"I think Curlin is Horse of the Year, a deserved Horse of the Year, and it was a good year at that," exulted trainer Steve Asmussen after his brilliant 3-year-old overcame one of the most talented Classic fields in the 24-year history of the Breeders' Cup as well as a sloppy surface.

It would be hard to dispute Asmussen on either point. Hard-knocking Hard Spun, the Kentucky Derby runnerup, finished a game second. Street Sense, the first Juvenile champion to win the Derby, rallied before flattening and coming in fourth behind longshot Awesome Gem.

Unfortunately for racing, its championship day was marked by literal and figurative dark clouds. European standout George Washington had to be put down following the Classic after he suffered catastrophic injuries to his right leg. "It was a hopeless injury as far as repair, and he has been euthanized," said veterinarian Wayne McIlwraith.

Four-year-old George Washington had won six of 13 career starts with one second-place finish and four thirds for earnings of $1,475,816. He had been bred and owned by Gretchen and Roy Jackson, the same connections who watched Barbaro, their ill-fated 2006 Derby champion, break down in the Preakness.

"He was brave. He didn't go down. He stayed up on it," jockey Michael Kinane said of George Washington, who had finished sixth in last year's Classic in his only other start on dirt. "He saved me."

Although Curlin had missed his 2-year-old season with shin problems, he quickly made his mark with a rousing 12 3/4-length rout in his belated debut at Florida's Gulfstream Park on Feb. 3.

He went on to finish third in the Derby but quickly avenged that defeat by edging Street Sense in the Preakness, then lost a dramatic stretch duel with the filly Rags to Riches in the Belmont Stakes.

Some thought the chestnut son of Smart Strike had fallen victim to the Triple Crown grind when he was a dull third in the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth on Aug. 5. But he reasserted himself when he passed his first test against older horses, overtaking Lawyer Ron by a neck in the Jockey Club Gold Cup on Sept. 30 at New York's Belmont Park.

The powerful Kentucky-bred was much the best in the Classic.

"It unfolded just the way we wanted, but it also takes a heck of a horse to get this done," said jockey Robby Albarado. "Curlin was there for us every step of the way."

In other races:

$2 million Juvenile Fillies: Indian Blessing poured it on from gate to wire for jockey Garrett Gomez to turn back Proud Spell by 3 1/2 lengths. She won for the third time in as many starts in securing honors as the nation's top 2-year-old filly. "This filly, she's incredible," said trainer Bob Baffert. "She's just a fast filly that just takes her speed and she's going to run them into the ground."

$2 million Juvenile: Trainer Nick Zito owns two Kentucky Derby triumphs, striking with Strike the Gold in 1991 and with Go for Gin in 1994. He may have a third Derby within his grasp. He gained the first Breeders' Cup Juvenile victory of his Hall of Fame career when War Pass splashed home by 4 3/4 lengths against Pyro. According to jockey Cornelio Velasquez, the contest was essentially no contest. "He wanted to go to the lead," he said. "At the quarter pole, I asked and I had a lot of horse in the last part of the race."

$2 million Filly & Mare Turf: Lahudood rallied to turn back Honey Ryder by three-quarters of a length for jockey Alan Garcia and trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. She had won the Grade 1 Flower Bowl by three-quarters of a length on Sept. 29 at New York's Belmont Park. "She kept getting better and better in the morning," McLaughlin said, "and I just felt that she's been really an improved filly since the Flower Bowl." Nashoba's Key came in fourth for her first defeat in eight lifetime starts.

$2 million Sprint: Midnight Lute closed powerfully to provide Gomez and Baffert with their second win on the card. Baffert had not won a Cup race since Vindication took the Juvenile in 2002 and was conspicuous in his absence from the Triple Crown races this past spring. "I don't want to hear this 'back,' " he joked. "I've always been here. I've just been a little quiet."

$2 million Mile: The connections gambled $300,000 that Kip Deville could be a force in this spot for trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. They were right. He came on to finish a length better than late-running favorite Excellent Art. "The owners made that decision based on how well the horse had run and how he was coming into this race," Dutrow Jr. said. "The key was him liking the track. It looks like he did."

Distaff: Owner Frank Stronach gambled close to $200,000 that Ginger Punch belonged here. He, too, was rewarded when she was a neck better than Hystericalady. "I was in perfect position and she was trying really, really hard on the turn," said jockey Rafeal Bejarano. Trainer Bobby Frankel did not attend. He stayed home to care for one of his dogs, Happy, who was gravely ill.