NEWS
More mature Corinthian creates buzz after smashing return
Posted: Friday, February 16, 2007 11:34 AM
CORINTHIAN
Justin Dernier/Equi-Photo
by Mike Curry
A little rest can go a long way for a horse with physical ailments, and sometimes, as with fiery Corinthian, time away from the track can be even more therapeutic for the mind.
Centennial Farms President Don Little Jr. and trainer Jimmy Jerkens considered backing off Corinthian when the talented but immature Pulpit colt suffered a hairline fracture to his left hind pastern after being disqualified from first to third in the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) in March 2005.
Corinthian came down with a skin rash that developed into a staph infection when he returned to training and subsequently finished third in a July allowance race at Saratoga Race Course. The decision was cemented to send him to Centennial's Middleburg, Virginia, farm for a freshening.
Clearly the best in the Fountain of Youth but unmistakably erratic in the stretch, Corinthian returned to the track a more professional race horse on February 8 in a Gulfstream Park allowance race, and may have given the handicap division a substantial boost.
"He came back a bigger and stronger horse, he trained very well," Jerkens said. "We had to do a lot of schooling in the paddock. We had to ship him [to Gulfstream] a week before the race, and we made him think he was running. And he was terrible that day, but it did a lot for him. He was much, much better on the day he ran."
Corinthian turned heads when he put away 2006 Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Jazil with an electric burst of speed to score an impressive 9 1/2-length romp, delivering a performance beyond even what Jerkens and Little optimistically envisioned.
"It was probably the most stressful day I've ever had at the races, to be honest with you," Little said. "We knew what he was like in the past. He had been training well, Jimmy said he was going to the gate very well. All of that we knew was in good order, but race day is a different animal altogether. He just was so impressive the way he handled himself. He was very good in the paddock.
"He grew up," Little continued. "It was a big, big step."
Including the Fountain of Youth, Corinthian hit the wire first in three of his first four starts. He also earned a reputation as being quite a handful around the barn, in the paddock, and on the track.
"He'll never be easy to deal with that's for sure, he's just not that way," Jerkens said. "He's very hot-blooded. Whenever he gets around a filly in season he is almost out of control, he can really scare you."
Little purchased Corinthian for $385,000 at the 2004 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale. He said the price was a little more than Centennial likes to spend, but Little and his selection committee of Paula Parsons and Dr. Steve Carr were very high on him.
"He had a wonderful pedigree," Little said. "Desert Hero, his half brother, was a wonderful race horse. We're looking for classic-type horses that can go a distance. We're partial to bigger, rangier-type individuals, which he was."
Little campaigns horses in Centennial's colors along with his father, Don Little Sr.
Silent Account became Centennial Farms first graded stakes winner in 1985 when she won the Alcibiades Stakes (G2). Centennial also raced champion sprinter Rubiano, 1993 Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Colonial Affair, and Grade 2 winner and sire King Cugat.
In hindsight, Little said he wishes they would have stepped on the brake right the Fountain of Youth injury and given Corinthian a nice layoff rather than continue toward a fall campaign.
"He just wasn't right," Little said. "We just decided we were going to let him be a horse and turn him out on the farm for two months. Basically, we turned him out every day, and let the sun sort of bake that skin disease out of him, and fattened him up and got his immune system healthy again. They did a remarkable job at the farm."
Little credited Parsons work at the Middleburg farm, where all of Centennial's yearlings and sent to be broken and trained, and Jerkens efforts after Corinthian's return for the colt's professional demeanor. He said the Gulfstream Park Handicap (G2) would be a logical next step, but Corinthian will not be rushed back after a big effort that has both Little and Jerkens optimistic.
"He's got great acceleration," Jerkens said. "The other day when Jazil went at him and [jockey] Javier [Castellano] figured he'd better get after him, he shot right off. That takes a lot of horses' heart away when a horse can do that."
Mike Curry is a Thoroughbred Times daily news editor
