Horse Racing News is the source of thoroughbred racing information with horse racing odds, betting tips, racing picks, race results, and handicapping. Latest news and articles on top horse racing contenders, jockeys, trainers, three-year-olds, race tracks, and major stakes races such as the Triple Crown races: the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes as well as the Breeders' Cup horse races.Curlin Starts From Rail In The Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs June 14
Posted on Wednesday, June 11th, 2008
Saturday’s Stephen Foster Handicap (G1) has drawn 10 older horses including 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin who will be making his United States debut as a 4-year-old.
The 1 1/8 mile Stephen Foster Handicap, which will carry a record purse of $1 million, serves as the centerpiece of Churchill Downs‘s “Stephen Foster Super Saturday” card that features 6 graded stakes races with total purses of $2,025,000.
In post position order, the Stephen Foster Handicap field with jockeys and weight:
- Curlin under jockey Robby Albarado carries 128 lbs.
- Delightful Kiss under jockey Miguel Mena, 114 lbs.
- Sam P. under jockey Kent Desormeaux, 113 lbs.
- Einstein (BRZ) under jockey Julien Leparoux, 118 lbs.
- Grasshopper under jockey Garrett Gomez, 117 lbs.
- High Blues under jockey Corey Lanerie, 113 lbs.
- Red Rock Creek under jockey Shaun Bridgmohan, 113 lbs.
- Jonesboro under jockey Jamie Theriot II, 114 lbs.
- Barcola under jockey Jesus Lopez Castanon, 113 lbs.
- Brass Hat under jockey Calvin Borel, 116 lbs.
The Stephen Foster Handicap will be Curlin‘s second start at Churchill Downs. The 4-year-old son of Smart Strike ran 3rd to Street Sense in the 2007 Kentucky Derby, his first defeat after he had opened his career with 3 victories.
Curlin followed his Kentucky Derby effort with the first of his four Grade 1 wins by taking a memorable rematch with Street Sense in the Preakness before he closed out 2007 with victories in the Jockey Club Gold Cup and $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1). Curlin won his 2008 debut, the Jaguar Trophy at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse in Dubai, under 132 pounds before he romped by 7 3/4 lengths in the Dubai World Cup carrying 126 pounds.
This Saturday, all eyes will be on Curlin as he breaks from the 1st post in the Stephen Foster Handicap under regular jockey Robby Albarado carrying top weight of 128 pounds.
Curlin’s chief rivals include 3-time Grade 1 turf winner Einstein (BRZ), Mineshaft Handicap (G3) winner and Travers Stakes (G1) runner-up Grasshopper, and millionaire Brass Hat, who won the 2006 Donn Handicap (G1) at Gulfstream Park.
Owned by Patricia Cunningham and Melissa Green, Lessees, and trained by Helen Pitts, Einstein enters the Stephen Foster Handicap off victory in the May 3 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (G1) on Kentucky Derby Day at Churchill Downs. Slated to carry 118 pounds and be ridden by jockey Julien Leparoux, Einstein ran 6th in the Grade 1 Donn Handicap in his lone main track start since 2006, but he notched his first career victory in only start over the main track at Churchill Downs.
Grasshopper, owned by W.S. Farish and E.J. Hudson Jr., will carry 117 pounds and be ridden by jockey Garrett Gomez for horse trainer Neil Howard. The 4-year-old son of Dixie Union ran 5th in the mud as the favorite in the Pimlico Special (G1) in his most recent start. Grasshopper has won 2 of 3 starts over the Churchill Downs main track.
Fred Bradley’s home-bred Brass Hat returns to the Churchill Downs main track after finishing 4th in the Louisville Handicap (G3) on May 24 and 3rd in the April 25 Elkhorn (G3) at Keeneland, both 1 1/2-mile events on grass. Trained by William “Buff” Bradley, Brass Hat will be ridden by jockey Calvin Borel and carry 116 pounds. The 7-year-old gelding ran second in the 2007 Clark Handicap (G2), but finished fifth in his only previous Foster bid in 2006. In 2006, Jockey Calvin Borel won the Stephen Foster Handicap aboard 91-1 longshot Seek Gold.
Also in the field is Starlight Stable, LLC and Donald Lucarelli’s Sam P., who finished 9th in last year’s Kentucky Derby but scored a recent victory in an allowance race at Churchill Downs. Sam P. will be ridden by three-time Kentucky Derby winner Kent Desormeaux, who took the 2000 Stephen Foster Handicap aboard Golden Missile.
Since achieving Grade 1 status in 2002, the Stephen Foster Handicap has produced 2 horses that went on to earn “Horse of the Year” titles: 2005 race winner Saint Liam and 2003 runner-up Mineshaft. In 1998, Awesome Again and Silver Charm ran 1-2 in the Grade 2 Foster and then came back in less than 5 months to duplicate the finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. In 1991, when the Stephen Foster was a Grade 3 event, Black Tie Affair won the race, the first of six consecutive victories in a “Horse of the Year” campaign that included a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) at Churchill Downs.
The 2008 Stephen Foster Handicap is the 10th race in Churchill Downs’s June 14 horse racing program. Stephen Foster Handicap post time is 5:51 pm.
Tags: Barcola, Brass Hat, Curlin, Delightful Kiss, Einstein, Grasshopper, High Blues, Jonesboro, Red Rock Creek, Sam P
"Curlin Starts From Rail In The Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs June 14" was posted on Wednesday, June 11th, 2008 at 10:53 pm and is filed under Churchill Downs, Horse Racing Industry, Horses, Race Tracks News, Stakes Races, USA Horse Racing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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