Speculation on Curlin is at full gallop

Santa Anita gave Curlin its best shot Monday morning.

The skies turned bright blue, the temperature was comfortably cool and the mountains framing the famous racetrack looked more watercolor painting than real.

But the news was that there was no news.

Curlin might run against Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown in the Oct. 25 Breeders' Cup Classic here, a race that has become one of the more anticipated in years. Or he might not.

When Curlin glided down the main straightaway at 6:44 a.m., just shortly after sunup, galloping a half-mile in 52.4 seconds, the Great Race Place was abuzz. Clockers Corner well exceeded the usual clientele of jockeys, agents and trainers. There were cameras and stopwatches and binoculars everywhere, as well as a group of reporters, trailing along behind the man of the hour, trainer Steve Asmussen.

At this time of the morning, Santa Anita is usually like the 405 Freeway. Horses here, horses there, horses running and jogging and walking everywhere. But all seemed aware of Curlin's presence, and when he took off on his half-mile run, there was plenty of room along the rail and all eyes on the coffee-with-cream-colored horse.

This was Curlin's coming-out party at Santa Anita, and the racing rock star looked every bit ready for his close-up. Around the barns, cameras clicked and Curlin paused to pose.

Maybe he knows. Nobody else seems to.

Asmussen, who trains mostly in the East, was here to get his first look at Curlin on Santa Anita's synthetic surface. He said he would stay over Monday night to see how Curlin comes out of his half-mile gallop and then head back home to Arlington, Texas. Asmussen said he will return for another trial run for Curlin next Monday morning, and then, he said, a decision about the Breeders' Cup will be closer.

"We need to give Curlin the patience he deserves," Asmussen said.

And so, while all of racing twists in its saddle, Asmussen will go slowly on this one, watching his horse, talking to his assistant trainer on-site at Santa Anita, Scott Blasi, and doing the same with Curlin's majority owner, Jess Jackson.

Among those out bright and early for the Curlin show were Santa Anita Chief Executive Ron Charles and Oak Tree's director and executive vice president, Sherwood Chillingworth. The term "champing at the bit," normally reserved for horses, fit them better Monday morning.