Hofburg Romps in Curlin

CURLIN S., $97,000, Saratoga, 7-27, (C), 3yo, 1 1/8m, 1:50.18, sy.
1–HOFBURG, 118, c, 3, by Tapit
1st Dam: Soothing Touch, by Touch Gold
2nd Dam: Glia, by A.P. Indy
3rd Dam: Coup de Genie, by Mr. Prospector
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. O-Juddmonte Farms, Inc.; B-Juddmonte Farms Inc (KY); T-William I. Mott; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr. $55,000. Lifetime Record: GISP, 6-2-1-1, $432,950. *1/2 to Emollient (Empire Maker), MGISW, $1,350,400; Courtier (Pioneerof the Nile), SW & GSP, $221,103.
2–Nicodemus, 118, c, 3, Candy Ride (Arg)&log=">Candy Ride (Arg)–Leah's Secret, by Tiger Ridge. ($270,000 RNA 3yo '18 FTKHRA). O-Everything's Cricket Racing & Lawrence Goichman; B-WinStar Farm LLC (KY); T-Linda Rice. $20,000. [bullet ad=”winstar-bred”]3–Zing Zang, 118, c, 3, Tapit–Jet Away, by Mr. Greeley. ($300,000 Ylg '16 KEESEP). O-Jackpot Ranch; B-Gainesway Thoroughbreds Ltd. (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $12,000.
Margins: 5, 9, 14. Odds: 0.25, 9.10, 13.30.[bullet ad=”gaineway-bredconsigned”]Also Ran: American Lincoln, Madison's Luna. Scratched: Reride.
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Juddmonte Farms' Hofburg loped along at the back of the field behind opening fractions of :23.25 and :47.81. The field bunched up leaving the backstretch and the 1-5 favorite emerged from the turn with a narrow advantage before striding home with authority over the sloppy track, defeating Nicodemus by 4 1/2 lengths. Zing Zang was third.
“We wanted to be a little closer today,” explained winning rider Irad Ortiz Jr. “The track was sealed. Not too many horses came from off the pace, and we didn't want anybody to steal the race. We wanted to be close, so that's why going into the first turn I tried to put him in the clear and let him be close, I was four lengths back; I was OK with that, and then [at a] half a mile, I put him in the clear and let him do his thing. When I asked him, he was there for me.”
Hall of Fame trainer added, “He was a little hot and a little agitated today. Frankly, I was a little bit concerned, but I think mainly he just needed to run. He's a little bit fresh right now and I think he just wanted to get moving forward. Hopefully, when he comes back in the [GI] Travers [Aug. 25] he'll be a little cooler and a little more collected. He was a little pushy.”
Hofburg earned a ticket to the GI Kentucky Derby with a runner-up effort while making just his third lifetime start in the Mar. 31 GI Florida Derby. Seventh on the First Saturday in May, the Juddmonte homebred skipped the second leg of the Triple Crown and was most recently third in the June 9 GI Belmont S.
“I think the track in [the Kentucky Derby] was maybe a little more packed,” opined Mott. “We had some more recent rain today and I watched the race before and they were going all the way to the bottom. You never know. Each wet track is a little bit different. He's handled the wet track well before, but I don't know that he was really as comfortable on this as he was maybe in the Derby. He looked like he was really staying on top of that. But he did prove that he can run in it, not that it's his favorite type of racetrack.”
Looking down the road, Mott added, “I think the timing of the Travers is right, he's had a race over the track, a win over the track and it gives the trainer some confidence. I don't know if the horse needed it, but the trainer did.”
Soothing Touch, out of stakes winning and graded/group-placed Glia (A.P. Indy), has an unraced juvenile filly by Pioneerof the Nile, and a pair of colts–a yearling and foal–by American Pharoah. She was bred to Arrogate. Hofburg hails from the prolific family of multiple Group 1 winner and French 2yo highweight filly Coup de Genie (Mr. Prospector), who is responsible for French highweight juvenile filly Denebola (Storm Cat).