Here comes Ride On Curlin
For a horse well known by how strongly he finished important distance races last year, such as the Arkansas and Kentucky Derbies, and the Preakness, you might think a six furlong heat would be a strange way to bring Ride On Curlin back to the races. But after a seven month hiatus, that is the plan, as he’s scheduled to make his long awaited return this week at Oaklawn Park. Actually, the son of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin has performed well in all three of his lifetime sprints. So, those hoping to see Ride On Curlin return in good form, have every reason to hope for the best from one of the more popular horses on last year’s Triple Crown trail, when he returns in the allowance/optional claimer, scheduled as the 9th and final race on Thursday.
Owned by Dan Dougherty and trained by Billy Gowan, Ride On Curlin has been away since he failed to finish the final leg of the Triple Crown. He bled in the Belmont Stakes, came out sore, and the Preakness runner-up was put on the shelf to recuperate, and then popped a splint in his first attempt at a comeback. The bargain $25,000 yearling purchase finally made it back to the worktab for a trio of works at Churchill Downs in December, and has had a pair of five furlong moves since arriving in Arkansas a few weeks ago. Now four, Ride On Curlin will begin 2015 much the same way he did in 2014.
While it’s true he only won once in each of his first two seasons, Ride On Curlin has proved to be a rugged and classy individual. He began last year in January by winning a six furlong allowance race at Oaklawn Park in facile fashion. After that, it was all graded stakes for the bay colt. Beginning with a third in the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes, Ride On Curlin ran well in five consecutive graded stakes before the Belmont. He finished third in both the Southwest and Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park, before coming home second to Danza in the Arkansas Derby, the track’s signature event.
From there, he ran into serious Churchill Downs traffic, as so many do in the Kentucky Derby, but after losing tons of ground by swinging abruptly and way outside, Ride On Curlin finished with a flourish to come in 7th of 19, beaten less than seven lengths. The quality of his effort in the Run for the Roses was validated by a strong performance two weeks later in racing’s Middle Jewel. In the ten-horse Preakness, Ride On Curlin loomed large swinging for home, before unsuccessfully chasing the dual classic winner, California Chrome, down the Old Hilltop stretch. Still, the 1 ½-length defeat was a first class performance that saw him hit the wire more than six lengths ahead of the third place finisher.
By running in the Belmont, he joined California Chrome and General A Rod as the only horses to run in all three legs of last year’s Triple Crown series. An accomplishment, in and of itself. Things obviously did not go well that afternoon in New York, but Ride On Curlin had proven nothing, if not consistent, in the first eleven starts of his career. So much so, that it’s a bit hard to believe that he is still, as of yet, a non-winner in stakes racing.
The rags to riches story of Ride On Curlin is far from over, though. First comes his return race on Thursday, which hopefully will get his season off to a good start and on track for his first major target back, the $600,000 Oaklawn Handicap on April 11.