Go, Jackson
Oh, impetuous Dutrow, you trash talked the wrong guy:
LEXINGTON, KY (August 13, 2008) – Jess Jackson, majority owner of Curlin, 2007 Horse of the Year, invites Big Brown to race Curlin in the Grade 1, $500,000 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York on Saturday, August 30, 2008. Jackson has committed to donate $50,000 from the Jackson Curlin for Kids Fund to the non-profit Belmont Child Care Association, Anna House, if Big Brown, winner of the 2008 Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Haskell and Florida Derby, accepts the invitation.
“Big Brown’s camp recent remarks about Curlin inspired me to offer an incentive to get these two great horses to race at the legendary track at the Spa,” said Jackson. “Both horses are eligible for this race and both have plenty of time to prepare for what would be thoroughbred racing at its very best and in the name of a great cause.” …
“This type of competition between horses is exactly what thoroughbred racing needs — an event that introduces the excitement and competition of racing to a broader audience,” Jackson said. “Imagine Horse of the Year Curlin racing against Derby Winner Big Brown, on a legendary track. I would love it, the fans would love it, and the horses would love it.”
That would be fun (and a terrific way to close Saratoga), but don’t expect IEAH to announce any change in plans for Big Brown. Michael Iavarone has said they’re looking for a mid-September grass race (possibly an overnight stakes written by NYRA specifically for the Kentucky Derby winner, in which he would likely face a small field of overmatched allowance horses) and pointing to the Breeders’ Cup Classic afterwards.
Update: And in fact, the Classic figures in the IEAH reply:
When told of the offer, Mike Iavarone, co-president of IEAH Stables, replied, “I have a better offer. We’ll donate $250,000 to various charities if Curlin meets us in the Breeders’ Cup. These are the things we do anyway. We strongly feel that championships should be decided at the Breeders’ Cup and that in order to give both horses the proper time to prepare for each other, we believe the race we meet in should be on racing’s biggest stage.”
Unfortunately, Iavarone doesn’t stop talking there.
The bizarre back and forth continues: Now Jackson says, meet us in the Jockey Club Gold Cup.
Last word: No way, says Iavarone, jokingly proposing a 3-on-3 basketball game to settle the matter instead.
On Track
Ventured to the backstretch earlier than usual this morning, arriving around 5:30 a.m., between rainstorms, to watch Curlin train, only to hear that the expected move had been canceled due to the weather and sloppy track condition. “I’m not going to work him,” said trainer Steve Asmussen. “It’s too wet.” Turns out, the exercise was merely delayed, with the big chestnut working six furlongs in 1:14.62, in company with stablemate Hawaii Calls, over the muddy Oklahoma surface after the break. Curlin’s final serious Woodward work is scheduled for next Monday, over the main track.
Also on the work tab was Pyro, second in the Jim Dandy, pointing to a start in the Travers. The 3-year-old worked six furlongs in 1:16.01 over the training track.
Odds & Ends
Above All Odds and connections await the sixth on Saturday.
– Caught this intriguing tidbit in a Times Union piece on the Saturday card, otherwise known as the Going to Hell in a Handbasket Without a Graded Stakes day:
The first Saturday of the meet was top heavy with stakes races…. That won’t happen next year. Hayward said the Breeders’ Cup people already have told him there will be no Win and You’re In here.
“We were told they aren’t going to do any races at Saratoga or Arlington in the summer,” Hayward said.
That sounds like a potentially significant change. Does this mean a retrenchment of the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In promotion for 2009?
– David Carr is writing about media, but this simple insight into how technology is changing news production and consumption could be as easily applied to marketing racing, especially to the tech-savvy and connected:
For the last few years, the locus of control has been shifting and consumers not only expect to customize their media experience, they demand it as a condition of engagement.
Here comes everybody: Part 1, Part 2 …
– Almost missed this news, since it was buried midway through a DRF article:
The multiple graded stakes winner Bit of Whimsy came out of her ninth-place finish in the Diana Handicap with a minor injury, and her connections have decided to retire her from racing …
Bit of Whimsy showed little in her final three races, going winless since the G2 Mrs. Revere last November, and she was to have been retired at year’s end regardless, but she was a fine turf filly and will be missed on track by this fan.
All Clear
Training over the repaired main track on Saturday morning.
The sky is blue, clouds are few, and any rain predicted is expected to pass to the north. After yesterday’s early afternoon wash out, the main track is restored to normal, the turf listed as yielding. So far, the weather is perfect for an 11-race Saratoga card featuring four overnight stakes for NY-breds. Complaints about the line-up can be found here and there, but I prefer to think NYRA is doing horseplayers a courtesy, freeing fans from any distracting local graded stakes that might take away from Arlington Million day (well covered by both Superfecta and Gathering the Wind), while (mostly) full fields make for an afternoon of good betting.
I embarrassed myself a bit earlier on the backstretch by saying that I liked Plan, recently purchased by IEAH, in the Arlington Million when what I meant was the Secretariat; as for the Million, reduced to seven due to the scratch of Sudan, I’m leaning towards Einstein, “progressively … better as he’s gone along,” to upset likely favorite Archipenko. The Beverly D. comes up the toughest of three, with a class field all around, including Mauralakana, hometown filly Dreaming of Anna, and the dangerous Precious Kitten. Cornelio Velasquez abandons Saratoga for the day to ride 8-1 ML Rosinka for Graham Motion. Interesting …
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Jessica Chapel writes and edits in Massachusetts. Railbird is a Thoroughbred horse racing blog published from June 2004 to July 2019. More / Contact
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