SARATOGA SPRINGS — Overnight and early-morning rain forced trainer Steve Asmussen to modify his plan for 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin on Monday.

Asmussen had originally wanted to give the 4-year-old son of Smart Strike his first breeze over the main track at Saratoga Race Course, but opted off when it came up muddy, pushing it back to shortly before 8 a.m.

Instead, Curlin worked six furlongs in 1:14.67 over the Oklahoma training track, galloping out seven-eighths in 1:28.25, under regular exercise rider Carlos Rosas.

“He went great,” Asmussen said. “It’s remarkable how he seems to go over the ground, regardless of the condition. He’s got a beautiful

action. They went a little quicker than I was expecting them to, but they seemed to do it very easily. I got him in 14 and change, and we were expecting 15 or a little slower.

“I was hoping to get a work on the main track, and this morning would have been good to get that done and over with, but Mother Nature said, ‘Not today.’ ”

Curlin is tuning up for his next scheduled start in the Grade I Woodward here Aug. 30. It will mark his return to the dirt after running second in his turf debut, the Grade I Man o’ War July 12 at Belmont Park.

Though he trained last summer and fall, as well as this summer, in Saratoga, Curlin has never been on the main track. The 36-day meeting has been plagued by rain, wind and hail for much of the first half, and last Friday saw the final eight races canceled when portions of the track were washed out.

“I’m pleased with how

everything went,” Asmussen said. “Now, we really have to watch the weather, but if the main track’s muddy next week, we’re going to work over here. The Oklahoma just handles the water, I feel, so much better. The main track this morning seemed to be right down to the base.”

Curlin worked in company with Hawaii Calls, a 4-year-old Fusaichi Pegasus colt that is also owned by Stonestreet Stable. Hawaii Calls was clocked in 1:14.97 for six furlongs.

The work was the fourth for Curlin at Saratoga this year. He went a half-mile in :51.47 in the mud on July 21, and five furlongs in 1:03.09 on July 28 and 1:02.72 on Aug. 2, all at the Oklahoma. This was his first in company.

TWICE AS NICE

Ferocious Fires became the first dual winner of the meet with a workmanlike 13⁄4-length victory in the $84,050 Troy Stakes.

Trained by Tony Dutrow, Fer­ocious Fires ($3.80) was entered for main track only, and drew into the race when it was rained off the Mellon Turf Course.

Under Cornelio Velasquez, Fer­ocious Fires ran 51⁄2 furlongs in the mud in 1:04.23, running his record to 8-0 on dirt and 4-0 at Saratoga, including the $82,000 John Morrissey on July 26.

“No worries,” Velasquez said. “When I asked him, I had a lot of horse. He doesn’t like the grass; he likes mud and everything. He tried hard.”

FITTING TRIBUTE

The silks room at Saratoga was dedicated to the late Louis Olah in a ceremony behind the jockey’s room.

Olah, who organized the owners’ silks jockeys wear for each race at all three NYRA tracks for more than four decades, died in March at the age of 79. He was replaced by assistant Walter Acre.

Before hanging the silks, the

4-foot-8, 98-pound Olah wore them as a jockey from 1945 to 1967, winning nearly 200 races.

“He was a giant in a small body,” NYRA clerk of scales Tim Kelly said.