Vanden Berg tries Turf Cup with barn favorite King Curlin

It was early Monday morning at the stable area at Kentucky Downs and the King was resting. For a little bit.

Most of the time, though, the King, known to those who love him as the 5-year-old horse King Curlin, was in perpetual motion in his stall.

He stuck his head out, looked around.

Went back in, walked around a bit, came back to the front.

Nibbled at his hay rack. Leaned out as far as he could.

Maybe the King was more restless than resting. More on that later.

His fidgety behavior will change soon.

Monday, trainer Brittany Vanden Berg entered King Curlin to run in Saturday’s Grade 2 Kentucky Turf Cup at 1 1/2 miles. The race offers a $1 million purse, plus another $1 million available to Kentucky-breds such as King Curlin.

“This is where you take your shot,” Vanden Berg said as the King was nodding his head behind her, seemingly in agreement. “It’s $2 million, and he could not be doing any better. We might as well take our stab.”

At 30-1, King Curlin was the longest shot on the morning line for the Kentucky Turf Cup. Vanden Berg also entered him in a $200,000 allowance race on Thursday’s card, also to be run at 1 1/2 miles, which Vanden Berg said is the King’s best distance. He was made the 7-2 second choice by Kentucky Downs oddsmaker Nick Tammaro on the morning line in that race.

The top choice, though, is the Turf Cup.

The horse will be ridden by Chris Emigh, Vanden Berg’s husband, and the all-time winningest jockey at Hawthorne in Illinois.

He is with her at Kentucky Downs and Emigh and his wife were telling the tale of King Curlin Monday morning. The son of Curlin, who is owned by Robert S. Rhoads’s RSR Racing, is the darling of Vanden Berg’s 28-horse stable, which has been based at Hawthorne this summer.

Part of that is because of King Curlin’s size. He stands 17 hands.

Another part is the King’s personality and his antics. He has this knack of getting up on his hind legs and doing a sky point with his front legs. Majestic sight, to be sure.

“He is a handful, he has always been a handful,” Vanden Berg said. “The first couple times Chris rode him, he spent more time in the air than he did down. He knows he can get up and stay there. He’ll be up 30 seconds, does the black stallion thing and scares the heck out of people. We’ve tried to get him down and teach him the right way and give him a little discipline, but he is just not about it.”

“He likes to rear up,” Emigh said. “He plays hard, really hard. He doesn’t realize he can hurt you. There is a lot of stud in him. He is a showoff. Everyone likes to see him.”

Which is why they love him even more. But love only goes so far.

“We have to draw straws to see who is going to walk him in the morning,” Vanden Berg said with a laugh. “This is our baby. We broke this horse, we did everything with him. He’s our pride and joy, like our barn mascot.”

The decision was made to enter the Turf Cup after King Curlin finished fourth, beaten three lengths, in the Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Cup Stakes at Ellis Park on Aug. 4. He was 41-1 that day. Highway Robber, who won that race, is also entered in the Turf Cup, as is Anglophile, who beat King Curlin by a nose and who won last year’s Dueling Grounds Derby (G3) at Kentucky Downs.

King Curlin was a $25,000 purchase at the 2021 June Ocala 2-year-old sale. Twelve of his 17 career races have been on grass, and he has two wins, four seconds and a third.

He missed just about all of his 3-year-old year because of an injury.

“He broke his splint bone in a race at Churchill and he needed almost a year off,” Vanden Berg said. “And he was the strongest-legged horse we ever dealt with, so it came as a shock to us.”

He mended and he came back to the races. He only has a maiden and an allowance on his resume, but his people know he’ll give them everything he has.

It also doesn’t hurt that King Curlin is back at Kentucky Downs. His first career start was here on Sept. 11, 2021 and he finished second. Last year, he was second in an allowance on Sept. 3.

Vanden Berg said the mile and a half is the favorite distance for her favorite horse.

Asked for a reason why the Kentucky Turf Cup is the place for the King, Vanden Berg and Emigh just smiled. They could give you two million of them.

“What are the odds of winning the lottery for a million dollars? Usually, there are 300 million people trying,” Emigh said. “Now, it’s 11 (horses in the race). He can run with these horses. He tries very hard. Hopefully, we are going to get the big one.”