Saturday Sires: Curlin

If there has ever been a quintessential Saturday afternoon sire–as well as Breeders' Cup sire and champion sire–Curlin would have to be at the top of the list. He tends to churn out top-level horses at a dizzying rate.

“Not to take anything away from other great stallions, but I don't believe Curlin is second to anybody when you speak of Grade I performers and accomplishments,” said John Sikura, who stands the 2007-08 Horse of the Year at Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa. “If you think of the Breeders' Cup, he takes something that's never been done before, accomplishes it, and then equals it the next year. It's hard to put into words.”

Sikura is, of course, speaking of one of the most remarkable feats in modern history. In 2022, Curlin was responsible for three Breeders' Cup winners in a single day. It was an unprecedented accomplishment, something never before done and something so singular it was unlikely to ever be duplicated–or so it was thought. Unbelievably, Curlin repeated that extraordinary feat in 2023. With eight individual Breeders' Cup victories, Curlin leads all sires, living or dead, by wins on the sport's championship days.

When a sire breathes such rarified air, expectations grow heavy, whether that's fair or not. Might there be extra pressure in standing a stallion like Curlin and feeling the weight of those expectations?

“No,” said Sikura, “because his legacy and his achievement absorbs any pressure there might be. It's the unique thing about greatness: the higher he reaches, the more he delivers. He's one of the world-class elite horses who is achieving the multiplicity of success.

“The standard of excellence he delivers is not random, but consistent. I read something once and I never forgot it, something like greatness is so elusive that you really don't think it even exists but every once in a while it does, just to remind you it does. That's Curlin.”

Curlin's regular prowess was on display last weekend when champion Idiomatic kicked off Saturday with a thrilling victory in Monmouth's GIII Molly Pitcher Stakes, then Solo Album followed shortly after with Woodbine's GIII Trillium Stakes, giving Curlin wins in 20% of the graded stakes in North America Saturday. On Sunday, only one graded event, the GII Shuvee Stakes at Saratoga, was contested on the continent. Was it any surprise to see the Hill 'n' Dale super sire's daughter Raging Sea adding to his weekend tally? If that wasn't a big enough weekend, Curlin's debuter Getaway Car was dubbed a 'TDN Rising Star' at Del Mar and his son Good Magic was the sire of GI Haskell Stakes winner Dornoch.

TDN Stallions: Curlin from Thoroughbred Daily News on Vimeo.

“We're very proud of the horse and very thankful to [Stonestreet's] Barbara Banke and her team,” said Sikura. “We've had a great relationship of success with Barbara with Curlin, Maclean's Music, and Good Magic. I think there a synergy when you have good people who get along and respect each other with no ego involved; it's not science but that environment of compatibility. All that karma works for the favor the horse.

“We all support the horse with our best mares. We're cheerleaders for the horse with the same goals in mind. It's a great reward for everyone. They trust these horses to us and then support them. I don't take any personal credit. We're lucky enough to have a great horse that people recognize as a rare stallion. Early in a career with a stallion, you're waiting for a horse's limitations to present, but with him limitations don't exist. All those things that start to emerge as self-limiting factors for most horses do not apply to him. He seems limitless and boundless in his ability to achieve. It's so rare. You're waiting for the door to close, but it doesn't with him.

“We're lucky to have him and continue to support him with the best mares.”

For stallions, it's often a metric of how many Grade I winners one has sired that emphasizes success. Curlin has 22, which puts him tied for third among all living North American sires with his 13th crop now aged two. Twelve of those 22 have won two or more Grade I events.

There's a sheer volume in quantity as well as in quality when it comes to Curlin. His runners have won or placed in 128 Grade I races in the dozen years he's had runners. For a hint of what a remarkable number that is, one only needs register there are 93 Grade I races in the U.S. carded for 2024. Not too many of them haven't been impacted by Curlin progeny in the last dozen years, some several times over.

“It's not bias or any emotion on my part, strictly on fact,” said Sikura. “Some sires jump up and have a banner year, but he's consistently a sire of Grade I horses. It's now almost commonplace for him. He's just a great sire and now his son [fellow Hill 'n' Dale stallion Good Magic] has two different Classic winners in two crops.

“Not to take away from anyone else, but obviously Good Magic is another supernatural horse and we hope that's the heir apparent for Curlin. He's still at a relatively young age for a great stallion, but now with his sons winning Classic races, it looks like it's going to perpetuate his legacy.”

In addition to the aforementioned Dornoch, who won this year's GI Belmont Stakes, Good Magic also sired his full-brother Mage, who won last year's GI Kentucky Derby. The year before that, Curlin's son Keen Ice sired Derby winner Rich Strike.

