The Best Rivalry in the 80's

Since I just don’t have too much interesting to say about the Phillies, I’m going off topic. I wrote about Curlin a few weeks ago, and as part of looking for clips to illustrate his career, I stumbled on a lot of great video.

This video below is the 1989 Preakness: Sunday Silence versus Easy Goer- and in my opinion, the best of their four big match-ups: Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont and Breeders Cup Classic. And probably the best “classic” horse race I ever saw- complete with yet another classic call by that American treasure Tom Durkin (ed. note: you can listen to another awesome Tom Durkin call here):



As with any great rivalry, you can’t think of one without the other- the great thoughbred rivalry of the 1980’s. After this narrow miss above, Easy Goer did get the Belmont- setting up this final clash billed as the Race of the Decade:

A Horse For All Courses

There is always lot of wailing about quality thoroughbreds retiring the minute they show a degree of competence. So I want to take a minute to throw a shout out to Curlin.

The casual sports fan remembers Curlin as the beaten morning line favorite, and actual second choice, in the 2007 Kentucky Derby. He wrapped up the classics with a win in the Preakness and a thrilling loss to the filly Rags to Riches in the Belmont. My take on that Belmont is here.

Well, he has been a tear since then. Last autumn, he won the richest North American race, the Breeders Cup Classic in the slop- and followed that up with a crowning, dominating win over the best the world had to offer in the Dubai World Cup.

Curlin is the consensus best dirt horse in training. But rather than retiring to the breeding shed, his connections have sought out new challenges- which they ought to be commended for. His last start was last week in the Man O' War Stakes- taking him off dirt and onto grass- with an eye toward taking on the world’s most prestigious grass race: Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in Paris,

Curlin finished second- an impressive achievement considering the last two Breeders Cup Turf champions- Red Rocks and Better Talk Now- were running too.

Anyway, the NYRA is very frugal with video- so I can’t find the Man O’ War- but here is the Dubai. "From the red, white and blue corner....":



... and the Classic. Frank Helps You Think It All Out loves the slop!

America's Filly

In a really thrilling race- particularly if you had $30 on the filly at 4 to 1- Rags to Riches won the Belmont Stakes. Even if you are not a fan of thoroughbred racing, take a minute and click on the video replay. Listen to, and enjoy, Tom Durkin going nuts, literally screaming craziness about the battle of the sexes, desperate driving finishes, etc. Our girl got it done- and now deserves to be on both the cover of Sports Illustrated and Time magazines.



There is no cheapening it either. You can’t say the favorite colt Curlin didn’t fire. If Rags to Riches ran the last quarter in a superior sub-24 seconds, Curlin matched her almost stride for stride. So if she fired, he did too. He’s a real nice colt, he ran a real nice race, but the filly is clearly bred to be a twelve furlong machine- and she ran it out.

Hard Spun was the other contender- and for the second classic race in a row- got a ride by one of those dense little elves that can only be described as "nonsensical". The field ran a tactical race for a mile (translated: they ran real slow), and Hard Spun cannot be allowed to not set the pace in that sort of scenario. He isn’t a tactical colt- he is a runner- and someday they’ll get a jockey up here that understands that- and he’ll win one of these things.

The rumor is the filly will face the boys again- but is pointed toward the Alabama at Saratoga- the summer’s prestige race for the girls- as opposed to the Travers. But she is probably ticketed for the Classic in November- a little juice for a sport that needs some.

Belmont

Curlin comes to tomorrow’s Belmont Stakes the very solid favorite: 6-5 on the morning line and probably 4-5 when they get around to putting this field of seven actually in the gate. He is, right now, clearly the fastest thing on four legs- boasting the best set of speed figures coming into this race since the liquid quick Smarty Jones.

But horse racing is never just about who you think is going to win- but rather the best risk-reward payout. Curlin is the best on paper- and all indications are he’ll be a popular choice. So the public will be giving up return in bunches for agreeing with the status quo. That is a big price to pay considering three good angles working against him here.

First of all, the Belmont is far. Far, far, far. No one in this race has ever run this distance or ever will again- and the extra two furlongs makes it a different sort of animal than the rest of the classics. At a minimum, Curlin is a solid classic distance horse- but he probably isn’t a Grade I caliber miler or sprinter- and he might not be a super 12 furlong horse either. We just don’t know. A difference of two furlongs is a lot in horse racing.

Second, this Triple Crown is tough stuff. Just recently War Emblem, Smarty Jones and Funny Cide came in here with short prices- and got beat by horses that in no way could run with them most days. The grind got to all of them. I’m not willing to take even oney that it won’t happen to Curlin either.

Lastly, there are two other candidates here that clearly have enough talent to win should Curlin regress back a few lengths. Hard Spun (second in the Derby, third in the Preakness) and Kentucky Oaks winner Rags to Riches bring good things here: speed, recent form, fire each time out, everything.

Now, Curlin has beaten Hard Spun twice in these classics- so if you are going to argue Curlin is worn down, you gotta sort of dismiss Hard Spun too- which brings us to Rags to Riches.

Do you know who Ruthless and Tanya are? Ruthless won this thing in 1867 and Tanya in 1905- and like Rags to Riches- they are all fillies.

So, no filly has gotten this done since 1905. So sure, they are stretching a little here. I mean, I doubt she would be here if Todd Pletcher had one of his umpteen Derby and Preakness male entries to fire. I guess he’s not the first man to reach for a girl when flailing. But her regular jockey was named to ride Hard Spun- until he found out she was entered, and he went crazy trying to scratch off his mount and move over to his girl (he couldn’t).

She is fresh, will be at a fair price (not too generous, say 3-1, I’m not the only one who thinks she is in this to win this) and can run all day. The boys have been campaigning, the extra distance probably doesn’t help and they won’t offer much pay back in return. I can’t believe I’m writing this- but I am taking Rags to Riches, a filly, straight up to WIN the Belmont Stakes in New York.