made no rush to challenge Brewmeister, half of the favored Chad Brown entry, though made sure not to drop him too far behind as Ox Bridge and briefly even Brewmeister’s stablemate Basie encroached to the leader’s outside.

Rosario pushed Ajaaweed along through the far turn, asking him to pounce. But, as the field approached the quarter pole, Ajaaweed searched for a hole. By that point Ox Bridge had capitulated, but Brewmeister, Starting Over, and Basie all lined up directly between Ajaaweed and the long Belmont stretch.

Approaching the three sixteenths, Ajaaweed got three wide and descended on Starting Over, the one going the best of the leading flight. He wasn’t the only one who loomed; 31/1 first-timer Forza Di Oro, despite dwelling at the start, had come rolling around the turn and sustained his run on the outside.

In the eighth and final furlong, Ajaaweed had the most. Forza Di Oro and Starting Over quibbled for the place, but Ajaaweed drove clear to win by four and a quarter gaping lengths over Forza Di Oro.

On a late-summer Wednesday, Ajaaweed looked like a Saturday afternoon horse. And, in two starts since, he has only raced on Saturday afternoons. He jumped straight from the maiden win to the top level, trying two turns for the first time in the Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity (G1) at Keeneland. Though he never looked a threat to Maxfield, he was passing horses late, and checked in fourth. Next out, in the Remsen (G2), he did even better. On a day when speed was so good, he closed from well out of it to get within half a length of the always-forward Shotski.

And, being by Curlin out of a Daaher mare who won at two but was able to hold good form into her three-year-old year? Ajaaweed remains a horse to watch.

#11: the sixth annual Twelve Days of Curlin Babies

December 21, 2019December 22, 2019 rowan wardLeave a comment

#12: Curlina Curlina Finds the Wire

#11: A Pleasant Surprise, Volgograd

Working at the racetrack is a different experience from going to the racetrack. The end goal of both is the same, of course: watch horses run. In the increasingly rare moments when I go to the races just for sport, my mind can wander where it wants. I can skim the past performances, let my eyes rest on someone in the paddock, take any moment I want to watch a race at another track, or to sing the praises of a certain bloodline to anyone on the rail who will listen.

Working? Sometimes I get so focused on completing the work from the last race chart and moving on to what’s about to happen on the track that there isn’t any room for things I would otherwise be obsessing over, like the names of the runners lining up next.

And, so it was on September 13 at Arlington, when we stepped out to watch the race and call the chart for the Arlington 7th. One of us had binoculars; the other, the pen and paper. We both had our jobs to focus on. We knew the race was at a mile and a sixteenth on the Polytrack, seven horses, so the gate was as close as the crew could put it to the clubhouse turn, but the poles were normal and the finish line was the usual one. (Nine or more, and everything — even the finish line — gets pushed back a sixteenth of a mile, in a courteous yet often futile effort to stop those outside few horses from being hung out to dry.)

It was a Friday afternoon, enough clouds in the sky to shade the summer sun, temperatures in the upper seventies, and late enough in the day that even without the special 3:15pm post times, some of the after-work crowd had swung by to begin their weekends with a frosty brew and a punt on the horses. There was enough chatter in the air that only the cadence of John Dooley’s race call pierced through the air, not the words.

A bay in black silks with a large white flower set the pace. The darker bay goaded keenly to his outside, bearing a yellow standard with black and yellow sleeves. He got less keen through the far turn, and found enough to overtake.

Briefly.

Meanwhile, a bay with rider Mitchell Murrill, clad in black, arms encircled by golden bars, more gold in streaks along his back, had begun to improve along the inside around the turn. He witched three wide in upper stretch, and was responding smartly to a drive. Splitting horses approaching the furlong mark, he descended, and in the blink of an eye had opened up. I couldn’t remember whose silks those were. I couldn’t remember the name of the horse. I couldn’t parse the race call, only bassy triplets that overlaid the chaos of hooves as the winner drew three lengths clear. I knew I had to look at the program when I stepped inside; I needed to know who had won with such authority.

Volgograd. That explained the cadence of the call, the triplets. Volgograd. It’s Volgograd.

Volgograd (Magnetic Miss, by Artax). The son of Curlin, out of the Illinois-bred stakes winner, the one I had made a note of in my mind when he was a foal, who finally stepped foot on the the track at age four. Volgograd, who had made his way from Hugo Rodriguez, to Scott Becker, to Leonard Slager, to Doug Matthews, where he has been since May for owner Tom Michalczewski. It was Volgograd’s fourth win, and even given the modest level of his company — beaten $16,000 claiming company, washed off the grass — it was his most impressive win to date.

And, it was a fresh reminder that the glee and surprise of watching the horses run can pierce through the hectic pace of a workday.

