THOROUGHBRED BEAT
JANUARY 11, 2007
by James Scully
Big horse — CURLIN (Smart Strike) returned to the worktab last
weekend, and I couldn’t be more excited to see him run this year. In this day
and age, the chances of a three-year-old colt not being retired following a
Horse of the Year campaign seems very unlikely. Of course, Curlin’s clouded
ownership issues probably played a role in keeping him in training. And I’m not
forgetting that Ghostzapper and Invasor (Arg), who were both four-year-olds when
they won Horse of the Year honors in 2004 and 2006, respectively, each returned
to the races the following season. Curlin’s top rivals on the East Coast last
year — Street Sense, Lawyer Ron, Hard Spun and Any Given Saturday — have all
been retired, but I’m looking forward to a potential rivalry between him and the
up-and-coming DAAHER (Awesome Again), who finished 2007 with an excellent score
in the Cigar Mile H. (G1) (115 BRIS Speed rating). On the West Coast, TIAGO
(Pleasant Tap) returns to the races in Saturday’s San Fernando S. (G2), and we
could be treated to some exciting match-ups between him and AWESOME GEM (Awesome
Again) again this year. Only a nose separated these two rivals in the Goodwood
S. (G1) in late September.
Deep division — It promises to be a great year for distaffers.
Soon-to-be-named champion RAGS TO RICHES (A.P. Indy), whose three-year-old
season was cut short by injury, will be back under silks, and all three Eclipse
Award finalists for champion older female — GINGER PUNCH (Awesome Again),
HYSTERICALADY (Distorted Humor) and NASHOBA’S KEY (Silver Hawk) — remain in
training. Grade 1 winners LADY JOANNE (Orientate) and LEAR’S PRINCESS (Lear Fan)
add even further depth to an outstanding division.
Hot Springs — The three-year-old season is underway and Kentucky
Derby (G1) contenders will be developing in all regions of the country. One
hotbed in recent years is Arkansas. Oaklawn Park’s signature event, the Arkansas
Derby, has produced Curlin (Smart Strike), Lawyer Ron, Afleet Alex and Smarty
Jones in the last four years. That’s four champions as well as a Horse of the
Year (unofficially until the Eclipse Awards are announced), and no race has had
a bigger impact upon the Triple Crown since 2004. The American Graded Stakes
Committee, in their infinite wisdom, recognizes it as only a Grade 2.
Change brings trouble — Santa Anita canceled three consecutive racing programs for
the first time in its 71-year history over the weekend. Magna, which owns Santa
Anita, spent millions in recent years rebuilding and
improving the quality of their dirt tracks at Gulfstream Park and Laurel Park, but they
were forced by the California Horse Racing Board to install an all-weather track at Santa Anita in 2007. What happens? It doesn’t even last a year before proving
worthless when it rains. Nobody knew how these artificial surfaces would
withstand the rigors of North American racing, and the early returns aren’t what
we were promised. More horses broke down on the Polytrack at Del Mar than on the
dirt at Saratoga last year. Despite a gross lack of
research, we were assured that these new surfaces would hold up just fine in any
climate, but that isn’t the case in Arcadia, California. Now, we’ll get plenty of excuses like “they didn’t have the right mix
of materials” or “this failure isn’t an indictment of synthetic tracks in
general.” Believe it if you want, but I look forward to the return of dirt
racing at Santa
Anita.