Curlin's Approval shows in work that she has plenty left

MIAMI – Any thoughts that Curlin’s Approval might have been over the top following her 13th-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint were alleviated in less than 57 seconds Monday morning at Gulfstream Park. That’s how long it took the Grade 2 winner to work an eye-catching five furlongs under jockey Luis Saez over a muddy track.

Curlin’s Approval had earned an expenses-paid trip to the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar by virtue of her victory in the Grade 2 Princess Rooney this summer at Gulfstream Park. But she was never a factor in the Filly and Mare Sprint, trailing virtually throughout after stumbling at the start.

“A start like that in a race like the Filly and Mare Sprint correlates to someone dropping the baton in a relay race – you have no chance after that,” said Happy Alter, who bred, trains, and owns Curlin’s Approval in partnership with Bridlewood Farm. “She had worked so well out there for the race. Flavian Prat did me a favor and breezed her for me. She went fastest of all the Breeders’ Cup horses who worked four furlongs at Del Mar that morning, and he told me when he got off that she was a running machine. And then she stumbles leaving the gate and it’s over.”

:: Save on PPs, digital subscriptions, and more with DRF's Black Friday sale!

Alter said he was looking for Curlin’s Approval to breeze in 59 to 1:00 in her first work since returning from the West Coast. She ended up working in 56.63.

“Nobody wants to go in 56 and 3, but she was very fresh, not having worked in 16 days, and she’s that kind of filly,” Alter said. “Standing at the rail watching, you’d have thought she’d gone in 1:01. She did it without being asked. In fairness to Luis, she really can be deceiving because she does things so easy she can really fool you.”

Alter said he’s looking at one of two races for Curlin’s Approval’s 2017 finale, either the six-furlong Sugar Swirl or one-mile Rampart, both Grade 3 events Dec. 16 at Gulfstream.

“I’m leaning towards the mile race at the moment,” Alter said. “And looking forward to getting her back on this track, considering the way she dominated the stakes here last winter. Right now, the plan, per my partnership agreement with Bridlewood, is to race her the whole year in 2018.”