Travers gets Tiz Wonderful instead of Curlin
Asmussen decides to run Preakness winner in Jockey Gold Cup Sept. 30
By David GreningDaily Racing Form
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Steve Asmussen said he was never planning to run Curlin in the Travers. But on Monday, he removed all doubt saying that the Preakness winner will make his next start in the $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont on Sept. 30.
After watching Tiz Wonderful breeze six furlongs in 1:14.22 Monday morning, Asmussen said that horse would run in the Travers.
Asmussen is of the belief that Saratoga's main track does not fit Curlin's style. Also, after running Curlin in all three Triple Crown races, he doesn't want to overrace him in the second half of the year. He chose to run Curlin in the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth - where he finished third behind Any Given Saturday - because that's where the Breeders' Cup Classic will be run on Oct. 27. In his one start at Belmont, Curlin was beaten a head by Rags to Riches in the Belmont Stakes.
"The reason the Jockey Club is a lot more attractive to me than the Travers is how well he ran at Belmont,'' Asmussen said Monday morning. "Even without having success, the fact that he ran well over it, he came out of it good and he hasn't run at Saratoga, which isn't exactly kind to most racehorses. I've had horses run down up here that have run several times and never run down, and horses that have bled up here that don't even work on Lasix. That's not an area I'm looking to go into with what I have planned for him at the end of the year.''
Asmussen said Curlin was expected to return to the work tab this week.
Meanwhile, Asmussen was very happy with what he saw from Tiz Wonderful on Monday. Over the Oklahoma training track, Tiz Wonderful came home his last quarter in 23.79 seconds during his six-furlong workout.
"He was sharp and fast; came home beautifully,'' Asmussen said.
Tiz Wonderful suffered his first defeat when he finished last in the Jim Dandy here July 29. He had won all three of his starts at 2, but was sidelined earlier this year with a tendon injury. In the Jim Dandy, he was a bit rank early, throwing his head up in the air three times in the first quarter-mile. He was in the race till the quarter pole when he began to back up.
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"He got all wound up before the race," Asmussen said. "C P West broke great and kind of into him, hit his ass, and his head came up a couple of times. None of it was right, but he needed it badly. He came out of it a little feet sensitive and a little body sore, but he worked right on out of it.''A total of 24 horses were nominated to the Travers. As of Monday, those expected to run included Street Sense, C P West, Sightseeing, Loose Leaf, and Tiz Wonderful. Todd Pletcher nominated seven horses to the Travers, though has said it is "doubtful'' he would run anything.
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