Curlin tours Nad al Sheba

Last updated: 2/20/08 3:13 PM

Curlin, with Carmen Rosas aboard, and pony Poncho, with Scott Blasi up, take a spin around Nad al Sheba
(Copyright Dubai Racing Club/Monica Pinheiro)

After a 48-hour stay in quarantine, Horse of the Year CURLIN (Smart Strike)
took his first tour around the main dirt track at Nad al
Sheba in Dubai on Wednesday. The chestnut colt is scheduled to make his seasonal debut in
a handicap race on February 28 in advance of his
primary objective, the $6 million Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) on March 29.

Under the watchful eye of Scott Blasi, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen,
Curlin cantered around the track under regular
exercise rider Carmen Rosas. He took a good look around his new surroundings
and moved well.

“Curlin made the trip in good shape,” Blasi said. “He’s doing fantastic and
has a lot of energy. The track doesn’t have a lot of turn to it, which Curlin
will appreciate as he has a tendency to look to the inside.”

Blasi said Curlin will have a “light breeze on Sunday or Monday.”

“He’s tremendously confident,” Blasi continued. “He doesn’t get too hot in
the paddock and he likes to be comfortable with where he is.”

The Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) hero is considered the likely winner of the
Dubai World Cup, but Blasi knows the competition will be fierce, as it
always is for the world’s richest race, and named U.A.E. Triple Crown winner
ASIATIC BOY (Not for Sale) as the main danger.

“Mike De Kock is a great trainer and Asiatic Boy is an impressive horse — we
know he’s going to be tough to beat,” he said. “But Curlin is a special kind of
horse. He was third in the Kentucky Derby (G1) on only his fourth ever start. We
expect him to do big things.”

Blasi believes a victory in the Dubai World Cup would be Curlin’s crowning
moment in his career.

“Dubai is the only place in the world you can run on such an international
level against some of the best horses in the world,” Blasi said. “The Dubai
World Cup is the richest horse race in the world and it’s a great way to show
the horse to the world.”