My very first Throwback Thursday features Curlin's open-length romp in the Dubai World Cup five years ago. Curlin, a two-time Horse of the Year and the first American racehorse to crack the $10 million mark in earnings, is one of my very favorite racehorses. I enjoyed watching him each time he ran, and this race was certainly no exception.
American-trained horses had won this race before - horses like Cigar, Silver Charm and Pleasantly Perfect had all taken the international championship event. Curlin was attempting to become the first horse to win from post 12; he would face twelve others. The post bothered few - as trainer Eoin Harty said a few days before the race, "“Even if they started Curlin on Nad al Sheba road, I don’t think it would make much difference." Harty had entered Well Armed, who was one of two horses that would go on to win the Dubai World Cup in later years. The other was Gloria De Campeao, who won the first synthetic running of the race.
Other competitors vying for the win against Curlin were horses like Premium Tap, who finished a strong second to Invasor in the previous year's edition of the World Cup; Asiatic Boy, the previous year's UAE Derby winner; and Vermilion, a Japan Cup Dirt winner. Though Curlin had easily won his lone prep for the race, a small stakes at Nad Al Sheba, he still faced some stiff competition.
It's a tradition for me to wake up in the early morning to watch the races on Dubai World Cup day. It starts out with the Arabian race, then moves on to the Godolphin Mile, the UAE Derby...years of watching have cemented the day's schedule into my brain. This year, I woke up with some extra excitement, for Curlin was to start in the Dubai World Cup! As post time drew nearer, my stomach began to knot up more and more. The big chestnut had looked good training. Really good. Could he hold off these strong international competitors and prove himself the best dirt horse in the world?
I will never forget this race, whether I die tomorrow or in a hundred years. They raced up the backstretch at Nad Al Sheba. Curlin raced with his head cocked strangely to the side, almost as if he was getting a good look at his rivals. Well Armed took the lead on the rail - it was only a year later that the gelding would go wire-to-wire in the World Cup, setting a record for largest margin of victory. That, however, was 2009. This was 2008 and it was Curlin's year to shine.
They had gone a first quarter in a pedestrian 25 and change, but from there, they did nothing but pick up the pace. As they reached the far turn, going six furlongs in 1:10 4/5, Well Armed still had the lead, but it must have been daunting for Aaron Gryder, with horses like Curlin and Asiatic Boy breathing down his mount's neck with every stride. At the top of the stretch, Albarado finally asked Curlin to run. The power he displayed in running past Asiatic Boy and Well Armed is cemented in my brain for life. The big chestnut colt was an express train, running the mile in 1:34 and change and taking the lead.
From there on out, it was a procession. With 200 meters left to go, after a few smart taps with the whip, Curlin was all alone. He floated down the Nad Al Sheba stretch, his hockey hand-riding him to the wire. He was toying with this field of world-class racehorses! It was clear that this was not the same three year-old colt that Rags to Riches had toyed with in the Belmont Stakes less than a year before. He was a mature, powerful four year-old colt, and he was destroying the field in the world's richest horse race. If ever he deserved the accolades thrown at him, it was in that moment, when he galloped past the colorful red, white and gold finish line a winner by nearly eight lengths.
"And from the red, white and blue corner, by TKO, the undefeated champ is Curlin!"
Those words from announcer Terry Spargo will always give me chills. Curlin's victory marked the fourth time a Breeders' Cup Classic winner had come back the next year to win the desert championship. The others were Cigar, Pleasantly Perfect and Invasor.
The chestnut colt returned to the states to begin his march to another Horse of the Year title. In the last five starts of his career, he won three of them, finished a game third on his first start on turf behind Red Rocks and Better Talk Now, and finished fourth after making an early move in the Breeders' Cup Classic, failing to become the first repeat winner since Tiznow. The second-to-last start of his career, the Jockey Club Gold Cup, is where he soared past Cigar to become America's richest racehorse in history.
In a race designed to crown the best horse in the world, Curlin set his name in stone in the biggest way possible. The race had succeeded - he was king of the world, and rightly so. If Curlin is to be remembered for something, savor the sight of that colt, eight lengths in front of his rivals, winning the richest race in the world in a hand ride. It will always be one of my favorite races. I'll never get sick of watching it, over and over again.
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