OCEANPORT, N.J. -- The day after Curlin won the Breeders' Cup Classic against his two toughest rivals, Street Sense and Hard Spun, to lock up Horse of the Year honors, the big red horse's future is unknown.
Will he race at age 4 or will he go to a breeding farm - like Street Sense and Hard Spun will tomorrow - and perhaps become the beginning of a stronger, more durable breed of horse?
"We're still on cloud nine, so I don't think I can make a rational decision right now," said Jess Jackson, who owns Curlin with Satish Sanan and George Bolton.
On Saturday, Curlin, Hard Spun and Street Sense again separated themselves from all other 3-year-olds, and only a late run by 4-year-old Awesome Gem for a third-place finish kept the big three from finishing first, second and third as they did in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.
Wherever they have run, they have generated delight among the bettors by offering the challenge of figuring out which one of them would win on any given day.
But now, at the end of their 3-year-old year, only Curlin has the possibility of another race.
The breeding rights to Hard Spun and Street Sense have been sold to Darley at Jonabell in Lexington, Ky.
"It's a sad thing," said Hard Spun's trainer, Larry Jones.
"That's the business. It's all about the money. The owners can't turn it down. But it would be nice to see how these horses would run as 4- and 5-year-olds."
Jackson, whose Kendall-Jackson wine label is one of the most popular in the country, is, according to Forbes magazine, one of the 400 wealthiest men in America, and his partners, Bolton, a native of Brooklandville, and Sanan, are also well-heeled businessmen.
With money not the primary concern, Jackson said he is experiencing "an inner quarrel" over what to do with Curlin, sired by Smart Strike and out of Sherriff's Deputy.
"Inside, cerebrally, I'm saying, `Here is a horse that can help change the direction of breeding in America, maybe the world,'" he said. "For stamina, size, coupled with the speed he has and the power, and he's learning to be more graceful on the turns. He is an exceptional horse.
"So on the one part, I'm saying, as a breeder, I'd love to have the American breed grade upward with distance, durability, power and speed that Curlin represents. On the other hand, I'm a racing fan. I've always been a handicapper. I love to see the tried and true come back and back and back."
