Asmussen hoping Curlin has the answers

There may be plenty of questions nagging trainer Steve Asmussen about Curlin’s Breeders’ Cup Classic title defence at Santa Anita on Saturday, but for most of those outside his barn, the superstar has all the answers.

While Asmussen has spent his week at the California track grappling the imponderables facing his 2007 Horse of the Year and 2008 Dubai World Cup winner, experts, oddsmakers and rivals having been singing the praises of Curlin.

The Dubai World Cup winner, who romped to Classic victory in the slop at New Jersey’s Monmouth Park 12 months ago, was installed as 7-5 favourite on the official Morning Line following Tuesday’s post position draw.

Yet as the 5 million main event draws near, the pace of the race, Curlin’s trip on Santa Anita’s new synthetic Pro-Ride track and the unknown quantities he faces from European challengers Duke of Marmalade, Henrythenavigator and Raven’s Pass, are all problems facing Asmussen.

While admitting he was concerned over a lack of pace for Curlin in the wake of Well Armed and Mast Track’s switch to the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, Asmussen at least allowed himself the confidence that his four-year-old 2007 Preakness winner would have the smarts to deal with any situation, especially with jockey Robby Albarado at the helm.

“You start concerning yourself with everything from this point on,” Asmussen said. “But like we say, we worry about what we can control.

“Curlin is in capable hands with Robby. He knows him best from that position.”

Also a concern is the new synthetic surface with Asmussen drawing parallels with Curlin’s debut on grass in July at Belmont Park, which ended in a second place behind Red Rocks in the Grade One Man o’ War Stakes.

“The percentage of horses that do their best on synthetic I think is questionable, and that’s what we’re waiting to see,” Asmussen said. “It’s a similar feeling (to the Man o’ War Stakes). Identical, no; similar, yes.

“We’re talking about Curlin because of his accomplishments on the dirt, so of course that is where all the questions come from.”

Curlin galloped for the first time on the Pro-Ride at Santa Anita on Thursday and was schooled in both the starting gate and the paddock where he looked relaxed and unbothered as he waited to be taken back to his barn on the backstretch.

Regular exercise rider Carlos Rosas was impressed by his partner’s adaptability on the Pro-Ride.

“He’s a superstar,” Rosas said. “He’s getting the over the ground here very well. I know there’s a big difference between the mornings and afternoons but he’s showing us very good signs.

“I don’t think the surface is going to be a problem at all.”

Asmussen, though, remains unconvinced – despite being pleased with Curlin’s work this week.

“The synthetic track is the question,” he said.

Asmussen may appear overcautious, but rival trainer John Gosden – who used to train in America and will saddle Queen Elizabeth II winner Raven’s Pass in the Classic – believes the Curlin handler is only doing his job.

“I think every trainer’s right to be concerned when you’re dealing with a horse of his quality and his record,” Gosden said.

“It’s his job to look for where the potential problems could be. You can’t swan into these things too full of yourself, you always wind up on your backside.

“So he’s absolutely right to be looking at it hard. But we’ll know by about 6 o’clock on Saturday.”

Aidan O’Brien goes into battle with Duke Of Marmalade and Henrythenavigator, and admitted a victory in the Classic would be up there with his greatest achievements.

“We never expect it to happen but it would mean the world to us to win a race like that,” he said.

“They’re two great horses and they’ve given their all and if we’re lucky enough to do it we’d be over the moon; I could not describe to you what it would mean.

“But you don’t think of those things happening, you do your best for it to happen and sometimes you make the right decisions and sometimes you don’t but if it did happen it would be unbelievable.”

With 21 Group One wins in 2008, O’Brien has a chance to surpass American trainer Bobby Frankel’s world record of 25 but he insisted the milestone was not his highest priority.

He said: “It’s great that it’s even being mentioned but we don’t think about it really.

“The horses have had a long, hard season and a lot of Group Ones went our way this summer but they haven’t gone our way lately. Some of the horses haven’t been beaten very far but that’s the way it goes and they all seem to be in good form.”

O’Brien added that had the record been his main objective he would have steered Henrythenavigator towards his best distance in the Mile rather than point him at the mile-and-a-quarter Classic.

O’Brien said: “We always try to do what we think is the right thing for the horse and the system and we didn’t feel he had anything to prove by running in the Mile.

“The Classic catches everybody’s imagination and we’re trying to expose him just a little bit more and we’ll find out, does he get a mile and a quarter.

“If we wanted to be safe and didn’t want to expose him we would have stuck to the Mile and he’d probably have been a short-priced favourite. This is more exciting.”