Equine Daily--The Equine World's Top Headline of the Day

CURLIN--RICHEST HORSE IN AMERICA
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Curlin became the richest horse in America Saturday in the 90th running of the $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup (GI).*

He was the 2-5 favorite breaking from the post, and settled back into fifth throughout the race. Wanderin Boy took an early lead, with Merchant Marine close on his heels.

In the backstretch, Mambo in Seattle edged up beside Curlin, passing him, but Curlin was pushed through horses in front of Mambo in Seattle. After that, Mambo in Seattle retreated and never posed a threat.

On a muddy track, Robby Albarado edged Curlin around Merchant Marine on the far turn and past Wanderin Boy after a lot of fight and no whip from Albarado, and Curlin won by three quarters of a length. Wanderin Boy was whipped and pushed hard, but to no avail.

Surprisingly, Jess Jackson, owner of Curlin said after the race that they are headed to Santa Anita for the 2008 Breeder's Cup Classic (GI) October 25 for $5 million. This decision has been changing around since Big Brown won the Monmouth Stakes, when Jackson stated that the match race was a firm "No." Now he will challenge him, if Curlin does well working out on the Pro-Ride surface. If he does, the match between Curlin and Big Brown will be on.

Good luck, Curlin. ~Equine Lover

*ESPNEWS did not televise the JC Gold Cup, as before said. (??)

Equine Daily--The Equine World's Top Headline of the Day

CURLIN TO FACE EIGHT ON A MUDDY TRACK
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Horse of the Year Curlin, by Smart Strike, will face ten in this Saturday's Jockey Club Gold Cup (GI).

The forecast for Belmont Park is 1 1/2 inches of rain starting the 25 and could go on into the 27, race day. But this will not bother Curlin. He won the 2007 Breeder's Cup Classic (GI) on a muddy Monmouth track.

"He's had experience over a muddy track," states Scott Blasi, assistant trainer to Steve Asmussen. "It's definitely not an issue for him, according to his bank roll."

Blasi believes Curlin will quite easily be top of the game Saturday. "He's awesome. It seems like he always comes around this time of year; gets stronger. Hopefully, we are getting into the peak at the end of the year."

The Jockey Club Gold Cup is a "Win and You're In" race for the Breeder's Cup Classic (GI); the winner of this race will get a starting berth to the $5 million dollar race October 25 at Santa Anita. Jess Jackson, Curlin's owner, said a decision will be made to enter Curlin in the race or not after the Gold Cup. If the decision is yes, Curlin will not only have a chance to increase his earnings far above that of leading money earner Cigar's, but will also be able to prove that he is better than Big Brown, who will also be in the race--if he is better.

The biggest rivals of Curlin will be Wanderin Boy, who placed third to the chestnut in the Woodward Stakes (GI) after starting on an outside post, a disadvantage, and Mambo in Seattle, who lost the Travers Stakes (GI) by a whisker to Colonel John. However, Mambo in Seattle (by Kingmambo and out of the Seattle Slew mare Weekend in Seattle) is not a very good mud runner. He prefers the "good" or "fast" track surfaces. Wanderin Boy, however, does very well in mud--perhaps even better then on the fast surfaces. Mambo in Seattle also has had a switch of jockeys--Robby Albarado, his jockey in the Travers, is Curlin's regular jockey. This may upset him. He has Edgar S. Prado up.

Timber Reserve, although not as good as the before mentioned horses, is a speedster and may present a little of a threat. He won last year's Pennsylvania Derby (GII).

Angliana is the long shot.

Each horse carries 126 pounds except Mambo in Seattle, who carries 122. The race is for colts and fillies (or mares, stallions, geldings) 3 years old and up.

The entries of the 90th running of the Jockey Club Gold Cup are:
1. Ravel, Rafael Bejarano
2. Merchant Marine, Cornelio H. Velasquez
3. Timber Reserve, Kent J. Desormeaux
4. Wanderin Boy, Alan Garcia
5. Curlin, Robby Albarado
6. Angliana, Rajiv Maragh
7. A. P. Arrow, Ramon A. Dominguez
8. Stones River, Gabriel Saez
9. Mambo in Seattle, Edgar S. Prado
~Equine Lover

Equine Daily--The Equine World's Top Headline of the Day

Zenyatta and jockey Mike Smith

PERFECT ZEN LOOKING FOR ANOTHER PERFECT WIN
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Undefeated Zenyatta, by Street Cry and out of Vertigineux, by Kris S., will be looking for another win to add to her perfect record Saturday (September 27) in the Lady's Secret Stakes (GI).

