Horse racing betting

Add Saratoga Race Course to the list of Curlin conquering grounds.

Making his debut at the track, the reigning Horse of the Year turned on the power late and captured the $500,000 Woodward Stakes on Saturday.

A 3-10 post-time favorite from the fifth post, Curlin remained behind Past the Point and Wanderin Boy until making his move at the final turn on the 1 1/8-mile track. Widely regarded as the worlds top horse on dirt, the 4-year-old went on to overtake Past the Point and win by 1 1/4 lengths in 1 minute, 49.34 seconds.

Here at Saratoga, if you can kick on from the quarter-pole home, its hard to run down any horse, much less these Grade 1 horses, said Robby Albarado, the jockey of Curlin. They stretched the race out pretty good. I had to make a little longer run with Curlin than I wanted.

On the backside, he tugged a bit, let me know he was there, and on the far turn, they were still far enough in front of him that I needed to get him moving. Not aggressively call on him, but just get him moving. And he did it. Like I said, he exceeds our expectations every time he runs.

With his 10th victory in 14 career starts, Curlin brought home $300,000 for majority owner Jess Jackson, raising his career earnings to $9,796,800. He trails only two-time Horse of the Year Cigar, who tallied $9,999,815 in his career.

Aside from the Dubai race and the Breeders Cup, this is the most important race weve won because of the historic nature of this race and its premier contribution to Curlins legacy, Jackson said. With all the superstition and the Graveyard of Champions, I was glad the horse showed what he is and we won. It was very important.

Good horses like Man oWar and Secretariat had problems here. Thats an honor roll of some of the famous and the greatest. Im glad he showed he was up to it. It certainly adds to his legacy.

The winner of last years Preakness Stakes and Breeders Cup Classic, Curlin paid $2.70, $2.40 and $2.10.

A 40-1 longshot, Past the Point hung on for second, returning $13.80 and $6.40.

We came out of the gate and looked around to see where everyone was in the race, jockey Edgar Prado said. When Curlin came at us, we tried to pick it up more. Curlin is tough. My horse kept trying against him and didnt want to give up.

I was so focused on watching my horse, I didnt even see Curlin, Past the Point trainer Eoin Harty said. I felt like I won. It was more than I thought I could do. It was a fantastic race.

Past the Point even drew praise from Albarado for his effort.

Im going to give credit to the horse who ran second, Albarado said. He ran a huge race to sustain himself after those quick fractions.

Wanderin Boy, who grabbed the lead out of the gate, was third and paid $3.50.