While her production record has been just ok thus far(2 winners from 3 foals of racing age) she showed top class as a juvenile, finishing in the money in the G2 Adirondack at Saratoga in 2006, only her second start. By the venerable and breed-shaping stallion, she is out of the Grade 1 winning Victory Ride. Magical Rider, by Storm Cat, is as well bred as one could imagine. Kinda nailed that one with Palace Malice. That's not a knock necessarily, since Curlin only got better with age you can expect his offspring to show a similar tendency, but it definitely does mean it should not have been a surprise to see Palace Malice continue to develop as he got older. But Palace Malice is really the only significant winner that Curlin has gotten so far. And being out of a Deputy Minister mare, it certainly only enhances that tendency. However, Smart Strike is easier to get a picture of, with terrific runners like English Channel, My Miss Aurelia, Lookin at Lucky, and Curlin himself, it is easy to see that Curlin's get will love the classic distances. Since a large portion of (Curlin's) progeny's starts are as two year olds that typically race at sprint distances, it is difficult to truly extrapolate what kind of foal he tends to get. As I said last year when doing a profile of Palace Malice: Curlin has no problem getting nice horses that love to route, which is no surprise. Also performing well this year is the classy Diversy Harbor (2nd in the G2-Providencia) and the top billed Top Billing (zing) who was an early favorite of many to be in the running for top honors in the Kentucky Derby. And let's put this in perspective, Palace Malice is shaping up to be a monster in the handicap division this year, so he's no fluke. While he may tower over the rest of his progeny (as nearly any Classic winner is wont to do) in terms of winnings, he has gotten a number of very nice runners thus far out of only two crops. Palace Malice stormed to a striking win in the 2013 Belmont. Ride on Curlin, by Curlin out of Magical Rider (Storm Cat)Ĭurlin has only had two foal crops that have reached the age of three, but he's already struck quickly. We see the Pletchers, Bafferts, and Zitos of the world enough in the Derby, Preakness, Breeder's Cup, et al, but I always love when we get to see the spotlight shine on some of the smaller guys that work every bit as hard to earn every win they get.īut that aside, let's take a look at his pedigree. But I'll sum it up for you, "He's a fast horse," Billy has said, always with a grin. If you haven't heard Billy talk about this colt, it's worth listening.
But boy does Billy Gowan have himself a nice runner. While I felt that he was misused as a speed horse in the Southwest and the Rebel, and that he was better suited to make one run/rate off the pace, I could also see that severe traffic issues and maybe some rankness also came into play. Admittedly, I've loved this colt from the first time I watched him run last fall at Churchill Downs.
0 kommentar(er)