Curlin himself had a Classic winner in his first crop with Palace Malice in the 2013 Belmont. He would add a second Classic winner from his fourth crop in 2016 with Exaggerator in the GI Preakness Stakes. He has come tantalizingly close to many more: his progeny have an additional two Preakness placings, three more Belmont placings, and two runner-up finishes in the Kentucky Derby.

“I think everyone is probably aware of everything the horse is,” said Sikura. “If you point to his accomplishments, you might be somewhat surprised at his versatility. He gets colts and fillies. He may not have as many good 2-year-olds as his horses get better over time. Just look at Idiomatic [maiden winner at three, eight-for-nine champion at four, Grade I winner this year at five].

“They're ascending in their ability as they age. When they're retired, it's often due to the economics and their value as a stallion or broodmare. When you're as good at five as you were at three, that's pretty unique.

“Every year, his horses are as good or even better than they were the year before. There's no limit. They're tougher, faster, sounder, and more durable each year, which is probably something you don't see with a lot of horses.”

Champion Idiomatic (rail) battles to a gutsy Molly Pitcher win Saturday | Sarah Andrew

Overall, Curlin has an enviable body of work. He has eight individual U.S. champions and one Canadian champion among his 105 black-type winners. In addition to those eight individual Breeders' Cup wins already mentioned, his 59 graded winners have another nine Breeders' Cup placings. There's a GI Kentucky Oaks win, a GI Travers Stakes win, and the list goes on. Is there anything the son of Smart Strike cannot do?

“He's not a turf specialist,” said Sikura, “but the only reason he doesn't have turf horses is he doesn't have turf mares. When he has the opportunity, he's gotten graded winners on the turf.”

He has, indeed. Curlin has six graded winners on the grass. He had the opportunity to run just once on the lawn himself, finishing second in the GI Man o' War Stakes in 2008. It was one of the few losses in a Hall of Fame career that encompassed wins in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, the Preakness, the G1 Dubai World Cup, and a number of other races at the highest echelon.

The two-time Horse of the Year, who retired as North America's all-time leading money winner, was responsible for three individual Eclipse Award winners of 2022 and three in 2023. Only one of those was a repeat winner (Elite Power); another was named Horse of the Year, as well as older dirt male (Cody's Wish).

In the history of the Eclipse Awards, only five former Horses of the Year have themselves sired a Horse of the Year. Curlin joined Saint Liam (Havre de Grace), A.P. Indy (Mineshaft), Seattle Slew (A.P. Indy), and Secretariat (Lady's Secret) when he did it last year.

Sikura said that Curlin is not slowing down at age 20.

“I guess there's always some physical changes to a degree, but his fertility is excellent, his libido is excellent, and his performance on the racetrack is still elite. I hear the word 'age' a lot in different contexts, but you're only old in anything when you can no longer do it. There's always outliers with the greats in any field. Tom Brady, Muhammad Ali… They didn't do what the normal athlete does under normal expectations.

“It really doesn't matter how old Curlin is, but whether he's still accomplishing at the same level. We manage him closely, he covers about 100 mares [a season]. We don't overbreed him. He has a fantastic book, supported by the world's best breeders.”

Standing for $250,000, the co-highest published fee in North America, Curlin's first foals raced in 2012. That was the same year as Into Mischief, the other U.S. stallion at $250,000 in 2024, had his first runners. Each has been extraordinary and each has sire sons proving themselves at the top level.

Curlin, who had the top-priced yearling in the U.S. last year (a colt out of champion Beholder who brought $4 million at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga), has four sons at stud (Good Magic, Keen Ice, Connect, and Palace Malice) who have already sired Grade I winners. He also has a number of top young sons coming up, including two of his best runners–Cody's Wish and Elite Power–who stood their first seasons in 2024. It's safe to say the sport will feel the long-reaching effects of Curlin's influence for a long time to come.

Sikura has a long history himself at the heights of the sport, including co-owning and consigning Better Than Honour, the 2007 Broodmare of the Year who produced back-to-back Belmont winners and still holds the world record for a broodmare at public auction when selling for $14 million in 2008 at Fasig-Tipton. He was asked how he believes standing Curlin will rank among his own lifetime accomplishments.

“My goal every year is to be accomplishing things that I haven't accomplished in the past, so how the story is last written will have to wait and see, but certainly nothing will be more rewarding than standing Curlin, although you can't really compare or contrast it. It's singularly its own special achievement indelibly etched in whatever we have accomplished or will still accomplish. I've had Better Than Honour and other proud moments, for lack of a better word, but nothing competes with or takes away from the Curlin legacy. It's like with your kids–you're proud of the one who just graduated law school and also of the daughter who just had her first child.

“Curlin having three Breeders' Cup winners in a day is an almost-impossible thing to do, and then he did it again. Great horses drag you along with them. Their rarity and greatness is what makes it all so special.”