Curlin's Wisdom rides late-season success into new year
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The New York-bred Curlin’s Wisdom had a productive and busy fall campaign, registering three wins and two seconds from five starts over a 73-day span.
Trainer Linda Rice is wasting no time getting Curlin’s Wisdom’s 5-year-old campaign started, as he headlines a competitive 10-horse field in a second-level allowance/optional $62,500 claimer that goes as the featured and final race on Friday’s nine-race Aqueduct program.
After dropping his first nine starts, Curlin’s Wisdom has won four of his last six, beginning with a turf maiden victory Sept. 2 at Saratoga. Curlin’s Wisdom won an off-the-turf statebred allowance Oct. 6 and followed that up 10 days later with another statebred allowance win. He completed October with a solid second in the $250,000 Empire Classic Stakes.
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Following a respite in November, Curlin’s Wisdom ran twice in 17 days in December, finishing second behind I Am the Law in an open first-level allowance before clearing that condition by a half-length Dec. 18.
Though Rice previously said getting Curlin’s Wisdom stretched out around two turns has helped him improve, he has won his last two one-turn mile races. Thursday’s race will be contested at a one-turn mile.
“It looks like he’s just improving in general,” Rice said. “I still feel like a mile and an eighth is good for him, frankly. The way he ran the mile last time out, I didn’t feel there was any reason to shy away from this race.”
Curlin’s Wisdom has displayed the same outside stalking style regardless of race configuration. He figures to sit a nice stalking trip from post 9 under Jose Lezcano.
Curlin’s Wisdom, a son of Curlin owned by Martin Zaretsky, will again face I Am the Law in Friday’s finale. I Am the Law came off a two-month layoff to beat Curlin’s Wisdom by 1 1/4 lengths when allowed to dictate terms on the front end going 1 1/8 miles. He won an off-the-turf starter allowance going a mile from off the pace in his previous start Oct. 2.
I Am the Law, ridden by Joel Rosario in his last two starts, has apprentice Jose Gomez aboard Friday.
Uncle Moonlight returns from a 209-day layoff for Michelle Nevin in Friday’s finale. Uncle Moonlight raced only twice in 2022, finishing third in a first-level allowance off a 294-day layoff before winning that condition by three lengths on June 11. Uncle Moonlight had two subsequent works before going on the sidelines for three months. He has eight works for his return.
Winit, trained by John Kimmel, won a first-level allowance going a one-turn mile here Oct. 29 before trying the Discovery Stakes, a two-turn, 1 1/8-mile race, where he finished fourth behind Eloquist. Racing at one turn and going back on Lasix on Friday may help Winit.
Rounding out the field are No Burn, Outlier, Senior Investment, Manor House, Lost In Rome, and Bourbon Calling.
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