Horse of the Year favorite Curlin, gearing up for a potential 4-year-old campaign, worked a half-mile in :53 2/5 seconds Jan. 6 at Fair Grounds.
In 2007, Curlin won the Preakness Stakes (gr. I), the Jockey Club Gold Cup (gr. I) and the the Breeders' Cup Classic Powered by Dodge (gr. I) for trainer Steve Asmussen.
With dawn breaking through over mostly cloudy skies at 6:30 a.m. CST, Curlin, with regular exercise rider Carmen Rosas aboard, jogged to the half-mile pole before beginning his move at a pace slightly faster than the “two-minute licks” he has turned in over the last two weeks.
It was the first timed workout for Curlin since his Breeders’ Cup win. Asmussen has not designated a specific goal for the chestnut son of Smart Strike.
“We’re progressing nicely,” said Asmussen, who watched Curlin’s workout from horseback. “He galloped out in 1:06 and change.”
Curlin and Asmussen were both named Eclipse Award finalists on Friday.
Asmussen is targeting Jan. 12 as the next workout day for both Curlin and Pyro, who was on the track about 20 minutes before Curlin Jan. 6 but did not register an official workout.
Asmussen said Pyro, an Eclipse finalist for 2-year-old male, would have four more workouts before his scheduled 3-year-old debut Feb. 9 in the $300,000 Risen Star Stakes (gr. III.
Curlin posts his first timed workout Jan. 6 since he won the Breeders Cup Classic.
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