Curlin is Tiger Woods in horseshoes.
He is tall, with rippling muscles and a dominating record, and he stepped into the limelight when his sport needed a star.
He was the 2007 Horse of the Year, and when he goes off in the 90th running of the Jockey Club Gold Cup tomorrow, he will have the chance to become North American racing's all-time leading money-winner.
If he does that, he'll break Maryland-bred Cigar's record of $9,999,815.
Cigar was born at Country Life Farm. His career performance has been a longtime feather in Maryland's racing cap. While it is sad to see Maryland racing lose another piece of history, Curlin's bid for the career earnings record can only be good for the sport.
While those inside and outside the industry bemoan the weakness in the thoroughbred that is blamed for breakdowns among some of the most important horses in the sport's most recognized events - the Kentucky Derby (Eight Belles), the Preakness (Barbaro) and the Breeders' Cup Classic (George Washington) - Curlin has remained strong.
He is a proud, almost ferocious-looking red horse, blessed with a courageous owner in Jess Jackson, who put the industry ahead of his wallet and has kept Curlin on the racetrack as a 4-year-old. Every day the horse is in training there is a risk of catastrophic injury.
Jackson can't wait to get Curlin into the breeding shed to improve the breed. And if any horse and owner deserve to be rewarded for their efforts, it's Curlin and Jackson.
If Maryland wants to be part of Curlin's story, it can always point out that the big red horse, who is perhaps, as in his owner's estimation, the "best in the last half-century, if not a century," earned his first classic victory here at Pimlico Race Course in the 2007 Preakness.
