Colins Ghost

Curlin’s win Saturday in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park puts him in prime position to repeat as Horse of the Year. Since 1936, when the Horse of the Year was officially recognized by the Daily Racing Form, seven horses have won multiple HOY titles. Here is the list:

1941/42 – Challedon
1943/44 – Whirlaway
1960/61/62/63/64 – Kelso
1972/73 – Secretariet
1974/75/76 – Forego
1978/79 – Affirmed
1995/96 – Cigar

Quite a list of champions. A second Horse of the Year award for Curlin would put him in elite company. Let’s hope he finds the new surface at Santa Anita to his liking.

Where does Curlin stand among recent champions? I would suggest Travis Stone’s interesting post on his racecalling blog: “How good is Curlin?”. I agree with him 100% that “Money is a poor variable to distinguish historical placement and significance.”

I made the trip up the turnpike on Saturday. The crowd at Belmont Park, as noted by others, was small but enthusiastic. Sure, I would like to see bigger crowds at the track but name another sport where you can pay $2 and have a front row seat to watch a superstar. I could hear Curlin’s hoofs hitting the ground as he passed Wanderin Boy in the stretch. Unbelievable!

Here are a few images from Saturday:

All eyes on Curlin before the Jockey Club Gold Cup

Steve Asmussen and Robby Albarado chat before the JCGC

Curlin in the paddock

Curlin on-track

Check out some beautiful images of Curlin’s JCGC win by real photographers at flickr

For a full recap of the day, check out Brooklyn Backstretch

Thanks for Reading and Good Luck!

For a race fan of my age, the Breeder’s Cup has always been the event that caps off the season. Races like the Jockey Club Gold Cup are important to me because of their historical significance but I have no memory of the race in its heyday. Ask any race fan over 50 and they will tell you how the Breeder’s Cup changed the end of the racing year and relegated great races like the JCGC to the role of prep races. I believe it…but thought it might be interesting to do a little number crunching to see how the BC influenced the role of the Jockey Club Gold Cup on the Horse of the Year award.

Image: The mighty Keslo owned the Jockey Club Gold Cup on his way to 5 straight Horse of the Year titles 1960-1964. (Cover of Turf and Sport Digest, January 1963)

From 1936 until 1983, 19 of 48 winners of the JCGC went on to capture Horse of the Year honors. Here is the list of champions:

1942 – Whirlaway
1948 – Citation
1950 – Hill Prince
1951 – Counterpoint
1952 – One Count
1955 – Nashua
1959 – Sword Dancer
1960 – Kelso
1961 – Kelso
1962 – Kelso
1963 – Kelso
1964 – Kelso
1965 – Roman Brother
1966 – Buckpasser
1967 – Damascus
1969 – Arts and Letters
1974 – Forego
1979 – Affirmed
1981 – John Henry

Since the first Breeders Cup in 1984, only three winners of the JCGC have won Horse of the Year:

1995 – Cigar
2003 – Mineshaft
2007 – Curlin

In that same period, winners of the BC Classic have taken 11 of 24 Horse of the Year awards:

1987 – Ferdinand
1988 – Alysheba
1989 – Sunday Silence
1991 – Black Tie Affair
1992 – A.P. Indy
1995 – Cigar
2000 – Tiznow
2003 – Mineshaft
2004 – Ghostzapper
2005 – Saint Liam
2006 – Invasor
2007 – Curlin

Cigar and Curlin are the only horses to sweep the JCGC, BC Classic, and Horse of the Year. On Saturday, Curlin will try to become only the second horse to win the JCGC and Horse of the Year in consecutive years (Keslo, of course, was the other).

We don’t need to statistics to determine that the Breeder’s Cup has had a major impact on the Jockey Club Gold Cup. However, it is still interesting to see how the numbers back the anecdotal evidence: During a period from 1936 to 1983, 40% of JCGC winners were awarded the Horse of the Year but only 13% since the inception of the Breeders Cup. Only one horse (Mineshaft), has been awarded Horse of the Year after winning the JCGC and not running in the Breeder’s Cup (injury). Mineshaft did something that was common prior to 1983, capping off a championship season with a win in the JCGC. Curlin could do the same this year if he wins on Saturday then sits out the Breeders Cup and Big Brown flops in the Classic.

One wonders how the infusion of slot money in New York and the “tweaking” of the Breeders Cup might shift the influence back to the big race at Belmont. Now that the BC folks have broken a verbal agreement with NYRA to host the 2010 Cup, I wonder how a multi-million dollar JCGC held in early October might shake things up? As the leaders of the Breeders Cup slowly lose their mind (“Ladies” Day, plastic dirt, the Santa Anita double, high ticket prices, saddle towel fetishes) such a challenge might be welcome.

SOURCES, NOTES, OBSERVATIONS

I compiled stats beginning with 1936 because it is the first year the Horse of the Year award was made official by the Daily Racing Form. If we were to factor in all JCGC beginning in 1919 and use the unofficial HOY’s according to Thoroughbred Heritage, then 25 JCGC winners out of 65 (38%) went on to win Horse of the Year (1919-1983)

I compiled the above lists using the American Racing Manual, 2008 and, as always, I consulted Champions (DRF Press)

Another interesting tidbit: Factor the Triple Crown and other BC races into the equation and only three horses have managed to win Horse of the Year without winning a BC or Triple crown race: Criminal Type (1990), Cigar (1996), and Mineshaft (2003).

Images: Seattle Smooth (left) into the winners circle with jockey Jose Lezcano. She beat Proud Spell in the Fitz Dixon Cotillion at Philadelphia Park on Saturday. Proud Spell (right) with a visibly disappointed Gabriel Saez after the Cotillion. I am an amateur when it comes to analyzing horses in the paddock but even I could see that Proud Spell seemed uncomfortable prior to the race. Seattle Smooth on the other hand was as cool as a cucumber. Hope Larry Jones brings Proud Spell back to run in 2009. Nice to see them do the right thing and give her the rest of the year off. See more images from the Cotillion

Counting down to the big day at Belmont on Saturday. I’ll be running between the paddock and the apron all day. Hope to see you there!

Good luck and thanks for reading…