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Title: Curlin first 10 million dollar horse after Gold Cup win
Tags: Curlin Belmont 2008 JockeyClubGoldCup
Blog Entry: Curlin, the reigning Horse of the Year, became the first North American racehorse to win over $10 million, by winning the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park today. Regular rider Robby Albarado was on board for trainer Steve Asmussen. Over a muddy track, Curlin defeated pace-setter Wanderin Boy by about 3/4 of a length in a final time of 2:01.93. Allen Jerkins trainee Merchant Marine was third. Mambo in Seattle was fourth for trainer Neil Howard. Curlin's $450,000 share of the $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup Invitational purse puts him at $10,246,800 in career earnings. Wanderin Boy got away with an easy lead, setting soft fractions in front of longshot Merchant Marine. Curlin traveled off the pace as usual, with Albarado's confidence really showing when letting Curlin settle farther back before steadily moving up into striking position. FRACTIONS: 24.65 - 48.79 - 1:13.08 - 1.36.70 FINAL: 2.01.93 Curlin's backers made 80 cents profit on a $2 win ticket. The $2 Exacta paid $9.40, the $2 Tri paid $49.20, and the $2 Superfecta returned $120.00. Highlights on Curlin's road to $10,000,000: Officially unraced at two, Curlin was well on his way to the Kentucky Derby after winning an eye-opening Allowance win for original trainer Helen Pitts, before being handed over to Steve Asmussen. Curlin's victories on the 2007 Derby trail included the Grade 3 Rebel Stakes, and a record-breaking margin of victory in the Grade 2 Southwest Stakes, both at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas. He finished third to Street Sense and Hard Spun in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, but narrowly defeated Derby winner Street Sense in the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes. At the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes Curlin himself was defeated by a head against superfilly Rags to Riches. He would finish third to Any Given Saturday and Hard Spun in the Grade 1 Haskell that Summer, and win the 2007 Jockey Club Gold Cup (Grade 1) by a neck over Lawyer Ron. His victory over a sloppy track at the 2007 Grade 1 Breeders Cup Classic ultimately left little doubt that would be the Eclipse Award winner for Horse of the Year. In 2008, Curlin's four-year-old campaign was first set to capture the world's richest race, the $6 million Dubai World Cup, which takes place on the last Saturday in March every year. After winning one prep at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse, he would take the Dubai World Cup by a record-setting margin of more than seven lengths. He returned to racing in the US, winning the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap in June, before a second-place finish in his turf debut, the Grade 1 Man O' War Stakes. Debuting at Saratoga in late August, he would win the Grade 1 Woodward at 1 1/8 miles, with only the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup left to take him over $10 million on September 27 at Belmont Park. Although Curlin was not entered into any real races at two, I remember hearing Steve Haskin telling a story on At the Races with Steve Byk that Curlin actually lost some kind of training or exhibition race as a two-year-old juvenile.