Curlin (horse)

Won Preakness Stakes (USA-G1, 9.5FD, Pimlico)
Won Jockey Club Gold Cup Invitational Stakes (USA-G1, 10FD, Belmont)
Won Breeders' Cup Classic - Powered by Dodge (USA-G1, 10FD, Monmouth)
Won Arkansas Derby (USA-G2, 9FD, Oaklawn)
Won Rebel Stakes (USA-G3, 8.5FD, Oaklawn)
2nd Belmont Stakes (USA-G1, 12FD, Belmont)
3rd Kentucky Derby (USA-G1, 10FD, Churchill Downs)
3rd Haskell Invitational Stakes (USA-G1, 9FD, Monmouth)

2008:

Won Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1, 2400mD, Nad al Sheba)
Won Woodward Stakes (USA-G1, 9FD, Saratoga)
Won Jockey Club Gold Cup (USA-G1, 10FD, Belmont)
Won Stephen Foster Handicap (USA-G2, 9FD, Churchill Downs)
2nd Man o' War Stakes (USA-G1,11FT, Belmont)

Honors

National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame (inducted in 2014)
Monmouth Park Hall of Champions
Eclipse Award, American Horse of the Year (2007, 2008)
Eclipse Award, American champion 3-year-old male (2007)
Eclipse Award, American champion older male (2008)

Assessments

Rated at 129 pounds for his performance in the 2007 Breeders' Cup Classic on the World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings for the Northern Hemisphere, 2 pounds below overall highweight Manduro but equal with Invasor (who earned his rating in the 2007 Emirates Dubai World Cup, UAE-G1) for best on dirt. Curlin was also tied with Vodafone Derby Stakes (ENG-G1) and Juddmonte International Stakes (ENG-G1) winner Authorized for the highest rating among 3-year-old males.

Earned a Timeform rating of 134 pounds as a 4-year-old, best in that year's global rankings

Co-highweighted with New Approach at 130 pounds on the 2008 World Thoroughbred Rankings.

Highweighted older male in the United Arab Emirates, 9.5-11 furlongs (2008)

As an individual

A handsome, powerful, generally correct chestnut with an excellent shoulder, Curlin stands 16.2 hands. While he had a bone lesion removed from his left front ankle as a yearling, the ankle never gave him any trouble during his racing career. As a racer, he had a long stride and was a good mover with great determination.

As a stallion

Curlin typically gets a good-sized individual that needs some time to mature and is best around two turns.

Sire rankings

Per Arion Pedigrees (www.arion.co.nz):

2nd on the North American general sire list in 2016, 2019, and 2021-2023; 3rd in 2020; 4th in 2018; 5th in 2015; 8th in 2017; 9th in 2014.

Per The Blood-Horse:

2nd on the American general sire list in 2016, 2019, and 2023; 3rd in 2021 and 2022; 4th in 2020; 6th in 2015 and 2018; 7th in 2017.

Notable progeny

Bright Future (USA), Clairiere (USA), Cody's Wish (USA), Connect (USA), Curalina (USA), Curlin's Voyage (CAN), Devcalion (USA), Dixie Moon (CAN), Elite Power (USA), Exaggerator (USA), Global Campaign (USA), Good Magic (USA), Grace Adler (USA), Highland Falls (USA), Idiomatic (USA), Idol (USA), Keen Ice (USA), Known Agenda (USA), Malathaat (USA), Nest (USA), Obligatory (USA), Off the Tracks (USA), Palace Malice (USA), Paris Lights (USA), Raging Sea (USA), Reel Wheel (USA), Stellar Wind (USA), Vino Rosso (USA)

Connections

Curlin was bred in Kentucky by Fares Farm. He was initially purchased by Midnight Cry Stables for US$57,000 at the 2005 Keeneland September yearling sale. Following an impressive maiden victory at Gulfstream Park in February 2007, a partnership headed by Stonestreet Stables (the nom de course of Jess Jackson), Padua Stables and George Bolton bought into the colt at a total price reported between US$3.5 and US$3.7 million. Curlin raced in the colors of Stonestreet Stable at age 4, Jackson having acquired an 80 percent interest in the colt by buying out the shares owned by Padua and Bolton. Ownership of the remaining 20 percent interest was transferred to a receivership on behalf of plaintiffs in a successful legal action against the owners of Midnight Cry Stables. This share was auctioned off in May 2015 by the U.S. Justice Department and was purchased by Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings and Elevage II for US$6,218,160, giving Curlin a total valuation of nearly US$31.1 million. Curlin was trained to his maiden victory by Helen Pitts; afterward, he was trained by Steven M. Asmussen. He entered stud in Kentucky in 2009 at Lane's End Farm and was moved to Hill 'n' Dale Farm following the 2015 breeding season.

