Bodog Beat

Curlin is returning to the dirt at Arlington Park. (AP Images)

Owner Jess Jackson reported Tuesday that Curlin’s next race will be on a 1 1/8-mile dirt course in the Gr. 1 $500,000 Woodward Stakes on Aug. 30 in Saratoga for 3-year-olds and up. The $1 million Gr. 1 Pacific Classic Stakes and the $1 million Gr. 1 Arlington Million Stakes had also been under consideration. Jackson has also said that Curlin will not run in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in October as originally planned. He did not, however, rule out a matchup between Curlin and Big Brown, winner of Sunday’s Haskell Invitational, at the 2008 Breeders’ Cup, saying a meeting between the two was "still in the options."

Of Big Brown, Jackson said: "We don't have anything to prove, he does. We like him, he's a great horse; it would be good for racing to have them together. We're not avoiding him, we're just doing what's right for Curlin."

The 2007 Horse of the Year has been breezing well on the Oklahoma Training Track. Trainer Steve Asmussen was pleased with Curlin's latest clocking of 1 minute and 2.72 seconds over five furlongs, saying: "I thought he looked tremendous… He jogged off very comfortable. He went around as smooth as glass and galloped out real strong."

Curlin’s loss in the Man o’War has been the only blip in a stellar string of performances that include wins in the Stephen Foster Handicap (Gr. 1), a handicap race at the Dubai World Cup and the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Classic (Gr. 1).

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