NEWS
Street Sense, Curlin prep on Tuesday for Breeders’ Cup Classic
Posted: Tuesday, October 09, 2007 3:03 PM
CURLIN
NTRA photo
Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) winner Street Sense and Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Curlin continued preparations for the $5-million Breeders’ Cup Classic Powered by Dodge (G1) on October 27 at Monmouth Park on Tuesday, posting half-mile breezes at Churchill Downs and Keeneland Race Course, respectively.
Jim Tafel’s homebred Street Sense covered a half-mile in :48.40 on a fast track at Churchill under regular jockey Calvin Borel.
Street Sense completed the workout in fractional times of :13, :25.20, and :37 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:00.40 and six furlongs in 1:12.40 for trainer Carl Nafzger, who was pleased with the strong move.
“We got what we wanted. We needed that just like we needed Tampa,” Nafzger said in regards to comparing the workout to how Street Sense prepped for the March 17 Tampa Bay Derby (G3).
The move, which ranked seventh of 38 timed workouts at the distance, was the first since the Street Cry (Ire) colt finished second to Kentucky Derby runner-up Hard Spun in the Kentucky Cup Classic Stakes (G2) on September 29 on Turfway Park’s all-weather Polytrack surface.
“He came back so much better after that Polytrack race,” Borel said. “It’s amazing. I don’t know why and I don’t know what [a race on Polytrack] does to him. I don’t know if he just gets a lot of out of it, or it gets him keyed up. …But he’s doing good—perfect.”
Street Sense is expected to post one more workout at Churchill before he ships to Monmouth, approximately ten days before the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Curlin, who is co-owned by Stonestreet Stables, Padua Stables, George Bolton, and Midnight Cry Stable, covered a half-mile in :51.60 on Keeneland’s Polytrack surface under regular exercise rider Carmen Rosas.
The Smart Strike colt recorded fractions of :13.20, :26.40, and :39.60 for trainer Steve Asmussen.
The move ranked 48th of 55 timed workouts at the distance and was Curlin’s first workout since he won the Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1) on September 30 at Belmont Park.
“He did it nice and comfortable,” Asmussen said. “We pushed the work back a day because the [Jockey Club Gold Cup] was on Sunday. He will be back on a Monday schedule next week.”
Curlin is expected to have his final Breeders’ Cup workout at Keeneland on October 22 and is scheduled to ship to Monmouth the following day.
