If he has indeed run his last race, 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin retires a treasured horse, somewhat under appreciated by mainstream sports fans and a source of great debate within racing circles.
Certainly he will be elected to the Racing Hall of Fame, but is Curlin an all-time great? Will he win a second consecutive Horse of the Year award, like Cigar, the horse Curlin surpassed for North America’s all-time leading earnings record?
Had Curlin won the 2008 Breeders’ Cup Classic instead of taking the lead at the top of the stretch and fading to fourth, he would be a unanimous pick for Horse of the Year. Joining Tiznow as the only two-time Classic winner would have cemented his legacy.
Because Breeders Cup held this year’s event on a relatively untested synthetic track instead of old-fashioned dirt, we will never know with certainty if it was the surface that got Curlin beat or if, as some believe, he was a horse in decline over the second half of the year.
That is one of the main questions Eclipse Award voters will be asking themselves when they decide between Curlin and undefeated Zenyatta for Horse of the Year. Having just re-watched most of Curlin’s 16 career races, I lean toward the horse-in-decline argument.
Following Curlin’s second-place finish in the Man O’ War Stakes at 1 3/8 miles on the turf on July 12, he scored narrow, workmanlike victories in the Woodward Stakes and Jockey Club Gold Cup over weak fields at equal weight.
Had a top Grade 1 caliber horse come running at Curlin in either of those races – as the two excellent European three-year-olds Raven’s Pass and Henrythenavigator did in the Breeders’ Cup – he likely would have tasted defeat.
Saying that his late form did not approach his previous, considerable heights is not a slam – 99.9% of horses could not dream of doing what Curlin did. I would consider at least five of his races to be timeless, great efforts (replay links below). Included on the list is his gallant defeat to the filly Rags to Riches in the 2007 Belmont Stakes, when the two champions ran their final quarter in :23.80, an incredible split for a 12-furlong dirt race.
Note the determination Curlin shows in his ’07 Preakness and Jockey Club Gold Cup wins, resolutely running down fellow three-year-old Street Sense and then the excellent older horse Lawyer Ron. Note the amazing ability he shows as he runs away from the field in the ’07 Breeders Cup and ’08 Dubai World Cup.
I would love to see Curlin run one more time, but that appears more unlikely with each passing day. At least we have these great efforts to remember him by. So who am I voting for Horse of the Year? Eclipse ballots haven’t arrived in the mail yet, and this campaign isn’t quite over.
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4 comments:
It's a shame Invasor wasn't able to run against Curlin in the 2007 BC Classic. That would've been a race for the ages!
I am voting for Curlin as Horse of the Year and champion older male. No love in the turf division, though!
Is there any chance Big Brown could play a third party spoiler and siphon enough votes away from Curlin or Zenyatta to swing it either way?
If this were the case, I would have to believe it would work in Zenyatta's favor.
My impression is that Big Brown is not in the Horse of the Year dialogue.
I don't think he should win, but based on his accomplishments, he should receive more votes than he is going to.
I have talked to racing writers who say they won't even vote for him as champion three-year-old male! These awards are based on perception and feeling, and there is an anti-Dutrow, anti-IEAH sentiment out there.
That being said, the vote between Curlin and Zenyatta could be very close, so even a few votes for Big Brown could conceivably make a difference.
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