The Moneyed Horse

Last Saturday afternoon, Curlin won the $750,000 Jockey Gold Cup (Gr. I) at Belmont Park and set the money record for a North American horse's earnings at $10,246,800, surpassing Cigar's record of $9,999,815 that stood for 12 years and made individuals from as far as Omsk Siberia Russia and Kununurra Australia question whether or not this run-on sentence would actually end.

Our good friend and resident cat lover, Teresa, over at Brooklyn Backstretch, penned a heartfelt and stirring reflection of Saturday's events at Belmont Park,

The applause rolled across the apron and rained down from the upper levels; when I rejoined my friends on the second floor, each of us, whether we’d made money or not, or loved Curlin or not, was caught up in a wave of adrenalin, because we got to see something remarkable in the sport that we love.

She captured the emotions of the day magnificently. She included excellent photos of Curlin, Ginger Punch, Cocoa Beach and others.

Lovely.

Apparently, Teresa doesn't drink enough when she's at the track.

Needless to say, Curlin's won a lot of dough. $10,246,800. Let's put that into perspective. You would be able to purchase 565 Hyundai Sonatas. Or 2,277,066 frozen margaritas at Rio Mambo, gratuity included. Or 4,098 "premiere" seats to the October 16th Obama fundraiser.

Note that it can also be considered a paltry sum. It's only 0.00142% of the Wall Street bailout.

So now Curlin's at Santa Anita, lounging poolside in the California sun when he's not training on the Pro-Ride synthetic surface, which by the way, cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 million. If he likes the surface, he'll meet Big Brown and others in the $5 Million Breeders' Cup Classic next month.