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Does Curlin looked bigger than in his recent runs, i.e. pumped to the eyeballs, if he does then he will obviously be the horse to beat as the surface would be the only?. I thought he would be beaten if not on drugs again.
When I saw a photograph of Curlin just before he ran in the Dubai World Cup I was astonished at how muscular he was. I made a copy of the photo and e-mailed it to several people saying that there was no way a horse could look like that naturally. Curlin just had to be on steroids.
Curlin's owner Jess Jackson clearly felt the same way as he called his trainer Steve Asmussen to ask the obvious question. When he found out that Curlin was in fact receiving the regular injections of the anabolic steroid Winstrol which most American racehorses get he ordered Asmussen to stop the practice right away. Jackson later went on to appear before the US Congress as a witness when they held an inquiry into the use of steroids in American horse racing.
Jackson has to be commended for his actions. But I have to say that the subsequent performance of Curlin now raises major questions about what made him a Champion.
Curlin did produce two big runs in Dubai a few weeks after being taken off steroids. But his more recent runs, plus his physical appearance makes me believe that he is simply not as fast now their effect has worn off.
When I saw Curlin in the paddock at Saratoga on September 1st he didn't look anything like that photo I'd seen of him at the beginning of the year. I can't say for sure, but I strongly suspect he'd dropped around fifty pounds in weight, maybe more. He looked far more like a normal racehorse than the incredible hulk he'd appeared earlier.
CURLIN (40) only scrambled home at Saratoga in a time a second or more slower than he would have clocked before. He again won narrowly in sub-par time when taking the Jockey Club Gold Cup last weekend. And this time WANDERIN BOY (39), the horse he'd beaten nearly three lengths into third at Saratoga, got to within three parts of a length.
Wanderin Boy is a seven year old that has lost all nine times he's tackled Grade 1 company. Beating him by a rather hard fought three quarters of a length is not the performance of a Champion.
As I see it you can forget the debate about whether Curlin will act on the new synthetic surface the Breeders' Cup Classic is set to be run on. The real debate should be about steroids and whether thoroughbred breeders are being misled into choosing stallions and broodmares whose ability stemmed from chemistry rather than class.
I completely agree with Morden and I understand Lasix is being banned form next years BC Meeting, and rightly so in my opinion - lets have a level playing field.
So in theory Curlin should only be Lasix today and nothing else...
Henry is on Lasix, Duke isn't, Solder isn't, Westphalia wasn't and Heart Shaped was.
The night is young, the baseball's on soon, and we have an extra hour! Come on lads, make my niggh _________________ This is like a flashback,
This is like a dream
Anyone else watching the coverage on BC.com? It's great - you get to see the stuff being said off camera before they go live on ESPN - just heard Arnie and Gos having some banter off camera and the presenter confirming that RP hadn't run beyond a mile or raced on poly.
Last edited by Owl of Minerva on Sat Oct 25, 2008 11:14 pm; edited 1 time in total
Unbelievable scenes, amazing. You could see a mile out Raven's Pass was cantering all over the back of the steroid beefcake.
Looking back to when I saw him run in the Craven, when he looked out on his legs and jinked right in to Twice Over, who would have thought that I was watching the Breeders Cup Classic winner.
I was bouncing off the walls when I saw Raven's and Henry breeze passed Curlin. A fantastic 1-2. Our Guineas winner and our QEII winner flying passed Curling (sic), amazing stuff!
Top man Gos, fantastic to stuff the yanks in their back yard against the so called worlds best horse. We've all known that was rubbish, it was the drugs!
Sheikh Mo has the last laugh this season after all.... _________________ Is ready to hibernate
Unbelievable scenes, amazing. You could see a mile out Raven's Pass was cantering all over the back of the steroid beefcake.
Looking back to when I saw him run in the Craven, when he looked out on his legs and jinked right in to Twice Over, who would have thought that I was watching the Breeders Cup Classic winner.
I was bouncing off the walls when I saw Raven's and Henry breeze passed Curlin. A fantastic 1-2. Our Guineas winner and our QEII winner flying passed Curling (sic), amazing stuff!
Top man Gos, fantastic to stuff the yanks in their back yard against the so called worlds best horse. We've all known that was rubbish, it was the drugs!
Sheikh Mo has the last laugh this season after all....
Not a Curlin fan then Gromero?! We love you Raven we do ohhhh Raven we love you What a night. 5 European winners too
haha, not much of a fan no. I thought it couldn't get any better when Red Rocks beat him, but that was just the start.
I don't mean to put him down and be so negative about him, because after all he could have been a really nice horse, but they clearly took advantage of him by giving him drugs that enhanced his muscles. I should be more negative towards his connections really!
But take nothing away from our fantastic 1-2 in the classic! See you next year guys, we're going to be sending over everything haha _________________ Is ready to hibernate
Tonight will change the European attitude to Breeders' Cup races now. I think many of our trainers have seen the end of season meeting as a bit of a 'bonus' rather than really targetting it. You hardly ever see a European horse laid out for a Breeders' Cup race, I think that will change after this years brilliant success.
_________________ This is like a flashback,
This is like a dream
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