Curlin gets Monday Pro-Ride test

From NTRA

Reigning Horse of the Year Curlin will get serious at Santa Anita Park this Monday, when he works five furlongs over Santa Anita's Pro-Ride synthetic main track between races. The work, which will be performed in company with another Steve Asmussen trainee, has been scheduled between races four and five (approx. 2:45 p.m. PT) and it is expected that if all goes well with the work, he will be pre-entered on Tuesday for a defense of his $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic title and a showdown with Big Brown at Oak Tree at Santa Anita on Oct. 25.

"Our biggest concern with Curlin is the difference in the way the track plays between morning and afternoon," said assistant trainer Scott Blasi. "This is going to be a smooth 5/8 [of a mile] in company. We'll come on the track up in the quarter-mile chute and just jog-off from there and break-off at the 5/8 pole. He'll be working with another horse of ours named Hawaii Calls."

Curlin arrived at Santa Anita the day after winning the Grade I, 1 ¼-miles Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park on Sept. 27, and he had his first workout since the race this past Monday, breezing a half mile in :52.80.

"His serious work here at Santa Anita will be on Monday," said Blasi. "It'll be a normal 5/8 work. We're not looking for anything real fast, but it'll be done the way we do things in company."

Beyond Monday's drill, Blasi said, "Everything else with his training will be routine. That's what we're looking for right now."

Should Curlin start in the Classic on Oct. 25, a much-anticipated showdown for 2008 Horse of the Year honors would be finalized with this year's Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Big Brown.

As was the case this past Monday, Asmussen is expected to fly in from his Texas base to oversee Curlin's work. Among those scheduled to work Monday morning for Asmussen in addition to Curlin are 2007 Breeders' Cup Juvenile runner-up Pyro and multiple Grade I winner Student Council.

Casino Drive remains in Classic frame with SA prep

Undefeated Casino Drive has been entered to run at Santa Anita on Sunday in what his connections hope will lead to a start in the $5-million Breeders' Cup Classic on Oct. 25.

Casino Drive drew post position two in an optional claiming race at 1 1/16 miles going as the eighth on a nine-race program.

A three-year-old son of 2003 Horse of the Year Mineshaft, Casino Drive breezed five furlongs Thursday on Hollywood Park's Cushion Track in 1:02. "We're very happy with it," said Nobutaka Tada, racing manager for Casino Drive's owner, Hidetoshi Yamamoto. "I spoke with Mr. Yamamoto in Japan, and we decided to enter the allowance race on Sunday."

Casino Drive, a half-brother to Belmont Stakes winners Rags to Riches and Jazil, has not raced since winning the Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park on May 10. A stone bruise in his left hind foot forced him to miss the Belmont Stakes and has sidelined him since. Casino Drive subsequently was returned to Japan and arrived at Hollywood Park last month.

Casino Drive won his first start in Japan on Feb. 23 this year, scoring by 11 1/2 lengths in a nine-furlong race. In his only other career start, the Peter Pan, he scored by nearly six lengths.

Keeneland: QE II draws 11

Rosa Grace (GB) will look for revenge against Backseat Rhythm when she makes her first start for trainer Christophe Clement in the 25th running of the Grade I, $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup on Saturday in Lexington, Ky. The invitational race is for three-year-old fillies at 1 1/8 miles on turf.

A daughter of German Horse of the Year Lomitas (GB), Rosa Grace won three of the first seven starts of her career in England and Ireland. In June at Newbury, she took the Ballymacoll Stud Lord Weinstock Memorial at a little over 1 ¼ miles on a course rated as good.

For trainer Rae Guest, Rosa Grace made her North American debut at Saratoga on August 15 and finished second to eventual Grade I winner Backseat Rhythm in the 1 1/8-mile Lake Placid Stakes on a yielding turf course. She then was transferred to Clement's barn at Belmont Park.

"She's a nice filly," said Ben Colebrook, Clement's assistant at Keeneland. "She's won on good turf in England, and I think she probably likes it a little better firm."

Rosa Grace has a tough assignment in the QEII as every starter in the field of 11 is a stakes winner. Two of those horses are coming off Grade I turf wins: Backseat Rhythm and Magical Fantasy. Third in last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, Backseat Rhythm took the Grade I Garden City Stakes over 1 1/8 miles at Belmont on September 6. Magical Fantasy won the 1 1/8-mile Del Mar Oaks on August 16

Two stakes winner from Keeneland's spring meeting, Ariege and Alwajeeha, return in the QEII. Ariege, winner of the Santa Anita Oaks in March, won the Stonerside Beaumont, run at about seven furlongs on the Polytrack, and Alwajeeha took the Appalachian at one mile on turf.

Other starters include Lake George Stakes winner My Princess Jess; Closeout, coming off a win in Arlington's Pucker Up Stakes on September 6, and Storm Mesa, whose five-race win streak included the San Clemente at Del Mar and the Iowa Oaks at Prairie Meadows before she ran fifth in the Del Mar Oaks. Rounding out the field are stakes winners Lickety Lemon, My Baby Baby and Sefroua. All starters will carry 121 pounds.