Curlin (pictured earlier this year), who broke his maiden in his debut back on February 3, sealed his bid for Horse of the Year honors with a decisive win in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Monmouth Park Saturday. It was his sixth victory from nine starts this year. He is only the third Preakness Stakes winner to take the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Ridden by Robby Albarado, he took the lead coming out of the final turn and left Hard Spun 4 1/2 lengths back, followed by longshot Awesome Gem and Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense, the 5-2 favorite.

Trainer Steve Asmussen said that he considered Curlin’s grueling Triple Crown quest – with wins in the Rebel Stakes, Arkansas Derby, a third in the Kentucky Derby, a win in the Preakness and a second in the Belmont – as the horse’s two-year-old season. After two months off, he came back for third in the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth, and then won Belmont’s Jockey Club Gold Cup.

“He’s a special horse to accomplish what he has accomplished in the length of time he had to get to this level,” Asmussen said.

Both Asmussen and Albarado were notching up their first wins in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, on Thoroughbred racing’s richest day.

Unofficial wagering on the 11 Breeders’ Cup races was $111,903,685, down 20% from the all-time record set last year at Churchill Downs. The decline followed five consecutive years of increases. Severe weather, which kept on-track crowds down to 41,000, may have also been a factor in the wagering decline.