GOOD TO GREAT.qxd:Jerkins feature.qxd
3/10/08
22:13
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GOOD TO GREAT
From Good to
GREAT
Helen Pitts and Pat Reynolds knew Curlin and Big Brown were potential superstars after their first runs. To see them bought out of their yards would be a bitter pill to swallow. By Bill Heller
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OSING an under-achieving horse is a reality trainers live with daily. But how do you lose a horse who performs spectacularly in his debut? How do you lose a horse you’ve waited your whole lifetime to train? Helen Pitts and Pat Reynolds might still be basking in Curlin and Big Brown’s success had each horse’s incredible debut not triggered multi-million dollar deals which led both horses to new trainers, Curlin to Steve Asmussen and Big Brown to Rick Dutrow, Jr. “Bottom line, there’s always that sense of personal satisfaction,” Pitts said in the Saratoga paddock in early August. “Curlin looked like a world-beater the day he broke his maiden. And for us guys to get these type of horses ready to win the first time out, that’s what generated those million dollar offers. If the horses would have got tired and hung on and won by a thumbnail, don’t think for a minute the phone would have been ringing off the hook.” Instead, Curlin won his debut at Gulfstream Park in February by 12¾ lengths. “People were calling that night,” Pitts said. “All kinds of numbers were flying.” Six weeks later, in trainer Steve Asmussen’s barn, Curlin won the Grade 3
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