It’s Curlin in a rundown

There were echoes of Seabiscuit and War Admiral at the venerable Pimlico Race Course here Saturday, when Street Sense and Curlin headed down the home stretch in the 132nd running of the Preakness Stakes.

That was 1938, the legendary race. No less than Grantland Rice wrote of it, “The drama and melodrama of this match race, held before a record crowd keyed to the highest tension I have ever seen in sport, set an all-time mark.”

This was modern-day drama, the second leg of racing’s Triple Crown. That one had the benefit of time, of the chroniclers of history. Seabiscuit won easily.

This one was better.

By no more than six inches, Curlin outdueled Street Sense, the Kentucky Derby winner. Modern-day racing got its excitement and drama. But it lost yet another chance for the glory and attention that goes with a Triple Crown winner. The last time it had that was 1978, with Affirmed.

On a warm and partly cloudy day that turned dark and overcast an hour before race time and sprinkled enough rain on the track to slow it down slightly, Curlin came roaring down the stretch to get side by side with Street Sense. At the wire, he got his head in front and equaled the Preakness record for the mile and three-sixteenths at 1 minute 53.46 seconds.

A record crowd of 121,263, which bet the fourth-highest on-track Preakness handle ever at $86,202,550, responded with a crescendo of sound when it appeared that Street Sense would, indeed, head for the Belmont with two notches in his belt. But Curlin, who had a bumpy trip at the Derby and finished strong to get third there while few noticed, battled back after being passed.

“You’ve got to be a racehorse to do that,” said Calvin Borel, who rode Street Sense.

Without Curlin’s final head bob, Borel would, for the second consecutive Triple Crown race, be the object of awe and celebration for a sensational ride. In the Kentucky Derby, he squeezed along the rail and burst into the open at the perfect time, beating Hard Spun, Saturday’s third-place finisher, by 2 1/4 lengths.

Saturday, he did it again. On the second turn, with the field beginning to leave him behind, he saw a hole and squeezed through at the rail, then barged to his right and saw another hole. He split C P West, trainer Nick Zito’s entry, and Curlin, and accelerated much like he had in the Derby. Similar to the Derby, Hard Spun was in the lead and to his left. Soon, he was in Borel’s rearview mirror.

“I thought it was all over when I got by Hard Spun, turning for home,” Borel said. “I thought he was going to gallop. But things happen. He got to gawking 40 yards from home and he just got outrun.”

Curlin somehow regrouped and chased down Street Sense. Few horses will do that, especially in quality company. Curlin switched to a right lead, found a new gear and stunned the racing world.

Shockingly, Street Sense was outrun by a horse who had been born late for a 3-year-old, March 26, 2004, and had run only four races before Saturday. He was outrun by a horse who started badly in the Derby, was worked hard since then to get out of the gate clean, and stumbled anyway at the Preakness start.

And he was outrun by a horse ridden by Robby Albarado, one of Borel’s best friends back at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.

“I’m glad it was Robby, if anybody had to beat me,” Borel said. “We’re like family.”

Albarado said that when he pulled alongside Borel after the race, Borel said, “You got me.”

For Carl Nafzger, trainer of Street Sense, there were some regrets and little bitterness.

“If, if, if. What a useless word,” he said. “You can’t take anything away from the winner. And you can’t take anything away from the second-place horse.

“Heartbreaking is what it was. We only needed a nose.”

One of the owners of Curlin, Shirley Cunningham, had the answer for that margin of a nose.

“I’ve been thinking all day,” he said, “and wondering if my great-grandfather was looking down at this horse and pulled him across the line. That’s what must have happened because we named him after my great-grandfather. This is my mother’s maiden name, Curlin, so I think he must have reached down and grabbed his nose at the last second.”

This was the first Triple Crown victory for Albarado, as well as for trainer Steve Asmussen.

“Horses like Curlin put you in this race,” Asmussen said. “You put them where they belong. This horse is good enough for this, and this is where he belongs.”

Asmussen said that Curlin would be shipped back to Churchill Downs at 6 a.m. Sunday, and assessed for readiness for the Belmont. He said he is happy with where the horse is now and hopes good fortune continues.

And, on this day of good achievement, good fortune was certainly part of it.

In the 10th race, two before the Preakness, Albarado was aboard a horse named Einstein in the $250,000 Dixie Stakes. In front of him, Mending Fences, ridden by Eddie Castro, went down and had to be euthanized. Two horses hurdled the fallen Mending Fences, but Einstein fell into him and Albarado went off and to the turf. Albarado escaped unhurt, but Asmussen rushed to the jockeys’ room to make sure he had a rider for the Preakness.

“When he saw me in the muscle shirts,” Albarado said, “he knew I was OK.”

An hour and a nose later, they were both more than OK.

bill.dwyre@latimes.com

*

Begin text of infobox

The race

How the nine-horse field ran the Preakness Stakes:

* CURLIN stumbled a bit at the start and was unhurried in the early stages while moving to the inside, angled out leaving the first turn, was unhurried while four wide along the backstretch, closed the gap from outside leaving the far turn, circled five wide to reach contention approaching the quarter pole, lagged lightly behind STREET SENSE in upper stretch, dug in under strong urging nearing the eighth pole, then battled back gamely under right hand encouragement to get up in the final stride.

* STREET SENSE tucked in soon after the start, was rated well off the pace for a half, moved out a bit to launch his run at the half-mile pole, angled back to the rail while gaining on the far turn, swung out approaching the quarter pole, split rivals while four wide entering the stretch, charged to the front in upper stretch, opened a clear advantage in midstretch, continued on the front into deep stretch, then yielded to the winner in the closing strides.

* HARD SPUN broke a bit slowly, was under a firm hold while ranging up in the early stages, advanced five wide into the backstretch, made a strong middle move along the backstretch, opened a clear lead on the far turn, set the pace into the upper stretch and weakened under pressure through the final eighth.

* C P WEST raced in the middle of the pack while four wide leaving the first turn, gradually gained while continuing wide along the backstretch, closed the gap from outside on the far turn, angled in while just behind the leaders nearing the quarter pole, dropped back a bit in upper stretch and weakened in the final eighth.

* CIRCULAR QUAY trailed six furlongs, angled four wide while gaining slightly at the three-sixteenths pole, then closed some ground with a mild late really.

* KING OF THE ROXY was taken in hand while saving ground early, moved out after a half, swung four wide on the turn and lacked a late response.

* MINT SLEWLEP checked after being bumped off stride at the start, raced well back for six furlongs, swung out in upper stretch and failed to mount a serious rally.

* XCHANGER broke inward causing crowding at the start, rushed up inside, set the pace along the rail to the far turn and steadily tired thereafter.

* FLYING FIRST CLASS pressed the pace between rivals to the half mile pole and gave way.

*

Source: Equibase

Los Angeles Times