ESPN Horse Racing

Updated: September 12, 2007, 5:03 PM ET

Sophomore Side-Step

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By Jeremy Plonk
Special to ESPN.com
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A new, four-legged dance craze is sweeping the nation this fall. It's name? The Sophomore Side-Step. And if fans of Thoroughbred racing have a morsel of luck remaining in their lint-lined pockets, maybe, just maybe, they'll get to see a competition at the Breeders' Cup World Championships worthy of "Dancing With the Stars."

But until that dance card is filled Oct. 26-27 at Monmouth Park, the floor remains pretty empty. It's like one of those awkward nights at the club when the music's good, but nobody wants to be the lone wolf on the floor shaking their groove thing with everyone staring.

Somebody.

Anybody.

Just get up and dance.

The Sophomore Side-Step features 3-year-old superstars Curlin in the Sept. 30 Jockey Club Gold Cup, Hard Spun in the Sept. 29 Kentucky Cup Classic, Any Given Saturday in the Sept. 22 Brooklyn Handicap, and Kentucky Derby champion Street Sense in the ... well ... no one's quite sure yet. Trainer Carl Nafzger said he's narrowed the possibilities to Jockey Club Gold Cup, Kentucky Cup Classic or Hawthorne Gold Cup, the latter slated for Sept. 29.

Far be it for any fan or pundit to blame an owner or trainer for going where the competition is not. Last I checked, money's still spent the same whether you banked $300,000 from a two-horse promenade or a 10-horse scrum that leaves both horse and spectators breathless. But simply playing the equine version of dodge ball does not necessarily mean your horse will get exactly what he needs in order to be ready for the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic showdown.

As a handicapper, here's what I want to see from each of these sophomores:

Street Sense

Next race projected: Hawthorne Gold Cup, Kentucky Cup Classic, Jockey Club Gold Cup

Best final prep fit: Kentucky Cup Classic

Performance needed to be primed for Classic: Street Sense has run two monster races going Polytrack-to-dirt in last fall's Breeders' Cup Juvenile and this spring's Kentucky Derby. We know he matches up with the elite of the division and he's already secured Grade 1 breeding credentials and a major stud deal with Darley, not to mention the nation's largest bankroll of 2007. So with money or grade no object, the fact that he can van from Churchill to Turfway and run over a forgiving and stamina-building Poltrack appears to be his best Breeders' Cup appetizer. All that said, I think the wheel of fortune will stop on the Hawthorne Gold Cup for his final prep as it's the road not traveled by any of the other "big three" sophomores and offers more loot. Either would suit him fine, but the Kentucky Cup Classic offers more plusses. Keep the travel limited and the surroundings familiar until judgment day.

Curlin

Next race projected: Jockey Club Gold Cup

Best final prep fit: Meadowlands Cup

Performance needed to be primed for Classic: Curlin's signature score to date came in the Preakness, which for breeding purposes clearly is the third-most important in terms of setting his value at stud when compared to the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes. That said, you can understand why a Grade 1 win at 1 1/4 miles in a time-honored race like the Jockey Club Gold Cup makes tons of sense. But I'm not sure this pseudo two-turn race (which begins on the clubhouse turn "elbow") really puts him on the fastest track to the Classic. Curlin is a horse who relished racing this season, exploding from an unstarted unknown to phenom to dancing all three legs of the Triple Crown in style -- all in the span of a few months. With only one start between early August and Oct. 27, I'd prefer to see Curlin in a race that's as close to the Classic as possible. You're not talking bounce with a horse like this, given his spring proven performances. I'd want him on razor's edge, and the Oct. 5 Meadowlands Cup provides the closest Classic prep, over a true, two-turn, 1 1/8-mile path and just a few miles down the road from Monmouth. Meanwhile, you get a race over a track very similar to Monmouth in composition, configuration and historical style. Given Curlin's lackluster Haskell performance at Monmouth off the layoff, I'd want to get him as much experience over a similar track and as close to the big dance as possible. He should be able to handle the Jockey Club Gold Cup field with ease; but, again, it's hard to argue with entering a $1 million race as the odds-on favorite.

Horsephotos.comAny Given Saturday is pointed to the Grade 2 Brooklyn Handicap at Belmont Park on Sept. 22.

Next race projected: Brooklyn Handicap

Best final prep fit: Hawthorne Gold Cup

Performance needed to be primed for Classic: A fantastic racehorse who appears to be coming into his own, the big question that will remain with Any Given Saturday until the Breeders' Cup Classic will be his ability to negotiation the 1 1/4-mile distance. Running him in a one-turn 1 1/8-mile race in the Brooklyn does nothing to alleviate these concerns; in fact, it almost clouds a handicapper's mind as to what the connections' beliefs/confidence may be. The Hawthorne Gold Cup would provide that 1 1/4-mile test, and Hawthorne's deep track and long stretch would go a long way in providing a stamina-building base for a horse who "hit the wall" at the top of the Kentucky Derby stretch when making what appeared to be a winning move. Plus, Pletcher has owned Hawthorne when sending horses that way in recent years and this race is worth about $350,000 more than the Brooklyn.

Hard Spun

Next race projected: Kentucky Cup Classic

Best final prep fit: Meadowlands Cup

Performance needed to be primed for Classic: Based at Delaware Park, I've been a major advocate of Hard Spun as a Haskell natural all season and he ran a solid second off the short van ride to Monmouth earlier this summer. Virtually the same trip would be in store for a Meadowlands Cup date, where the fast and often rail/speed-favoring racetrack would play right into this super-talented horse's best interests. I know much of what we've read has said "Kentucky Cup" next, but it would not shock me in the least bit if this was the horse whose path changed at the eleventh hour. One of my sources tells me that the private stud deal with Darley not only included a seven-figure bonus for winning a Grade 1 stakes (as he did in the King's Bishop last time out), but includes bonuses for EVERY Grade 1 stakes that he wins between now and retirement. The Grade 2 Kentucky Cup Classic wouldn't help that cause if that's the case (but the Jockey Club Gold Cup would ... hint, hint), and Street Sense's named being dropped into the Turfway hat very likely could be the last straw, causing this hombre to head elsewhere. For a kicker, my gut feeling is that you'll also see him in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby in December after all the Breeders' Cup dust settles. He's got a sensational grass pedigree.

Any way you spin the Sophomore Side-Step, the connections of these extremely talented 3-year-olds really can't go wrong between now and Oct. 26-27. Each should be standout favorites in their final preps if separated. But in order for everything to go right when they clash on the dance floor next month, it's going to take some slick maneuvering. For any of them to "Dance With the Stars," they'll have to be more Emmitt Smith than Kenny Mayne (... and I do love ya, Kenny).

Jeremy Plonk is the editor of The HorsePlayer Magazine and its Web site, HorsePlayerdaily.com. You can E-mail Jeremy about this topic or any other at plonk@horseplayerdaily.com.