Ride On Curlin on Track for 2015 Campaign

 

The rags-to-riches son of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin – a $25,000 yearling purchase by Dougherty and trainer Billy Gowan – has been out of action since he failed to finish in 1 ½-mile Belmont Stakes (GI), the third leg of the Triple Crown known as the “Test of the Champion.”

 

But Ride on Curlin has emerged from the sidelines and is back in training at Churchill Downs with an eye toward a campaign as a 4-year-old.

 

Gowan, known as “Bronco Billy” to his friends, started Ride On Curlin on the comeback trail just over a month ago. The colt jogged for about three weeks, and stepped up to regular gallops under exercise rider Bryan Beccia about 10 days ago.

 

“After the Belmont he was a little sore,” Gowan said. “He was just kind of body sore everywhere and that’s kind of why they decided to lay him up. Then he popped a splint out there on the farm, and I had to take care of that.

 

“My plan was to run him here in the Clark Handicap, but when he popped that splint I knew he was done for the year and we might as well give him plenty of time. So I gave him an extra week of shedrow and an extra week of jogging. There was no reason to rush him back.”

 

Should Ride On Curlin improve on the form he displayed at two and three, it would be reasonable to expect a strong year in 2014. His only victory in seven 2014 starts was an allowance win at Oaklawn Park, but he was runner-up to Danza in the Arkansas Derby (GI) and third to Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (GI) winner Hoppertunity in the Rebel (GII) and third to Tapiture in the Southwest (GIII). Along with his Triple Crown efforts in the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, Ride On Curlin ran seventh in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI).

 

While he’s hoping for more and better things down the road for the colt, Gowan appreciates the Triple Crown journey and other new experiences provided by Ride On Curlin.

 

“It’s been really good and we’ve had a lot of fun,” Gowan said.  “I’m just amazed that so many trainers back here and been training for 40 years and have never gotten to do what I did. So I consider myself pretty lucky.”

 

Gowan will send Ride On Curlin and the rest of his stable to Oaklawn Park when the curtain falls on Churchill Downs’ Fall Meet on Sunday. His initial major 2015 target for the stable star is the $600,000 Oaklawn Handicap (GII).

       

After their good fortune in the sales ring with Ride On Curlin, Gowan and Dougherty returned to the sales ring last year and purchased a son of War Chant for $28,000. That colt is now the 2-year-old War Point, who will run in Saturday’s Kentucky Jockey Club (GII). He is a 50-1 longshot in the morning line odds for the race, but Gowan hopes to see some progress for the colt that has one victory in five starts.

 

“The race looks a little tough to me,” Gowan said. “I had no other races I could un him in, so we’ll take a shot.”

 

Source: Churchill Downs Communications