What a good boy! Yesterday Curlin won the $175,000 Jaguar Cup at the Nad al Sheba Racecourse in Dubai. And he won easily. In fact, his trainer and rider felt he was a little rank, full of himself, in the race. Ready to romp! He got pulled off the rail by Albarado because he was being such a bull and then at the end just surged ahead easily, happily, smoothly to win with grade in a breeze. No pushing, no jockeying, just romping! He won by 2 1/4 lengths over the other 5 horses all of whom carried significantly less weight than our American champion!These AP photos by Tracy Brand capture some of the excitement. Notice that in every photo, Curlin's ears are forward. He's not working hard. He's just having fun, ears pricked and at complete dominating ease. I'm not sure based on those photos that he even knows he's in a race! No wonder the AP reporting said he had a "perfect trip."
His jockey, Robby Albarado, says, "It is a real honor to be associated with him and he has shown why tonight. I took him wide to settle him as he was a bit keen and from then I was never concerned."
So, far our big American sweetheart has a 10:7-1-2 record and has earned $5,247,800. He came in third at the Kentucky Derby, won the Preakness, got beat by my girl Rags to Riches in the Belmont, and won the Jockey Gold Cup and Breeders Cup Classic. He is prepped and ready to roll for the March 29th, $6 million Dubai World Cup