#12: the sixth annual Twelve Days of Curlin Babies

December 20, 2019December 21, 2019 rowan wardLeave a comment

It’s the second half of December. As chaotic as things may get, I try to keep one thing constant in this corner of the Internet: the last twelve days of the year are the time to count down the highlights from Curlin’s progeny on the track.

For the sixth year in a row, highlights don’t always mean the richest or highest-profile races. They don’t mean the largest margins of victory, nor the narrowest. The list features horses at every level of the game, from maiden claimers to millionaires. It features horses of all ages, from up-and-coming juvenile stars in his eighth crop, to durable nine-year-olds in his first.

Let’s look back on the highlights of another great year in Curlin babies.

#12: Curlina Curlina Finds the Wire

On May 20, 2015, I bid hello to Curlin’s fourth crop. Curlina Curlina (Helen’s Echo, by Swiss Yodeler) was entered in a maiden special weight at Santa Anita the next day. I tempered my expectations; four-and-a-half-furlong baby races don’t tend to be where Curlin’s progeny shine. In a field of eight, she ran an even fifth.

Alien Giant won by three and a half lengths. Right There, who crossed the wire three and a half lengths behind, broke her maiden a month later in the Landaluce Stakes. As the year passed, one by one, the runners from Curlina Curlina’s debut broke their maidens. My Mom, who finished eighth and last, broke her maiden in August at Emerald Downs. Joan of Arch, sixth, came next, in October. November brought seventh-place Rich Girl a victory. Fourth-place She’s On the Line needed until two days before the year turned, but even she won as a juvenile.

That left Fast Escape and Curlina Curlina. Third-place Fast Escape never won; in four starts at age two and one at three, she never ran better than third. But, by the time 2019 blew in, Fast Escape had a filly on the ground, a Smiling Tiger yearling.

Curlina Curlina was still racing.

She only raced three times as a two-year-old. She sat out for ten months, from September 2015 through July 2016, but ran five times before the end of the season. Her best finish was fourth.

At four, she raced twelve times. She came as close as ever, missing by only a neck in a maiden claimer at Los Alamitos on July 9, 2017. But, Adaptability got her picture taken. For Curlina Curlina, the result was the same. Her saddle came off. She walked back home.

She tried eleven more times at age five. She ran second another three times, twice in California and once on November 26, 2018 at Zia. That maiden special weight sprint was her first start since moving from the barn of Mike Harrington to that of Justin Evans, her first try in New Mexico. Despite the new scenery, the result rang familiar.

Curlina Curlina turned six. She had run 31 times. She had run second five times, third four times. She kept trying.

January 12, she dropped into a claimer at Sunland, went off the odds-on favorite…and ran second of eleven. January 27? Another maiden claimer at Sunland, another wave of odds-on enthusiasm from the bettors, another second.

And, on the crisp, clear afternoon of February 17, her 34th start? Curlina Curlina went off in a six-and-a-half-furlong maiden claimer at as short a price as ever, 1/5, despite so many tries. She settled midfield as Easy Target and Sometimes a Rebel battled on the pace. Past the half mile mark, Sometimes a Rebel began to flatten. Curlina Curlina went around her, easily, with Easy Target in her sights.

At the quarter Curlina Curlina was clear of Sometimes a Rebel and back on the inside. Into the lane, there was a hole between Easy Target and the rail. Jockey Luis Contreras put Curlina Curlina to a drive, asking her what she had.

Enough. For once, she had enough.

She didn’t slip away quickly and easily; Prairie Dog had made a three-wide rally into the lane, and battled outside Curlina Curlina to midstretch. But, in the final furlong, Contreras no longer had to ask Curlina Curlina what she had. He let her go; they drew off by four and a half easy lengths.

That ease belied the long road Curlina Curlina took to get there.

Curlina Curlina has raced seven times since that maiden win. It may have taken her five racing seasons to win for the first time, but it only took her three starts to beat winners; she won by four and a half lengths again on March 31 at Sunland.

It took Curlina Curlina a little longer to find the wire than some of the others in her crop — a crop that featured shining stars like Exaggerator, Off the Tracks, Connect, and Curlin’s Approval. But, that only made it all the more sweet when she finally did.

#1: the fifth annual Twelve Days of Curlin Babies

December 31, 2018 rowan wardLeave a comment

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 Into His Own
#10: Legit Proves Aptly Named in His Gulfstream Unveiling
#9: Bishop’s Pond Proves She Is a Dirt Horse, After All
#8: Good Magic Reasserts His Class in the Blue Grass
#7: Dixie Moon Never Quits in the Carotene
#6: Amiral Rallies, Stuns, and Begins a Banner Day for His Sire
#5: Dabster Gives His All Against Battle of Midway
#4: Campaign Wins Twice at Kentucky Downs
#3: Vino Rosso Rediscovers His Best in the Wood
#2: Bam Bam Blu Rewards the Patience of His Connections

#1: Solar Maximus Returns to His Favourite Winners’ Circle

Solar Maximus (Solar Colony, by Pleasant Colony) has long been a favourite. When I was first gathering my list of racing-age Curlin babies in 2014, his last line just read “pulled up, vanned off”. I had no idea if he was alive, much less if he was going to race again.

