Just under 12 hours after winning the Preakness, the Smart Strike colt – healthy, but showing signs of being a bit weary - was on his way early Sunday morning to trainer Steve Asmussen’s barn at Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY.

     Asmussen watched as Curlin left the Preakness Stakes barn at 6 a.m. and was walked onto a van to be taken to Baltimore-Washington International Airport for the flight to Kentucky.

     “He looked good as he was loaded on the trailer, but he definitely knows he ran (Saturday),” Asmussen said.

     Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense ran past Curlin at the top of the stretch of the Preakness and appeared to be on his way to victory when Curlin rallied again under jockey Robby Albarado. Curlin surged in the final few yards and beat Street Sense by a head while matching the stakes record of 1:53.46 for the 1-3/16-mile Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

     Curlin picked up his fourth victory in five lifetime starts with a performance that Asmussen said was the most stressful of the colt’s short career.

     “I think that was obvious from the race,” Asmussen said. “He had to dig down deep and find more.”

     While Asmussen did not commit to going on to the Belmont Stakes or the Travers at Saratoga, he said Curlin is headed to racing’s marquee events.  

     “This is the stage this horse deserves and those are the caliber of races he is intended for,” Asmussen said. “It will all be up to him physically, but that is the stage that he deserves to be on. Our job is to make sure he is prepared for it.”

     Curlin had a troubled trip in the Derby, but showed interest in the later stages of the race and was able to finish third. Asmussen and his staff quickly realized that Curlin was fresh and could handle the quick turnaround from the Derby to the Preakness.  

     “He came out of the race unlike any of my other previous Derby starters,” Asmussen said. “With the possibility of running him back in two weeks, if you’re going to run one, he was the one you wanted to run.”

     By Sunday morning, Asmussen, who scrapped a plan to return home Saturday night, had seen video of Curlin’s run in the Preakness.

     “He wasn’t away as clean as we were hoping for,” Asmussen said. “He was off the bridle early. Personally, I was worried about a replay of the Derby. Robby got him in position. Street Sense, and he’s an excellent horse, kind of got the jump on him. He dug down deep and found more and is a deserving winner of a classic.

     “I couldn’t be any prouder of the horse or for the horse. It’s just a grand stage for everybody to see what everybody involved with the horse believed all along.”

     From his vantage point, Asmussen couldn’t be sure whether Curlin would be able to catch Street Sense.

     “I watched the race from well up the racetrack, pretty close to the starting gate,” Asmussen said. “As they came around the turn Robby was having to navigate him. The horse drifts out a bit and he was having to guide him quite a bit. So you knew that wherever he was in the stretch and was able to go back to his right lead that he’d be able to find more. How much more, obviously, was in question. I didn’t feel that he was done, but whether it would be enough or not was the question to be asked at that point.”

     As a record crowd of 121,263 people at Pimlico roared, Curlin and Street Sense turned in a classic battle to the wire.

     “The last three-sixteenths goes in 18 (seconds) and change,” Asmussen said. “Covering that much ground, they both came home extremely well.”

     The Preakness was Asmussen’s first victory in an American classic race and turned out to be a well-timed personal milestone.

     “I’m extremely proud that my family was able to enjoy it with me,” he said. “It’s a very special feeling, having my parents being able to be here. My father’s mother passed away this week. It prioritizes what family means to you, for them to be a part of a very special moment for me.
Source www.preakness.com