Curlin bids to defy Derby history

Curlin bids to overcome more than a century of history when he goes for gold in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs tomorrow.

The unbeaten son of Smart Strike heads the betting markets ahead of the 2 million feature but no horse has grabbed the gold medal when unraced as a juvenile since Apollo scored in 1882.

However, Curlin romped to an easy success when recording his third straight victory in the Arkansas Derby last month and trainer Steve Asmussen is unconcerned as the big race swiftly approaches.

“We’re very confident in what we’re going to see,” Asmussen said.

“The unknown is the curiosity about how good the horse is and how good he’s going to be.”

As well as the Arkansas Derby, Curlin triumphed in the Rebel Stakes following an easy victory in maiden company when he made his debut back in February.

Ladbrokes make Asmussen’s charge their 4-1 joint favourite along with Street Sense ahead of the 133rd running of the 10-furlong contest.

Curlin will break from stall two in the hands of Robbie Alborado, one berth inside his stablemate Zanjero.

The last Derby winner housed in stall two was 1978 hero Affirmed, who was also the last Triple Crown winner.

Already having taken a liking to Churchill Downs after winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile by 10 lengths here last November, Street Sense also has history working against him.

No Juvenile winner has gone on to capture the Derby in 23 prior attempts but Street Sense arrives on the back of a win in the Tampa Bay Derby and a narrow second in the Blue Grass Stakes in April.

While Curlin and Street Sense head the market, attention is also sure to focus on three-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher, who tied a Derby record by making five entries.

Having earned more than 121 million in his career, Pletcher has yet to train a Derby winner after 14 attempts and knows that Curlin is the horse to beat on Saturday.

“He’s the one horse who has dominated everything he’s run against,” Pletcher said.

And of his hopefuls, Pletcher’s best chances look to be Scat Daddy and Circular Quay, who trade at 7-1 and 8-1 respectively with Ladbrokes, while Any Given Saturday, Cowtown Cat and Sam P also take their chances.

“It doesn’t matter how many you show up with,” Pletcher said.

“You can show up with as many as possible. If you don’t have the right one, it doesn’t mean much.”

A year ago, Pletcher nearly broke his Kentucky Derby duck when Bluegrass Cat finished second, a showing which duplicated his previous best achieved by Invisible Ink five years earlier.

D Wayne Lukas and Nick Zito shared the record of five Derby entries before Pletcher joined the duo this year.

In 1996, Lukas was rewarded as Grindstone crossed the finish line first while it was an entirely different story for Zito in 2005 when none of his five entries finished in the money.

A maximum of 20 runners are set to go to post tomorrow and it will be only the third time a full field has run since the limit was passed in 1984.