Curlin has the world at his feet

Published on Friday 28 March 2008 21:37

CURLIN on dirt may be an anathema to some and not immediately appeal as a sporting spectacle to savour, but watch the American superstar in action in Dubai this evening and then decide.

Officially rated the best horse in the world, the four-year-old colt has tasted defeat in just three of his ten races, already has a Preakness Stakes and Breeders Cup Classic sitting proudly on his mantelpiece and boasts career earnings of 2,630,722. Victory at Nad Al Sheba will add well over half as much again, 1.8 million to be exact, to that figure. The bookmakers won't hear of defeat, with Curlin being quoted around the 2-5 mark, and nearest challenger Jalil as big as 8-1.

Once famous as the most expensive yearling ever bought, the Godolphin-owned latter will have to win quite a few World Cups to recoup his $9.7 million purchase price, and attempts to recoup some of the cash in Britain turned out to be somewhere south of futile.

In four runs here, Jalil managed to get his expensive head in front just once, a three grand maiden at Redcar, but he has been transformed by a move to the Middle East and is unbeaten in three runs over tonight's course. If anything is to bustle up the jolly, he may be the one, albeit he could end up bustling him from a respectable distance.

Curlin is trained by Steve Asmussen, the younger brother of former jockey Cash, with Asmussen junior clearly a man who knows how to ruffle a few feathers among the racing establishment Stateside. Which is presumably why he was once described in print as "confrontational, contentious, abrasive, brash and arrogant." What a Lucky 31 that is!

It's not only Curlin's handler, though, who can rub people up the wrong way. Indeed, next to a couple of the colt's owners, Asmussen might consider himself to be one of the Righteous Brothers.

Shirley Cunningham Junior and William Gallion, attorneys-at-law by profession, originally bought Curlin for a mere $57,000 in 2005 before later selling an 80 per cent share in him for $3.5 million. These days, the two gentlemen are in jail in Kentucky awaiting trial for their alleged part in a multi-million dollar fraud.

The charges arise from legal action taken by over 400 people against the manufacturers of a diet drug known as "fen-phen" which was taken off the market in 1997 because of serious side effects. Four years later, Cunningham and Gallion successfully represented the plaintiffs in a case that should have won the injured parties a settlement of $200 million. It's alleged, however, that the pair kept a wee bit, some $64 million, back for themselves, and if the verdict goes against them, Curlin could be 24 before either of them are free men again.

As far as can be ascertained, there are no such colourful tales behind any of the horses running here today, so we'll just have to content ourselves with betting a few winners. I could live with that.

There's a couple of decent flat cards on offer at Doncaster and Kempton, with the Mark Johnston-trained Soapy Danger fancied to land the main event on Town Moor, the DBS Shield. Johnston can also take the opener on the all-weather with Upper Class, which Great Hawk can prove to be when contesting the Magnolia Stakes later on the card.

Ceremonial Jade was something of a disappointment when our selection last time out but he's better than he showed on that occasion, or at least I hope he is, so stick with him in the conditions event.

Jumps fans are also very well catered for with some valuable prizes up for grabs, particularly at Newbury. Classic Fiddle was another not to give her true running when pulled-up on her latest start but Nicky Henderson's charge was found to be not quite right after that race and she can bounce back to land the final of the EBF Mares Only Chase.

The nap is Lysander who was a busy boy in a previous life on the flat in his native Germany where he ran over 30 times. He won five of those and has proved himself equally suitable to hurdles and fences since joining current trainer Ian Williams. The best bet was a beaten favourite at Lingfield on his latest spin but the drying ground might have been against him that day and Bangor's softer conditions will be more to his liking.