Then, he returned to the worktab. Then, he returned to the track.

In the fall of 2014 Mahoning Valley Race Course opened, and Solar Maximus found his place to thrive. From November 2014 through February 2016 the first-crop Curlin gelding won eight times, with all of those wins coming in Youngstown, including a four-win streak in the winter of 2015-2016. Over the next two years he had a lot of competitive races — including four second-place finishes in a row over his favourite course in early 2017 — but the winners’ circle eluded him.

However, the sun began to shine again the next season.

Solar Maximus made his first start of the 2017-2018 Mahoning Valley season on December 27, finishing a close second behind odds-on favourite Tiznow R J in a $5,000 claimer at a mile over the dirt, for non-winners in the last six months. Running on late, he missed by only half a length. He made his 2018 debut on January 10 — his eight-year-old debut — at the same course, distance, and level as that outing. Without Tiznow R J in the picture, the public figured Solar Maximus would find his best again, sending him out the 9/5 favourite in the field of nine.

As usual, Solar Maximus dropped all the way to the rear, settling two wide almost a dozen lengths behind runaway pacesetter Artemus Coalmine. He continued without a particular hurry into the backstretch, gradually improving position as the field approached the half-mile mark though not yet being asked for a run.

Approaching the far turn, with Artemis Coalmine still winging it five lengths clear of the field, Solar Maximus could wait no longer. He dropped to the rail and fast improved to midpack.

Approaching the three eighths, Solar Maximus needed room. He bided his time in the midst of a traffic jam, waiting for a way out.

That came on the turn for home. Jockey Jaime Rodriguez swung Solar Maximus out side of a line of horses at the mouth of the lane, urging him to go four wide. By then, Artemus Coalmine was coming back to the field; Solar Maximus’s task was no longer to catch him, but to outkick everyone else in the chasing throng.

Into the final furlong, Strongbow had established himself as the one to catch. Three wide — directly inside of Solar Maximus — he carried a half-length advantage into the last eighth of a mile. Solar Maximus kept coming. Though they exchanged contact approaching the sixteenth mark, Solar Maximus did not lose momentum, and he powered on by. Strongbow continued on with grit, but Solar Maximus would not be denied. The son of Curlin crossed the wire a half-length in front.

After a stewards’ inquiry and a claim of foul by Strongbow’s rider, both involving the bumping approaching the sixteenth pole, the race went official. Solar Maximus stayed up. He posed for his ninth win picture at Mahoning Valley, and the tenth of his career.

This would be Solar Maximus’s last race for longtime trainer Joe Poole and owner Richard H. McCall. He was claimed out of the contest by owner Loooch Racing Stables and trainer Gary Johnson, for whom he has continued to race since.

He has won once more for his new connections — in his very next start, on February 12. Notched up to $10,000 company, Solar Maximus crossed the wire second that day, but only after being impeded by a drifting Colony Classic. It was enough to take Colony Classic down and award Solar Maximus the victory. Solar Maximus made ten more starts this year; though he has not won since that disqualification, he has finished second four more times — including in his most recent start, in which he finished second behind stablemate Another Source, who went gate to wire.

If previous years are any indication, watch out for Solar Maximus as the meet goes on. Watching him get good during the winter at Mahoning never gets old.

#2: the fifth annual Twelve Days of Curlin Babies

December 30, 2018December 31, 2018 rowan wardLeave a comment

#2: Bam Bam Blu Rewards the Patience of His Connections

Even though Curlin’s progeny can shine as older horses, most of them — like most racehorses in general — tend to debut at two or three. Most don’t wait until the sprint of their six-year-old year to feel the dirt under their hooves and the roar of the ground in their ears for the very first time.

Bam Bam Blu (Bam Bam Bull, by Holy Bull) isn’t most horses.

The six-year-old gelding made his racetrack debut on April 7 at Gulfstream Park, in a maiden race for three-year-olds and up. Though he had years on all his foes — everyone else in the eight-horse field was either three or four — his lack of racing experience showed. Everything indicated that the Jason Servis trainee needed the race, from the fractious behaviour in the gate to the fact that he tired to fifth in the lane.

He returned the next month in the logical place: Monmouth. Logical, because Bam Bam Blu is a homebred for Dennis Drazin, CEO of Darby Developments LLC, which operates Monmouth Park. However, as much pull as Drazin may have inside the Oceanport grandstand’s walls, he can’t make everything perfect for his late-blooming colt. The $30,000-$40,000 maiden claimer, originally scheduled for five furlongs on the grass, had to be run over a sloppy main track instead. Still, Bam Bam Blu remained in the field, as did six of his eight foes.

