Curlin breezes at Churchill

LOUISVILLE, Ky. Curlin, the 2007 Horse of the Year, had his first workout since the Stephen Foster Handicap when he breezed an easy five furlongs early Monday over a fast main track at Churchill Downs.

With regular exercise rider Carmen Rosas aboard, and without company, Curlin proceeded through splits of 13.26, 26.22, 38.80, and 51.33 before hitting the wire in 1:03.81. His six-furlong gallop-out time was 1:17.02.

The work came nine days after Curlin returned to action by posting a 4 1/4-length triumph in the Grade 1 Foster at Churchill. In his previous start, Curlin captured the world's richest race, the $6 million Dubai World Cup on March 29.

Trainer Steve Asmussen has said that the next race for Curlin would most likely will come on turf and that a July 1 work on the Churchill turf would be his next training move. Asmussen has identified the July 12 Arlington Handicap as a possible next race for the superstar colt.

Curlin has earned more than $9.3 million in his 12-race career and is less than $700,000 from surpassing Cigars earnings mark of $9,999,185.