Curlin's Approval preps for Breeders' Cup in Barely Even

Looking for a spot to run multiple Grade 2 winner Curlin’s Approval prior to her Breeders’ Cup debut, trainer, breeder and co-owner Happy Alter found one right in their own backyard.

 

Curlin’s Approval will break from Post 5 as the 123-pound highweight in Sunday’s $50,000 Barely Even, a seven-furlong overnight handicap for fillies and mares 3 and up at Gulfstream Park that attracted a field of seven.

 

The Barely Even is one of six stakes worth $280,000 in purse money on a 10-race program closing Gulfstream’s summer meet that began July 1.  Other overnight handicaps are the $50,000 Green Parrot at five furlongs on the turf, $50,000 Alabama Jack’s at seven furlongs and $50,000 Bull and Whistle at 1 1/16 miles, all for 3-year-olds and up.

 

Also carded is a pair of $40,000 starter stakes on turf, the Captain Tony’s at 1 1/16 miles for 3-year-olds and up and the Jack Flats at one mile for 3-year-olds that have started for a claiming price of $35,000 or less.

 

Curlin’s Approval will yield from three to 11 pounds to her six rivals in the Barely Even, the first non-graded stakes the 4-year-old daughter of Hall of Famer Curlin has run since beating her elders in the Added Elegance last August.

 

The seven-furlong Added Elegance is one of three career wins at the distance and one of six wins from nine tries at Gulfstream, where she is based. The most recent came July 1, a 4 ½-length triumph in the Princess Rooney (G2) that earned her an all-fees-paid berth to the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) Nov. 4.

 

Alter needed to call an audible for Curlin’s Approval when her training was interrupted during and after Hurricane Irma swept through South Florida earlier this month. Like many horses stabled at Gulfstream she was able to take refuge at Palm Meadows, the track’s satellite training facility in Palm Beach County.

 

“We lost a lot of training time during the hurricane. That’s why with the goal being the Breeders’ Cup, we wanted to have a prep race at home. This is home for me, for the horse and I think it all is working out good,” Alter said. “It’s a prep race, but a stakes race is a stakes race. The other horses that are in there have earned their right to be in the race. I don’t know if some of them got to get more training in than us depending on where they went for the hurricane, but it’s the best thing that we could do.”

 

Edgard Zayas will be aboard Curlin’s Approval for the second time, having finished seventh together in the Matron (G3) May 20 prior to the Princess Rooney. In her most recent start, she was sixth in the Ballerina (G1) Aug. 26 at Saratoga.

 

“The race at Saratoga there was a lot of problems coming out of the gate so we’ve got to throw that race out. The filly that was supposed to be the very best in the whole country, Paulassilverlining, she had the same problem that day and we both finished back together,” Alter said. “She won the Princess Rooney one race before Saratoga, so the confidence is there.”

 

Concealedwithakiss and Money Or Love, ninth and 11th, respectively, in the Princess Rooney, return in the Barely Even. Money Or Love won the Added Elegance by a neck in her subsequent start, while multiple stakes winner Concealedwithakiss took the Ana T. Handicap one race prior.

 

Also entered are 2016 Hut Hut winner Lirica, 10-for-13 lifetime in the money at Gulfstream including five wins; She Takes Heart, Rashette, and Savingtime are also entered.

 

“There’s a lot of ways to lose a race and only one way to win them. You’ve got to overcome all the troubles that can create themselves during a race and you’ve got to hope the jockeys are thinking clearly on that particular day and that particular race,” Alter said. “She’s the class of the field but she’s also carrying 123 pounds. Things have a way of equaling out, but I’m optimistic.”

 

Kicking off Sunday’s stakes action is the Green Parrot, which drew a field of seven including Grade 3 winner Doctor J Dub, entered for main track only. Among the group is Extravagant Kid, winner of the Tamiami Handicap last out Sept. 17 at Gulfstream and multiple stakes winner Successful Native, who returned from more than a year layoff to run ninth in that race.

 

Groomstick Handicap winner Splash Rules and Sunshine Millions Classic winner Hy Riverside top nine entries in the Alabama Jack’s (Race 6), while the Bull and Whistle (Race 8) field of nine includes 2016 Florida Derby (G1) runner-up Majesto and multiple stakes winners Diamond Bachelor and Chepstow.