Reigning North American Horse of the Year Curlin made his 2008 debut on Thursday night in the $175,000 Jaguar Trophy at Nad al Sheba Racecourse in Dubai. Rather than prep for the Dubai World Cup in the U.S., trainer Steve Asmussen instead opted to ship the son of Smart Strike to Dubai six weeks in advance. With regular rider Robby Albarado aboard, Curlin faced just five rivals in this handicap event over the World Cup trip of 2000 meters (about 1 1/4 miles) on the main track, carrying 132 pounds while his challengers were each assigned just 117 pounds.
When the gate opened, jockey Ted Durcan sent Imperialista to the lead out of the 5 post, angling over to the rail to save ground around both turns. Under no urging from Albarado, Curlin stayed out 2 or 3 paths off the rail in perfect stalking position a length and a half back in second, as Imperialista set easy fractions of 25.55, 47.51, and 1:11.12. At the top of the stretch, Durcan asked Imperialista for his best but it was to no avail, as Curlin easily moved up alongside him. At the 1/4 pole after a mile in 1:35.55, Albarado briefly shook the reins, and Curlin pulled away through the stretch to an easy 2 1/4 length win over Familiar Territory in a time of 2:00.60, just 0.63 seconds off Invasor's World Cup-winning time last year. It was another 4 1/4 lengths back to late-running Jet Express in third. Pacesetter Imperialista faded late to finish fifth.
Trainer Steve Asmussen said, "That was just what we wanted. In racing you are always cautiously optimistic but that’s what we expected. The timing between the races is ideal. He won the Jockey Club Gold Cup over a mile and a quarter before winning the Breeders' Cup Classic over the same trip, four weeks later. That’s why we've come for this race, so everything's gone to plan so far. I haven't really looked at what he might face in the Dubai World Cup, but we’re glad to have him in our corner."
Jockey Robby Albarado added, "He is an amazing athlete and racehorse. It is a real honor to be associated with him and he has shown why tonight. I took him wide to help settle him as he was a bit keen and from then I was never concerned. We wanted to save a bunch for the World Cup. I just wanted him to settle. He needed this race mentally as well as physically, and I think we accomplished what we wanted to today."