Pedigree notes

Curlin is outcrossed through five generations. He is a half brother to Deputy (by Hadif), dam of restricted stakes winner Conquest Strate Up (by Not Bourbon).

Curlin's dam Sherriff's Deputy is a half sister to Barbicat (by Storm Cat), dam of Japanese Group 2 winner Red Spada (by Taiki Shuttle) and Japanese stakes winner Brave Fight (by Dance in the Dark). Curlin's second dam Barbarika (by Bates Motel) won the 1990 Johnnie Walker Black Classic Handicap (USA-G2) and is a half sister to Lucky Lady Lauren (by Carnivalay), winner of the 1991 Arlington Matron Handicap (USA-G3). Barbarika is also a half sister to stakes-placed Count on Kathy (by Dancing Count), dam of stakes winners T. V. Countess (by T. V. Commercial) and Count on a Change (by Time for a Change).

Books and media

Curlin's rivalries with Street Sense and Hard Spun were featured as the 19th chapter of Horse Racing's Greatest Rivalries (2008, Eclipse Press), a compilation produced by the staff of The Blood-Horse.
Footage of Curlin’s winning performance in the 2007 Preakness can be accessed within Bob Ehalt's May 13, 2020, article "Curlin: What It Takes to Win Horse of the Year -- Twice" at America's Best Racing (https://www.americasbestracing.net/the-sport/2020-curlin-what-it-takes-win-horse-the-year-%E2%80%94-twice).

Fun facts

Curlin is named in honor of Charles Curlin, a former slave who according to records in the National Archives enlisted in the U. S. Army's Colored Troops at Bowling Green in 1864 and served in the Thirteenth Heavy Artillery of the Union Army during the American Civil War. According to a Lexington Herald-Leader article by Maryjean Wall, later confusion over which side of the conflict he served on may have arisen with Curlin himself, who often self-identified as a former Confederate during later years, perhaps to avoid trouble with anti-Union sentiment in the area in which he lived.
Curlin was the leading earner in North American racing history at the time of his retirement.
Curlin actually made one start at 2 in an exhibition race at Churchill Downs, but this was not counted in his official statistics—just as well, as he raced very greenly and was well beaten.
Curlin was voted the Secretariat Award by the New York Turf Writers Association as the best horse raced in New York in both 2007 and 2008.
Curlin's last public appearance was at Churchill Downs on November 29, 2008, where he was paraded before fans between the fifth and sixth races before being taken to the winner's circle for a retirement ceremony.
The Curlin Stakes was inaugurated in 2009 at Saratoga. It is a restricted race for 3-year-olds on dirt.
Curlin is the only stallion to have sired three Eclipse Award winners in a single year, a feat he accomplished in 2022. That year, Elite Power (Curlin x Broadway's Alibi, by Vindication) was crowned American champion male sprinter, Nest (Curlin x Marion Ravenwood, by A.P. Indy) was voted the award as American champion 3-year-old filly, and Malathaat (Curlin x Dreaming of Julia, by A.P. Indy) earned her second Eclipse Award by winning the American champion older dirt female category.
Curlin is the only stallion to have sired three Breeders' Cup winners in two consecutive years, with Elite Power (Sprint), Malathaat (Distaff), and Cody's Wish (Dirt Mile) in 2022 and Elite Power (Sprint), Idiomatic (Distaff), and Cody's Wish (Dirt Mile) in 2023. The only other stallion to have sired three Breeders' Cup winners in a single year is Dubawi, who in 2021 was responsible for Modern Games (Juvenile Turf), Space Blues (Mile), and Yibir (Turf). Curlin is also the leading sire of Breeders' Cup winners with eight, having previously sired Good Magic (2017 Juvenile) and Vino Rosso (2019 Classic).
On November 28, 2023, Curlin joined the "Century Club" of stallions that have sired 100 or more stakes winners when his son American Rascal won the Zia Park Juvenile Stakes.

Photo credit

Portrait taken at Lane's End Farm in 2009 by Jessica Morgan. Used by permission.

Last updated: September 1, 2024