The Lady's Secret will hopefully be a springboard toward the $2 million Breeder's Cup Ladie's Classic (GI) October 24. Both races are at Oak Tree at Santa Anita.


Zenyatta's biggest rival is Hystericalady, a filly by Distorted Humor and out of Sacramentada, by Northair. They will break side by side, with Zenyatta in post four and Hystericalady in post three.


Trained by John Shirreffs for Jerry and Anne Moss, Zenyatta most recently had a one length win in the August 2 Clement L. Hirsch. She recorded a six furlong workout in 1:12.80 September 20 at Hollywood Park.


Hystericalady has a record of of 21 starts with 11 wins, 3 places and 2 shows. She is trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, a Northern California legend, and owned in partnership by this trainer and Rancho San Miguel and George Todaro. She has earnings totalling $2,290,596. Her jockey is Garret Gomez.


Zenyatta has a 7: 7-0-0 record and earnings of $914,580. Her jockey is regular Mike Smith.


The race is for three year olds and up, with a purse of $250,00. Approximate post time is 2:30 pm Pacific Time. Each entry (5 entries altogether) will carry 123 pounds.


Entries:
1. Super Freaky (Martin Garcia)
2. Wake up Maggie (Tyler Baze)
3. Hystericalady (Garret Gomez)
4. Zenyatta (Mike Smith)
5. Santa Teresita (Michael Baze)
~Equine Lover

Note to Racing Record Readers:

The Racing Record newsletter will not be out until Monday, due to the Jockey Club Gold Cup being Saturday. This will then allow it to be announced in the newsletter.
Thank you for your patience!
~Equine Lover

Equine Daily--The Equine World's Top Headline of the Day

ESPN TO TELEVISE JC GOLD CUP
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ESPNEWS will televise this Saturday's Jockey Club Gold Cup (GI) at Belmont Park.

In the race is Horse of the Year Curlin, who will be going for the $450,000 winner's purse and hoping to pass Cigar's top money earner's record of $9,999,815. Curlin has $9,796,800.

The Jockey Club Gold Cup is for 3-year-olds and up and will be contested at 1 1/4 miles over dirt. It will be televised also by TVG and HRTV. Post time is 5:52 pm ET and 4:52 pm CT.
~Equine Lover

Equine Daily--The Equine World's Top Headline of the Day

PROUD SPELL FINISHED FOR 2008
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Proud Spell, a filly by Proud Citizen and who won the 2008 Kentucky Oaks (GI) in May, will not race anymore in 2008.

Trainer Larry Jones states that the filly is tired, after having raced against top fillies every month since February. He was planning on putting her in the Breeder's Cup Ladies Classic, but after her second place finish in the $750,000 Fitz Dixon Cotillion Stakes (GII) Jones decided that her racing career was coming to an end.

It is undecided whether the filly will race in 2009 or not. Jones says it all depends. He said in a speech, "We haven't made any decision yet on what we'll do with her. She's sound, but she is tired. We've run her every month since February against the best fillies in America, and she didn't lose the Cotillion because she was tired; I'm not using that as an excuse. But in each of her last few races, she's come out of it a little more tired, which is understandable, especially after such a grueling effort against Music Note. That was the premier race for our filly.

"The other riders gave Gabriel (Saez) a lesson in race riding in the Cotillion, as they did in the Mother Goose. The Eight Belles incident in the Derby really psyched him out in the Mother Goose. In both races, they had him bottled up, but he had a chance to shoot through each time. I told him before the Cotillion to make sure he was in front turning for home, because she's never been passed in the stretch. She has a heart that's unstoppable. But I'm going to stick with him; he's a great kid and I think he's going to be a Hall of Fame jockey one day. This is part of the learning process.

"A lot of people advised me to wrap up on her and send her home after the Alabama, but we took a shot, because she loves to run. That's why it's going to be hard for me not to run her next year. Right now, we're just going to wait and see. We're blessed to have her and blessed that she's sound. The immediate plan is to bring her home and turn her out and let her be a horse for a while. We did that right after the Breeder's Cup last year. Then, we'll take a bunch of X-rays and make sure there isn't a problem that we don't know about. If everything's okay, we might very well be running her next year."

Proud Spell has won seven of twelve career starts. She has earned over two million.
~Equine Lover