Ron Correll
Senior columnist

Reigning 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin became the first $10 million “man”  in North America when he won the Jockey Club Gold Cup for the second year in a row on Saturday at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

The 4-year-old son of Smart Strike took home $450,000 for first place and pushed his winnings to $10,246,800 to surpass Cigar who retired in 1996 with $9,999,815. It only took Curlin 15 races to top the $10 million mark. Cigar ran 33 times, but in his defense the purses were smaller when he was running in the mid-’90s. Cigar also tied Citation with 16 straight wins during his career.

Curlin’s win in the Gold Cup was not assured when the favorites in the earlier stakes races at Belmont Park all went down in defeat. But Curlin and jockey Robby Albarado were out to set the world back in proper order.

Wanderin Boy, as expected, shot to the lead out of the gate in the mile-and-a-quarter race. Merchant Marine and Ravel joined him as they ran over a sealed track to the first quarter in :24.67 seconds. Albarado kept Curlin to the outside and out of trouble in fifth as the lead trio hit the half in :48.79.

Further up the backstretch, Curlin fell back to sixth as Mambo in Seattle moved past him along the rail. The leaders reached the three-eighths pole in 1:13.08 seconds and Albarado asked Curlin to quicken and Mambo in Seattle went with him.

Ravel quickly dropped out of it and Mambo in Seattle was done at the quarter pole. Curlin swung to the outside of Wanderin Boy and Merchant Marine dived to the rail. Albarado threw a couple of crosses on Curlin and he was a length in front at the eighth pole.  Alan Garcia was working as hard as he could on Wanderin Boy to stay with Curlin, but to no avail. Curlin was under a hand ride and cruised to the line a short length in front in 2:01.93.

Winning trainer Steve Asmussen said after the race,  “Robby was really comfortable down the backside. I think he knows who he is on, and he let it sort out in front of him. He looked comfortable around the far turn, lost a little bit of position on the backside when Robby decided he didn’t want to be that wide. He immediately moved up in the bridle and came into the stretch the way you wanted him to be.

“It was very emotional for me. I was very excited and very proud of everybody involved. Fifteen races he’s won more than $10 million. We had two back-to-back $5 million years. Robby didn’t turn the stick over on him today,” Asmussen said.

“I really liked the finish — that was my favorite part. He was away well, shuffled away a little bit down the backside. I could tell that Robby (Albarado) was very confident on him. He put himself in a perfect position. He looked fabulous through the stretch.

“I can’t say how proud I am to be part of what’s just happened. I don’t want to go any further without thanking Jess (Jackson) and Barbara (Banke, Jackson’s wife and co-owner of Curlin) for the opportunity to put that much money aside to let this horse develop and to let this happen. To make history – the all-time money-winning horse in North America — it’s very special. The job that (assistant) Scott Blasi and (exercise rider) Carmen Rosas have done with him on a day-to-day basis enabled him to maintain the consistency. For him to be able to carry the weight of expectation, I’m very proud.” 

“It’s amazing? I’m sure it is not going to hit me for awhile,” Albarado said.  I’m sure this record will be broken one day, but it will take a helluva horse. I had a great trip. It’s really amazing. Steve (Asmussen) instilled a lot of confidence in me before the race. He just ran his race again and gave me that big Curlin move again on the turn. It was tremendous – and very emotional.

“The bar is set against him every time, but he exceeds our expectations every time he runs.”

Garcia had nothing but respect for Curlin.  “I got beat by the best horse, and he’s an excellent horse. My horse ran his race; I’m happy. (Trainer) Nick Zito keeps doing the job, but Curlin was much the best today. It was a great day for racing.”

Neil Howard, who trains the 3-year-old  Mambo in Seattle said, “He ran good. It was a tough race. He has a good future in front of him.”

Mambo in Seattle was coming out of a tough race on Aug. 23 when he was beaten a nose by Colonel John in the Travers at Saratoga in upstate New York.

Cornelio Velasquez, who was on Merchant Marine, was equally impressed with Curlin. “My horse ran a big one, but the one that won is the big deal.” 

Jess Jackson, majority owner of Curlin, said via telephone from California: “I have been a lifetime supporter of Thoroughbred racing, and many of you don’t know all of the things I’ve done. I feel that Curlin is the epitome of what my lifetime has contributed to the racing community and I hope to do more. As to going out to Santa Anita (for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, October 25), we’ll probably load him up, but first we’ll have to get him adjusted. But it is up to him whether he likes the track and the surface. So, those are concerns we still have. But we’ll consider it now that we’re past this hurdle. That’s the next prospect for us and we’ll give it every bit of attention.

“Let’s put it this way: we haven’t avoided him (Big Brown). I don’t fault them for the way they’ve handled Big Brown. But if he is truly going to the big race, we’ll have to see whether Curlin likes the track. We’re not trying to avoid him and there is always the Clark after that or the Japan Cup (Dirt). So, we have to take them one at a time. I don’t want to risk a horse of Curlin’s stature that we need in the gene pool. So, I am being very cautious and doing my due diligence first.

“Probably ship him out in about a week. Whether we train him at Belmont or ship him out, that’s up to Steve. As you know, the standard is to ship maybe three or four days before a race. But in this case, we might go out a little earlier. I’ll have to talk to Steve about it I haven’t talked to him except to congratulate him.”

Curlin could well have nailed down his second Horse of the Year title. He joins Mad Hatter (1921-22), Dark Secret (1933-34), Nashua (1955-56), Kelso (1960-64), the mare Shuvee (1970-71), Slew o’Gold (1983-84), Crème Fraiche (1986-87) and Skip Away (1996-97) as the only repeat winners of the Jockey Club Gold Cup. Firethorn won it in 1935 and as a 5-year-old in 1937.