Ten and a half years before, Curlin dominated the Monmouth mud. On May 27, his son Bam Bam Blu did.

Bam Bam Blu breaks his maiden at Monmouth as easily as he wants.

Bam Bam Blu came out of the gate well, but so did Rough Night, the only horse drawn to his inside. Skillful speed rider Paco Lopez asked Bam Bam Blu for just enough to pass that foe and clear to the inside, something the gelding willingly gave.

The outjumped Rough Night settled well back along the fence after those first few jumps, but Bam Bam Blu wasn’t alone. Win With Character ranged up, prompting just to Bam Bam Blu’s outside into the far turn, with The Forty Factor tucked in behind.

At the farthest point of the bend, the field began to lose ground. Still in hand, Bam Bam Blu strengthened his advantage with every stride: a length, a length and a half, three lengths by the time he turned for the wire.

Lopez waved the stick in upper stretch, but Bam Bam Blu never felt it. In hand he continued to draw away, skipping over the Monmouth slop as easily as his sire had a decade before, and crossed the wire ten and a half lengths clear of The Forty Factor.

Bam Bam Blu held his form into the summer. He returned July 22 at Saratoga in a conditioned $50,000 starter allowance; that day, the race stayed on the grass. He proved he could handle that, too, stalking and pouncing to win by a length. From there it was on to another turf sprint, a straight N1X at the Spa on August 27. Prompting a torrid pace, he gamely held on for second, beaten only a neck. Since he scratched from an allowance on October 11 at Belmont, that race in August was his most recent.

Good things can be worth waiting for, and so it was with the beginning of Bam Bam Blu’s career. Hopefully he returns in 2019, at seven, ready to continue the racetrack story it took him so long to start.

#3: the fifth annual Twelve Days of Curlin Babies

December 29, 2018December 30, 2018 rowan wardLeave a comment

#3: Vino Rosso Rediscovers His Best in the Wood

Vino Rosso (Mythical Bride, by Street Cry) ran on a belated third behind Flameaway and Catholic Boy in the Sam F. Davis (G3), his first stakes attempt. It was the kind of run that ignited hope: not the usual mild rally that makes one thing that perhaps he just needed a little more racetrack, but the sort of run that exposes the lightbulb screwed between his ears, shows the filament flickering and finally beginning to burn just as he approached the wire.

The Tampa Bay Derby (G2) gave Vino Rosso the chance to prove his light had come well and truly on, but instead, he never made a move. He settled for fourth, well detached from Quip, Flameaway, and World of Trouble.

The more easily dissuaded decided that the Sam F. Davis was a tease, and some wondered whether he should be diverted from the Derby trail or set aside for a summer campaign. Instead, Vino Rosso ventured back to Aqueduct, the same place where he had broken his maiden so comfortably in his November debut.

Trainer Todd Pletcher and owners Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable chose well.

Vino Rosso draws off in the 2018 Wood Memorial (G2).

Old Time Revival hustled to a yawning lead, as race favourite Enticed and Bob Baffert shipper Restoring Hope tracked in the next flight. Vino Rosso, not rushed by rider John Velazquez, settled in two wide in the second-to-rear flight through the first turn. Down the backstretch Old Time Revival remained in command; Velazquez poked at Vino Rosso to gain on the outside, and he responded, inching along to the middle of the main field.

Into the far turn, Enticed and Restoring Hope launched twin bids. Vino Rosso wouldn’t be left behind; as they launched into Old Time Revival’s margin, the son of Curlin joined them three wide.

Into the final quarter, with Old Time Revival reeled in and Restoring Hope left flat-footed, Enticed tried to stay with Vino Rosso. Enticed dug in, remaining affixed to Vino Rosso’s inside, a head behind, to the furlong mark.

As so often happens in nine-furlong races, the final furlong told the tale of who could stay. Vino Rosso did; Enticed did not. Vino Rosso edged clear, crossing the wire three lengths clear of Enticed, alone in second.

That win in the Wood proved the high point of Vino Rosso’s season. He followed up his victory at Aqueduct with a late-running ninth behind Justify in a muddy Kentucky Derby (G1). He looked like he was making a threatening bid on the far turn in the Belmont, but flattened out to fourth, three and three quarters lengths behind Triple Crown winner Justify. A three-quarter-length third behind fellow Curlin son Tenfold in the Jim Dandy (G2) suggested he was perhaps coming back into his best, but a chasing fifth behind Catholic Boy in the Travers (G1) ended up being Vino Rosso’s final start of the year.

Vino Rosso is not back on the worktab, though hopefully he can return at four. After all, both sides of his pedigree suggest age will do him well.

Blinkers Off

horse racing writing. horse racing enthusiasm.

Tag: twelve days of Curlin babies