Curlin ran with distinction through the three Triple Crown races in 2007. He finished third in the Kentucky Derby in just his fourth career start, won the Preakness Stakes, and finished a hard-fought second to fellow champion Rags to Riches in the Belmont Stakes. On Saturday, his son Journalism, who has helped cement Curlin’s reputation as one of the most consistent active sires in the American classics, will become the only member of his crop to start in all three 2025 Triple Crown races.
Journalism, second in the Kentucky Derby, is the morning-line favorite over Derby winner Sovereignty in the Belmont Stakes following a game victory in the Preakness three weeks ago. There, Journalism bulled through a hole of his own making in the stretch and ran down a seemingly home-free Gosger. It was a performance reminiscent of his physically imposing sire, who was passed by Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense in the Preakness before re-rallying.
“Part of our reasoning [in running back in the Triple Crown races], aside from assessing and analyzing the horse himself throughout the process, is history does have a tendency to repeat itself,” said Aron Wellman of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, which co-owns Journalism. “The fact that Curlin was able to do what he did after getting beat in the Derby, and come back and sort of defy logic by coming back on Street Sense, who looked to have him put away in the Preakness.
“We’ve got a ways to go to be on par with his [Sovereignty’s] sire [Into Mischief], but there are a lot of common characteristics that we’ve been able to identify, and his sturdiness and his mental and physical constitution are certainly [from Curlin], in addition to his heart and class. Hopefully, he just continues on an upward trajectory like his father did.”
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Curlin, who stands at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm, is the sire of three individual Triple Crown race winners, with 2013 Belmont winner Palace Malice joined by Preakness winners Exaggerator (2016) and Journalism, who were both second in the Kentucky Derby before going on to win in Baltimore.
Curlin is also the sire of Good Magic, second to Triple Crown winner Justify in the 2018 Derby; Ride On Curlin, second in the 2014 Preakness; Tenfold, third in the 2018 Preakness to Justify; Keen Ice, third in the 2015 Belmont to Triple Crown winner American Pharoah before defeating that champion in the Travers; Irish War Cry, second in the 2017 Belmont; and the filly Nest, second in the 2022 Belmont.
Curlin also has longshot Uncaged in the Belmont. Should he pull the upset, Curlin would be the first stallion with two different classic winners in the same year since 2009, when Birdstone sired Derby winner Mine That Bird and Belmont winner Summer Bird.
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