Two Colts, Filly Lead Season
Curlin, Street Sense, Rags to Riches All Top HOY Candidates
Jul 13, 2007
The Top Ten Rated colts crumbled to two legitimate contenders for Horse of the Year following 2007's Triple Crown classics. Street Sense, the lightly raced, Carl Nafzger trained colt who broke the juvenile jinx, and Steve Asmussen's charge,Curlin, who skipped the races as a juvenile, accomplished the best first half of the 2007 season. They were joined by the Todd Pletcher trainee, Rags to Riches, a powerful looking chestnut filly who remained unbeaten through the Belmont Stakes, where she easily picked off the remaining boys, and inspiringly battled Curlin to a nose victory at the wire.
When Rags to Riches handily grabbed her fourth straight win in the Kentucky Oaks, the counterpart to the boys' Kentucky Derby, on May 5, owners Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith agreed with Pletcher to enter the filly in the Belmont Stakes.
Street Sense's owners had decided to skip the Belmont and, most likey, try for a second straight Breeders' Cup trophy. After losing the Preakness Stakes to Curlin in the narrowest of finishes, Street Sense had no doubters. He showed great stamina and strength for the second time in a whisker thin loss. His other two races, both wins, were just as strong.
Rags to Riches became Pletcher's shining moment, as none of his five colts that began the season as Triple Crown race hopefuls showed up in the classics. The filly gave Pletcher his first classic win in twenty-nine tries, breaking the only drought for wins in Pletcher's mighty stable. He is three times an Eclipse Award recipient for Trainer of the Year.
Street Sense raced twice before the Kentucky Derby, a light training schedule that proved right when the multi-stable owned brown colt walked away with the 133rd Derby and became the first juvenile Breeders' Cup winner to also capture the Derby.
Curlin came from nowhere for owner George Bolton and his multi-stable group this season. Curlin didn't race as a two-year-old, but still went to Churchill Downs unbeaten in three sophomore races. Although he couldn't make his way through the crowded Derby field of twenty, he returned to more familiar, less congested circumstances at Pimlico Race Course to pick off Street Sense, then gave a heartful stretch grind, chestnut for chestnut, at Belmont Park against Rags to Riches.
Rags to Riches' thrilling battle with Curlin and Curlin's equally rivoting victory by a head over picture perfect Kentucky Derby champion Street Sense in the Preakness Stakes bound this trio of gritty, game three-year-olds together as tops in their class. All three probably have a date in this fall's Breeders' Cup championships that could determine their finish in 2007's HOY voting.
