It's official... move over Cigar.

[Drvmb1ggl3]

Curlin broke the $10m mark today with his win in the JCGC, to become the richest racehorse in NA racing history.
Congrats Curlin.

[tarynls]

Curlin has earned $10,246,800 compared to Cigar's $9,999,815.

Both horses are simply amazing. Congrats on a wonderful achievement.

[Andrew]

It was a good race!!! WAHOO CURLIN!!!

[ivy62]

couldn't see the race, is there a replay somewhere?

[War Admiral]

Congrats Curlin! :)

[Drvmb1ggl3]

NTRA and the Bloodhorse should have replays up soon of all todays major races.

[QHJockee]

let's just cross our fingers he passes his piss test. So happy for Curlin, Yay!

[dressagetraks]

Congrats, Curlin! It took me a while to warm up to him, just was on the Street Sense wagon, but I'm a real fan this year.

[Glimmerglass]

I still would assert - as would others - that it is such a warped statement to make "richest North American horse". On that list is Cigar who raced in Dubai, Invasor who raced in South American and Dubai, and now Curlin who also won in Dubai. So too is Smarty Jones although the bulk of his money is from a bonus tied to Oaklawn and the Derby win. A bonus is just that and simply is not purse earnings and should never be factored IMHO.

Bill Finley/ESPN 9-29-08 "Skip Away, not Curlin, should hold earnings record" (http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/columns/story?columnist=finley_bill&id=3616068)

With his victory in the Jockey Club Gold Cup Saturday at Belmont Park, Curlin has bankrolled $10,246,800. The problem is that $3.6 million of that comes from his win in a foreign country in the Dubai World Cup. He's earned $6,646,800 in North America. Meanwhile, Skip Away earned $9,616,360 in North America. So who's the richest horse in North American racing history? How can it not be Skip Away?

Oh and factor in inflation plus keep the earnings from outside of North America and guess who rises to the top again? You guessed it - the Old Man himself:

That John Henry, after all these years, remains 12th in career earnings with $6,591,860 speaks volumes about what a remarkable horse he was. He raced from 1977 through 1984 and never appeared in a Breeders' Cup race or a Dubai World Cup.

After adjusting his earnings for inflation, you come up with $14.4 million in today's dollars.

[Coral]

It's really semantics. He is a North American horse, bred here and mainly raced here. He went overseas to bring one of our great US bred horses to the international stage and now folks want to dicker about earnings. I'd say he belongs on the list, but people need stuff to blog about I guess.

If he enters and wins the BC it all becomes moot anyway because his NA winnings alone will pass Skip Away and his adjusted total would pass John Henry as well. He'll really have to show up that day, I'm quite looking forward to watching it. :)

[FairWeather]

Are the purses the same? I'm fairly certain the purses per race have increased over the last 10-15 years, yes? lets factor in inflation ;)

--from a Curlin lover :)

[Blinkers On]

He barely cooled out and he is in CA. Yay!!!

[Glimmerglass]

It's really semantics. He is a North American horse, bred here and mainly raced here. He went overseas to bring one of our great US bred horses to the international stage and now folks want to dicker about earnings. I'd say he belongs on the list, but people need stuff to blog about I guess.

If he enters and wins the BC it all becomes moot anyway because his NA winnings alone will pass Skip Away and his adjusted total would pass John Henry as well. He'll really have to show up that day, I'm quite looking forward to watching it. :)

Hey if the record is for US-bred horses with earnings - I'm happy to be on the bandwagon. But if you raced in North America - even once - and get included on the list does that make sense? Invasor wasn't exactly a NA horse. Neither is Ouija Board (f) but both raced her and infact she pulled down $5,787,390 lifetime including her sole win in Texas.

As for final earnings, just for the record, Curlin stands with all his loot at $10,246,800. The winners share of the $5 million Breeders Cup' Class (even if he wins it by a country mile) will layer on only$2.7 million going to the winner :D If that plus even the Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs is his final race he'll never exceed $14M USD.

[Coral]

Hey if the record is for US-bred horses with earnings - I'm happy to be on the bandwagon. But if you raced in North America - even once - and get included on the list does that make sense? Invasor wasn't exactly a NA horse. Neither is Ouija Board (f) but both raced her and infact she pulled down $5,787,390 lifetime including her sole win in Texas.

As for final earnings, just for the record, Curlin stands with all his loot at $10,246,800. The winners share of the $5 million Breeders Cup' Class (even if he wins it by a country mile) will layer on only$2.7 million going to the winner :D If that plus even the Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs is his final race he'll never exceed $14M USD.

