Ride On Curlin back in training, targeting Oaklawn ‘Cap

Ride On Curlin could earn his first stakes victory in 2015 (Jerry Dzierwinski/Maryland Jockey Club)

He was a media darling during the weeks leading up to the
Kentucky Derby, and runner-up to Derby winner California Chrome in the Preakness, but it’s been a quiet summer for Dan Dougherty’s Ride On Curlin.

The rags-to-riches son of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin — a $25,000 yearling purchase by Dougherty and trainer Billy Gowan
— has been
out of action since he failed to finish in 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes, the
third leg of the Triple Crown known as the “Test of the Champion.”

But Ride on Curlin has emerged from the sidelines and is
back in training at Churchill Downs with an eye toward a campaign as a
four-year-old.

Gowan, known as “Bronco Billy” to his friends, started Ride
On Curlin on the comeback trail just over a month ago. The bay colt jogged for about
three weeks, and stepped up to regular gallops under exercise rider Bryan Beccia
about 10 days ago.

“After the Belmont he was a little sore,” Gowan explained. “He
was just kind of body sore everywhere and that’s kind of why they decided to lay
him up. Then he popped a splint out there on the farm, and I had to take care of
that.

“My plan was to run him here in (Friday’s Grade 1) Clark Handicap, but when
he popped that splint I knew he was done for the year and we might as well give
him plenty of time. So I gave him an extra week of shedrow and an extra week of
jogging. There was no reason to rush him back.”