Pitts eyes her next big payoff
HOT SPRINGS — Steve Asmussen’s name may be synonymous with Curlin, but the future Hall of Fame trainer wasn’t the first person to saddle the future Hall of Fame horse.
That would be Helen Pitts, 38, who is wintering at Oaklawn Park for the first time this year.
“The hard part was putting him on the van when he left,” Pitts said during training hours Wednesday morning.
Curlin made his first career start for Pitts, who watched the powerful chestnut draw away to a
3 12 / 4- length victory in February 2007 at Gulfstream Park in Florida, then sold him about 24 hours later for a reported $3.5 million to a group headed by California wine mogul Jess Jackson.
Curlin went on to become Horse of the Year in 2007 and 2008, and retired with $10.5 million in career earnings, a North American record.
“I was happy that he went on to do well for Steve and Scott,” Pitts said, referring to her brother-in-law, Scott Blasi, Asmussen’s top assistant. “Just the fact that he turned out to be a nice horse, it feels like my time that I spent with him and the time that I took with him paid off well, whether it was with me or somebody else.”
Pitts said her phone lit up after Curlin’s jaw-dropping debut, with numerous parties interested in buying the son of Smart Strike, pur-
chased for only $57,000 as a yearling.
It quickly became evident, Pitts said, that Curlin would be sold.
“It was just a matter of who and who had the most money,” Pitts said.
Curlin may have broken the bank, but he didn’t break his original trainer.
Pitts quickly rebounded with Einstein, who emerged as a Grade I winner on dirt and turf and earned $2.9 million in 30 lifetime starts in 2005-2009.
“At least I had him to back it up,” Pitts said. “He was phenomenal. He’d run down a rock road. He didn’t care.”
The new year begins with Pitts trying to find another Curlin or Einstein in a new place.
Pitts had previously been based during the winter at Fair Grounds in New Orleans, but she decided she wanted a change of venue and should have around 20 horses during the Oaklawn meeting that begins Friday.
Pitts was an assistant to Kenny McPeek during her last trip to Hot Springs, accompanying Wild Desert for the 2005 Arkansas Derby.
Pitts went out on her own a few months later and amassed 191 victories and $9.2 million in purse earnings, according to Equibase, racing’s official data gathering organization.
Pitts said her stable includes a couple of promising maidens, including Islamorada, an unstarted 3-year-old daughter of Smart Strike out of Cat Cay, a Grade II winner of $488,840.
Pitts calls Islamorada a “nice filly” who “may want to go a route of ground.”
Islamorada will probably run before the end of the month, Pitts said.
Jojo’s Revenge, an unstarted 3-year-old Ghostzapper colt, could make his career debut Jan. 20, Pitts said.
“Just hope to have a good meet and win a few races,” Pitts said.