Stiff work has Curlin's Approval set for Princess Rooney
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – After opening the season with a pair of one-sided graded-stakes wins, Curlin’s Approval turned in a pair of disappointing performances, both as the odds-on favorite, in the Inside Information and Matron stakes.
But if her work here Tuesday is any indication, Curlin’s Approval is ready to bounce back in a big way when she returns home for the Grade 2 Princess Rooney on Summit of Speed Day here July 1.
Working on a drying-out racetrack that was sealed and muddy earlier in the morning but harrowed and upgraded to “good” after the final renovation break, Curlin’s Approval had clockers checking their watches after completing five furlongs in 57.74 seconds in company with Curlin’s Mistress.
Pushed along by a strong tailwind, Curlin’s Approval posted blistering splits of 22.06 and 33.21, then drew off from her overmatched younger sister while finishing into the teeth of the wind. She pulled up three-quarters of a mile in 1:12.45 with exercise rider Elmer Nunez aboard.
:: Add a 5-card pack of PPs and save 55¢/card!
“I needed to get a good work into her since we missed all of those days when the track was bad and filled with water,” said Happy Alter, who bred Curlin’s Approval and owns her with Bridlewood Farm. “You couldn’t even gallop on it. I really was aiming for 59 and change, and she went a little faster than desirable, but she’s just so talented. I’ll walk her an extra day, blow her out something easy next week, and hopefully we’ll run.”
Alter said that her regular jockey, Luis Saez, might have ridden her a little overconfidently when she was fifth in the Inside Information, and that she may have bounced that day coming off a six-length win in her two-turn debut four weeks earlier in the Grade 2 Royal Delta. Alter also believes she was a little short when she returned two months later to finish seventh at 1 1/16 miles as the 4-5 favorite in the Grade 3 Matron at Churchill Downs.
“Sometimes you freshen a horse after they bounce like that and they come up a little short the next time,” said Alter. “She really had no other excuse that night at Churchill Downs. She made a move like she was going to blow by everybody, then just flattened out. And that’s another reason why she needed to a have really stiff breeze today.”
Alter said Saez will return aboard Curlin’s Approval in the Princess Rooney.
More than two dozen fillies and mares were nominated to the seven-furlong Princess Rooney, a Win and You’re In race for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. That list includes another pair of local standouts, Dearest and Distinta, both of whom are expected to run, along with potential invaders Birdatthewire, Kinsley Kisses, Lightstream, and Wheatfield.