SARATOGA SPRINGS — With the newly risen sun as a backdrop and a nearly full moon still prom­inent overhead, 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin introduced himself to the main track at Saratoga Race Course.

Putting in one final significant piece of work prior to his next scheduled start in the Grade I Woodward Aug. 30, Curlin sailed through a seven-furlong breeze in 1:244⁄5 Monday morning.

He and exercise rider Carlos

Rosas stepped on to the track at 6:05 a.m., following a six-minute walk from trainer Steve Asmussen’s barn adjacent to the Okla­homa training track, located across Union Avenue.

Curlin and workmate Hawaii Calls went off together through splits of :243⁄5, :364⁄5, :48/4 and 1:00, when Rosas asked Curlin for more at the quarter pole.

The 4-year-old son of Smart Strike responded by pulling away emphatically, and cruising down the stretch clear of jockey Shaun Bridgmohan and Hawaii Calls, who was clocked in 1:253⁄5. Curlin galloped out one mile in 1:374⁄5,

under wraps, while Hawaii Calls was “all out.”

“He handled the track beautiful,” Rosas said. “I didn’t see anything wrong. I turned him loose a little bit today, and you see what happened. I told Shaun this morning, ‘You better wear your goggles, because at the quarter pole, you’re going to need it.’ That’s just what we did.”

The work was the fifth for Curlin since arriving at Saratoga in mid-July, and the only one he’ll have on the main track. Asmussen had hoped to get that accomplished last week, but was stymied by the rain.

“The weather was nice, and we got a nice, fast track,” he said. “I thought it very important to get him over there one time before he ran over it.

“I think he handled it well. If he’d have struggled with the racetrack, it would have shown in one form or another, especially cooling out. It definitely seemed like something he could handle, and he did it really well. He galloped out real strong, and came back nice.”

By design, Curlin worked on the inside of Hawaii Calls on Monday, unlike last week’s six-furlong breeze at the Oklahoma.

“It was his tempo, his work.

Everything was about him today,” Asmussen said. “Other times, you’re at different stages. I just wanted him to have a serious work, and do what Carlos felt like he wanted to do.

“The first time by before he broke off, you could tell he was looking around a little bit, but I think that’s only natural. Once he was into his work, he was very serious and steady and impressive.”

His regular morning rider, Rosas felt Curlin had no trouble adjusting to his new surroundings, and the different footing.

“He’s such a professional horse. Nothing bothers him,” he said. “Anywhere you take him, he’ll give you everything he has. He just waits for you to ask him. I thought he was a little aggressive, which is what Steve wanted. I thought he went beautiful.”

Barbara Banke, wife of majority owner Jess Jackson, was on hand for the work, along with about a dozen reporters and photographers who followed Curlin to and from the barn. Another crowd of cameras waited for Curlin at the main track.

“He’s been feeling pretty well,” Asmussen said. “The cooler temperatures in the morning, that’s why we like him up here so much. He’s been feeling very good about himself.”

Asmussen said Curlin’s final scheduled work on Monday will be on the training track, and that he would likely school in the paddock between races this week, possibly on Thursday.

“All his serious preparation is in for the Woodward,” Asmussen said, “and we feel very good about it.”