Curlin Breeders' Cup Classic Run Replay

This is the 2007 Breeders' Cup Classic Video.
Payouts and Results

   Horse             Win   Place   Show
4  Curlin          $10.80  $5.20  $4.20
8  Hard Spun               $7.60  $5.80
6  Awesome Gem                    $9.40

4 Races Added to the Breeders' Cup Challenge

The 2008 Breeders' Cup Challenge is adding four races that will give the winners automatic bids to the Breeders' Cup on October 24th and 25th.

The expansion of the "Win and You're In" format was announced Wednesday. It brings to 57 the total number of races in the challenge, more than double the number in 2007.

Three of the four added challenge races are automatic qualifiers for the new $500,000 Breeders' Cup Marathon, to be run at 1 1/2 miles for 3-year-olds and up.

They are the Greenwood Cup at Philadelphia Park, the Cougar II at Del Mar and the Turfway Park Fall Championship at Turfway Park in Kentucky. The one-mile Tiznow Stakes at Louisiana Downs is a qualifier for the $1 million Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.

Check out the 2008 Breeders' Cup Challenge Schedule!

Curlin may skip 2008 Breeders' Cup Classic

The Daily Racing Form reported Curlin is being considered for the prestigious Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe turf race in France in October.

Asmussen is still contemplating at least one turf workout at Churchill Downs, with a turf race on the weekend of July 12. Turf races slated for that weekend include the the Arlington Handicap at Arlington Park and the Man O'War Stakes at Belmont Park.

If that goes according to plan, Asmussen said Curlin could then run a major turf race in the US, potentially the Arlington Million on Aug. 9, followed by a trip for Longchamp in France for a prep race, followed by the Arc de Triomphe on Oct. 5.

Jockey Rankings by Earnings

Robby Albarado

Here are the rankings of jockeys in Earnings

Name              Starts  1st 2nd 3rd  Earnings
1 Robby Albarado      573  122  87  84  $9,730,687
2 Garrett K. Gomez    511   98  85  79  $9,579,520
3 Edgar S. Prado      556   98  86  67  $8,448,671
4 Kent J. Desormeaux  509   94  73  73  $7,662,289
5 Rafael Bejarano     506  110 104  63  $7,446,827
6 Ramon A. Dominguez  595  162 102  94  $6,408,567
7 Alan Garcia         632  110  99  90  $5,997,828
8 John R. Velazquez   554  119  84  68  $5,864,463
9 Eibar Coa           727  136 116  95  $5,735,385
10 Rajiv Maragh       669  110 111 101  $4,881,794

Horse Ranking by Earnings

Here are the racing horse rankings by earnings as of June 14th, 2008. After Curlin won the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs last Saturday, he added another $589,000 to his earnings.

Name         Starts  1st 2nd 3rd Earnings
1 Curlin           2   2   0   0  $4,189,000
2 Big Brown        5   4   0   0  $2,676,700
3 Benny the Bull   3   3   0   0  $1,515,000
4 Heatseeker       5   2   2   1    $918,000
5 Go Between       3   1   2   0    $780,000
6 Well Armed       3   1   1   1    $780,000
7 Einstein         6   3   2   0    $778,849
8 Gayego           5   2   1   0    $687,820
9 Proud Spell      4   2   1   1    $681,340
10 Diamond Stripes 2   1   0   0    $680,000

2008 Belmont Stakes Results

A longshot Da'Tara won the 140th running of the Belmont Stakes last Saturday and the Triple Crown contender Big Brown finished last. What went wring with Big Brown? Hoof injury? Steroid? Lack of training? We don't know yet.

Here are the horses in a finishing order.
1. Da' Tara
2. Denis of Cork
3. DH-Anak Nakal
3. DH-Ready's Echo
4. Macho Again
5. Tale of Ekati
6. Guadalcanal
7. Icabad Crane
8. Big Brown

Payout

#	Horse	Jockey	Win	Place	Show
6	Da' Tara	Garcia Alan	79.00	28.00	14.80
4	Denis of Cork	Albarado R J		5.40	4.10
8	DH-Anak Nakal	Leparoux J R			7.60
9	DH-Ready's Echo	Velazquez J R			6.20

Exacta (6-4) Paid $659.00
Trifecta (6-4-8) Paid $3,703.00
Trifecta (6-4-9) Paid $3,954.00
Superfecta (6-4-8-9) Paid $48,637.00
Superfecta (6-4-9-8) Paid $47,309.00
Daily Double (10-6) Paid $1,574.00 Daily Double Pool
Daily Double (BROOKLYN / BELMONT 2-6) Paid $550.00 Daily Double Pool
Pick 3 (5-10-6) 3 Correct Paid $6,475.00 Pick 3 Pool
Pick 4 (1-5-10-6) 4 Correct Paid $34,287.00 Pick 4 Pool
Pick 6 (3/7-4-1-5-10-6) 5 Correct Paid $1,106.00 Pick 6 Pool
Consolation Double (BROOKLYN / BELMONT 2-5) Paid $7.30

Casino Drive Not Running in Belmont Today

Casino Drive, the colt who was shipped from Japan to run in the Belmont Stakes today, was scratched this morning because of a stone bruise in his left-hind foot.

Casino Drive, who won the Peter Pan, is the second choice behind Big Brown in the morning line for the Belmont.

The injury, which gets its name because it can be caused by stepping on a stone, was detected Friday. Casino Drive didn't train Friday. Early Saturday morning, trainer Kazuo Fujisawa had him gallop an easy three furlongs. After being bathed back at the barn, Casino Drive was favoring the foot.

A stone bruise can be caused by stepping on a stone. "It's not serious, it's just a matter of timing," Racing manager Nobutaka Tada said. "The horse is OK."

Big Brown, who had an acrylic patch placed on his front left foot Friday to repair a small crack, was resting comfortably inside Barn 2 on Saturday morning. A retaining wall was set up outside the barn to keep the media and well-wishers at bay.

June 7th, Belmont Day Weather in New York

"Hot weather on Belmont Stakes day is no surprise to us, and in general we're very ramped up on that front for a crowd of 90,000 or so," Lee said yesterday. "It's a major part of our planning, and we have additional EMTs and extra first-aid stations throughout the building."

Tomorrow's high temperatures at Belmont Park are more likely to affect the fans at the track than the horses running on it. John Lee, director of communications and media relations for the New York Racing Association, said the track is prepared.

Thoroughbreds dislike extreme heat but complain about it less than people do. NYRA will have extra hoses ready to cool them off.

Belmont Stakes Post Position

Big Brown will be running from the post 1 this Saturday at Belmont Park.
Here are the post positions of Belmont runners.

1. Big Brown
2. Guadalcanal
3. Macho Again
4. Denis of Cork
5. Casino Drive
6. Da'Tara
7. Tale of Ekati
8. Anak Nakal
9. Ready's Echo
10.Icabad Crane