Curlin Still Possible for Breeders Cup Betting

The possibility of Curlin facing Big Brown in Breeders Cup betting is not dead just yet. Curlin will be racing this Saturday in the Jockey Club Gold Cup as he attempts to top the $10 million dollar mark in career earnings, topping the all-time record of Cigar.

After Saturday’s race, the connections of Curlin will decide where the horse will run next. Still a possibility is Breeders Cup betting for the Classic at Santa Anita on October 25th. Owner Jess Jackson is not ruling anything out at the moment.

“I hate to repeat the mantra, but right now it’s one race at a time,” Jackson said, “After he tells us if he’s fit and ready, we’ll consider all options, including the Breeders’ Cup.”

The Breeders’ Cup Classic will be run on the Pro-Ride synthetic surface at Santa Anita Park. The question will be how well the surface does as the Santa Anita meet opens. Jackson lives in Northern California and has visited Santa Anita to look at the track.

“It looks resilient and the times of the horses just working out are faster,” he said. “I think we’re going to see some records broken on this Pro-Ride. It may prove to be a great surface.”
It is possible that Curlin will ship to Santa Anita just to see if he likes the surface.

“I really want to see Curlin race here (California) and the horse will tell us if he can take it,” Jackson said. “As a fan of racing, I’d love to run against the competition.”

Two other possibilities in horse betting for Curlin are the Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs on Nov. 28 and the Japan Cup on Dec. 7th.

“We may be in two of them,” Jackson said. “We’d invite Big Brown to join us in any race we show up in. I’m not trying to avoid Big Brown.”

The question will be whether or not the two horses meet in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Jackson has said he will make the decision on the Breeders’ Cup within 10 days after Saturday’s Jockey Club Gold Cup.

“Anybody that is overconfident about winning the Breeders’ Cup on an untested surface this year has to be concerned about their own horse,” he said.

The Breeders’ Cup Classic is probably the last chance for horse race betting on Big Brown and Curlin to meet. Rumors have it that both horses will be retired at the end of the year although Jackson has said that if Big Brown continues to run he would consider letting Curlin continue.

“If Big Brown would continue to run as a 4-year-old, I would be very tempted to run Curlin as a 5-year-old,” said Jackson.