by Phil Janack

Reigning Horse of the Year Curlin will have more company than expected when he enters the gate for the $500,000 Woodward Stakes (G1) on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course.

Eight horses were entered in the 1 1/8-mile Woodward, which will be Curlin's first start since running second in the Man o' War Stakes (G1) on turf on July 12 at Belmont Park.

Curlin will break from post five and was installed as the 3-to-5 morning-line favorite by New York Racing Association oddsmaker Eric Donovan.

"I wasn't expecting eight when I came here this morning, so I had to do some last-minute adjustments," Donovan said. "It didn't really change anyone's odds too drastically. With a five or six-horse field, Curlin was probably going to be more like 1-to-2, but with seven or eight, 3-to-5 seemed more appropriate.

"He's a horse that everyone's going to be looking for and everyone's going to be watching for the whole day. I think he's going to be a short price. I don't think he's a cinch in the race. There's some nice horses in there, but he's the horse everyone's rooting for and the horse everyone knows."

The four-year-old Smart Strike colt has nine wins, two seconds, and two thirds from 13 career starts with earnings of $9,496,800. He is just $503,015 shy of Cigar's record of $9,999,815 for all-time leading North American-raced earners.

Skip Away is second on the all-time list at $9,616,360. A victory in the Woodward would put Curlin second at $9,796,800.

"I thought it worked out well for us; at five of eight, I think it's a good draw," said Scott Blasi, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen. "We've got Divine Park to our inside and Wanderin Boy to the outside. I think it worked out well."

Curlin has won three of four starts this year, capturing the $6-million Emirates Airline Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) in March and the Stephen Foster Handicap (G1) in his North American return. He has had six works at Saratoga leading up to the Woodward, and schooled twice in the paddock, including Thursday afternoon.

"This horse is different in a lot of ways," Blasi said. "In Dubai, he laid closer to the pace when we needed him to, if it's not fast enough. I think there are horses in here with more turn of foot away from there than him, but hopefully he'll put himself in a good position in the first turn and the rest will take care of itself.

"It's no walkover. Divine Park is six-for-eight, and his two losses were definitely excuses. Wanderin Boy, if he gets loose on the lead, anything can happen. We've just got to take care of our business and hopefully it works out."

At 3-to-1, Divine Park is given the best chance of an upset.

Conditioned by meet-leading trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, Divine Park enters the Woodward off three consecutive victories, the last coming in the Metropolitan Handicap (G1) on May 26 at Belmont.

"It's a tough chore against Curlin,” McLaughlin said. “He's one of the best in the game, but we're looking forward to the race and we feel like we have a decent chance to upset him.

"He has to have a subpar day, whatever that means. Whether he doesn't like the holding barn or has trouble in the race. We may need a couple things to happen."

A multiple graded stakes winner, Wanderin Boy returned from a 2 1/2-month break to win a seven-furlong allowance at Saratoga on July 28. It was his first victory since beating Student Council in the Alysheba Stakes (G3) last May at Churchill Downs.

Trainer Ken McPeek turned down an overnight stakes at Monmouth Park with Loose Leaf to face Curlin, a horse he bought for $57,000 at the 2005 Keeneland September yearling sale.

Loose Leaf has captured two of three starts at Saratoga, winning the $82,000 Lemon Drop Kid Stakes last summer and an allowance/optional claiming race on August 13, both at the Woodward distance. He was sixth of seven in the 2007 Travers Stakes (G1) at the Spa.

"You can either take the layup, or try to hit the three-pointer," McPeek said. "The layup would have been to take him over to Monmouth. He probably would have been 2-to-1 or less, and probably would have won that race.

"We weren't planning on going, but the horse is doing good. If he runs back to his last race, he'll get a big check. We're not going to sit here and say we think we can beat Curlin, but he'll be competitive. He loves this racetrack. He always runs good over it."

Phil Janack is a New York-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent

The field, in post position order, with trainer, jockey, and morning-line odds:

1. A.P. Arrow, Todd Pletcher, Cornelio Velasquez, 20-1;

2. Loose Leaf, Ken McPeek, Eibar Coa, 15-1;

3. Past the Point, Eoin Harty, Edgar Prado, 15-1;

4. Divine Park, Kiaran McLaughlin, Alan Garcia, 3-1;

5. Curlin, Steve Asmussen, Robby Albarado, 3-5;

6. Dr. D.F.C., Rodrigo Ubillo, Aldo Arboleda, 50-1;

7. Out of Control, Bobby Frankel, John Velazquez, 12-1; and

8. Wanderin Boy, Nick Zito, Julien Leparoux, 8-1.