from the Dubai Racing Club
Horse of the Year Curlin traveled six furlongs in 1:13.54 at Nad Al Sheba racecourse the morning of March 17 in a key workout before the March 29 Dubai World Cup (UAE-I).
Curlin, under exercise rider Carmen “Carlos” Rosas, went the first eighth of a mile in :13.40, and his final furlong in :12.19. Assistant trainer Scott Blasi said Curlin “is just in a really good rhythm right now.”
The 4-year-old old horse is trained by Steve Asmussen.
“It was exactly what we had in mind, and he galloped out strong,” Blasi said. “That was his major move for the Dubai World Cup, and I couldn’t be happier with how he went and the rhythm he is in.”
Curlin, by Smart Strike, is being honed for the $6-million World Cup in much the same pattern Asmussen used in the colt’s preparation for the Breeders’ Cup Classic – Powered by Dodge (gr.1) last year. Curlin won the race at Monmouth Park with ease.
Blasi said Asmussen’s primary goal with the March 17 workout was that Curlin get the first furlong in :13 and change, and the last in :12 and change. Blasi said Rosas “is a man of few words,” but he is “very excited about how strong (Curlin) is; he says he feels as strong as he ever has.”
Curlin has filled out nicely from 3-year-old season, Blasi said.
“He’s just a stronger, more mature horse,” said Blasi, who has worked with Curlin since he arrived in Asmussen’s barn the winter of 2007 and who is overseeing his training in Dubai for primary owner Jess Jackson and his Stonestreet Stable and minority partner, the Midnight Cry Stable.
“He’s thicker—and he has put on weight in all the right places,” Blasi said. “He was a big horse as a 3-year-old, but he’s a lot bigger now.”
Curlin will have one more timed workout before the World Cup, but it will not be as demanding as the March 17 drill, Blasi said.