You're absolutely right. I was adding up the whole 5 million because I'm a dope and hadn't had my coffee yet. Anyway, I agree with you about the non-NA horses, the "list" does have flaws no matter what way you slice it. Curlin's a great horse and so is Cigar and so is Skip Away. The three of em couldn't hold a candle to John Henry though, in my opinion. :D I don't really care about lists one way or the other anyway. I love to watch a nice horse run and win because he loves his job and Curlin certainly does that.

[Andrew]

[QUOTE=Glimmerglass;3548798] A bonus is just that and simply is not purse earnings and should never be factored IMHO.

I TOTALLY AGREE 110% it should never be factored in imho :-))

[Glimmerglass]

Don't get me wrong: excluding earnings adjusted for inflation, sadly, is the right thing to do.

Why? Well like debates over what horse was the greatest you'll never reach a consensus on which measurement tool to use. Plus, it would require the constant re-adjustment each year of a horse's lifetime earnings.

Example, Exterminator, the horse I think was the greatest all-around horse in racing graced North American tracks (the real deal: he ran in Mexico, Canada, and the US) for 8 seasons from the age 2 in 1917 until he was 9 in 1924. So you can't exactly take his $252,996 in earnings and factor it from just 1924 into 2007 dollars. The value of a dollar alone in 1917 was different from 1924.

Further there are multiple type of adjustments with currency.

Example: Man O'War raced in 1919 and 1920. Earning $249,465. If you use this tool to convert 1920 dollars to today's (http://www.measuringworth.com/uscompare/) there are different results:

In 2007, $249,465.00 from 1920 is worth:

$2,581,066.47 using the Consumer Price Index
$2,059,602.46 using the GDP deflator
$6,385,493.14 using the value of consumer bundle *
$8,696,700.96 using the unskilled wage *
$13,732,984.97 using the nominal GDP per capita
$38,967,876.36 using the relative share of GDP

* The 2007 data for unskilled wage and consumer bundle are estimated and will be adjusted when official data become available.

[gubbyz]

Glimmerglass, please stop raining on our Curlin parade, who the %$$# cares how or where he won it, he did! He has proven he can go anywhere and win. Curlin rocks! :cool:

[RNB]

I honestly don't care where Curlin ranks on any list. I'm just thrilled that he is continuing to race and wasn't whisked off to the nearest "Studs-R-Us" farm. It's good for racing!!!

I'm with you gubbyz.....Curlin rocks! :winkgrin:

[Coral]

Awww, give Glimmer a break. He's not so much raining on the parade as reporting on different versions of the same story. A lot of the super duper Curlin fans (like myself) get a little bit rabid when we see people "attacking" but I know Glimmer doesn't harbor any ill will to the Chestnut of our dreams. He just likes to give different perspectives on the news in the racing world, and I appreciate it. :D

[Blinkers On]

I honestly don't care where Curlin ranks on any list. I'm just thrilled that he is continuing to race and wasn't whisked off to the nearest "Studs-R-Us" farm. It's good for racing!!!

I'm with you gubbyz.....Curlin rocks! :winkgrin:

africkingmen!!!! Best thing to happen to racing in a long time!

[gubbyz]

It's ok Glimmer, I just hate all the math! :D

[Foxtrot's]

Yabbut - Glimmer does all the work and research for us to chow down on and opinionate on. I'm appreciative :) :)

[gubbyz]

I know Glimmer does all the work, but it still hurts just reading it! :eek:

[Blueshadow]

this point (from the article posted above) is especially well taken:

Based on the system that's in place, a horse can earn in excess of $10,245,800, racing someplace else, say Japan, start once in the U.S. or Canada, run third or fourth and become the top money-earning horse in North American racing history.

That's exactly how a horse named Taiki Blizzard is listed as the 19th leading money-earning horse in North American racing history by the sport's official record keeper, Equibase. Taiki Blizzard raced here just twice, finishing third in the 1997 Oak Tree Breeders' Cup and sixth a few weeks later in the Breeders' Cup Classic. His total earnings on North American soil were just $27,500, but he earned $5,496,049 in Japan. Combine the two and he's in our top 20, which is, of course, absurd.

Math - sure... but when it doesn't add up, a new system is needed - JMHO.

[gubbyz]

Was Taiki Blizzard born here? Thats how I would rate it, it has to be an American bred and born horse, and of course race here for the majority of its races. I think it is fine if they wander over to another continent to give it try.