Trainer Steve Asmussen added, "I thought Curlin ran extremely well. They came into the stretch pretty much heads-up. He fought back very well. My hat is off to Rags to Riches. They ran the last quarter in 23 4/5 in a 1 1/2 mile race and she's a deserving classic winner. We lose one the exact same way we won one. At the 1/8 pole, the filly put a good neck on him and he never gave up. The one thing we've learned with Curlin is that he's a competitor; he's got a lot of fight in him."


