Trainers look for hope when they eyeball young horses. Trainer D. Wayne Lukas did not see much reason for optimism when he first laid his eyes on Lady’s Secret.
She lacked size and never would weigh much. She appeared to be anything but robust.
For the most part, the great American-based fillies and mares of the last few decades were stars who beat the boys in Triple Crown races or major Grade 1 stakes on dirt.
For the past 75-plus years, the Triple Crown and the Breeders’ Cup have been proving grounds for a long list of Thoroughbred racing’s greatest champions.
Some horses, though, have transcended the sport’s most famous stages.
Just about the only thing Curlin did not do in his fabulous career was end “The Curse of Apollo.”
A horse who did not race at 2 had not won the Kentucky Derby since the aforementioned Apollo all the way back in 1882, and Curlin gave it the old college try to end the jinx that Triple Crown winner Justify eventually halted in 2018.
Curlin made his debut on Feb. 3, 2003 and then ran third three months later in the Kentucky Derby.
He came, like the fog in Carl Sandburg’s famous poem, silently. For a time he lingered, just long enough for his presence to be acknowledged. And then, like the fog, he moved on, all too soon, leaving everyone to wonder what might have been.
