updated 4:46 p.m. ET Aug. 13, 2008

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The chances of Big Brown and Curlin meeting on the race track is starting to look like a longshot.

The owners of both horses outlined their tentative fall plans for racing’s two superstars on Wednesday, and neither horse’s schedule appears to leave room for the other.

Curlin owner Jess Jackson said the 2007 Horse of the Year will run in the Woodward Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on Aug. 30 then probably head to the post for the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont on Sept. 27.

Big Brown owner Michael Iavarone declined an invitation from Jackson to run in the Woodward, and it’s unlikely the Kentucky Derby and Preakness champion will run in the Gold Cup. Iavarone said his focus this fall is getting his 3-year-old star ready for the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Oct. 25.

“(The Woodward) was never under consideration at any point,” Iavarone said. “We had always talked during the Triple Crown trail about wanting to end the season in the right way and that’s in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.”

Jackson said having Curlin defend his crown in the Classic is “not part of my current plan” but felt compelled to invite Big Brown to the two New York races after Big Brown trainer Rick Dutrow said his horse was “way better” than Curlin and would beat him in the Classic.

“Big Brown’s camps’ recent remarks about Curlin inspired me to offer an incentive to get these two great horses to race at the legendary track at the Spa,” Jackson said in a release. “Both horses are eligible for this race and both have plenty of time to prepare for what would be thoroughbred racing at its very best.”

Jackson offered to sweeten the pot by offering to give $50,000 to Anna House, a child care center for employees that work on the backstretch at Belmont.

Curlin hasn’t run since finishing second in the Man O’War Handicap on the turf at Belmont, likely ending Jackson’s goal of running the 4-year-old in Paris this fall. The chestnut colt has been dominant on dirt this year, winning the Dubai World Cup and the Stephen Foster Handicap.

Big Brown is coming off a gritty win in the Haskell Invitational on Aug. 3, and Iavarone said the colt needs time to rest.

“Physically he’s fine, he just had to get down on his belly and run,” Iavarone said. “That’s a race that spilled the tank and we’ve got to give our horse the best shot to regroup.”

Iavarone said he’s pointing Big Brown toward a race in mid-September in preparation for the Classic and isn’t ducking Curlin.

“We’re just not looking to empty the tank in the Woodward, we’re looking to empty the tank in the Classic,” Iavarone said.

The Classic will be run on a synthetic surface for the first time, not exactly a favorite of Curlin’s trainer Steve Asmussen.

Iavarone said he’d be disappointed if Curlin skipped the Classic, but won’t alter his horse’s preparation for one of horse racing’s most lucrative prizes.

“Our horse has never been there and we know that we have to run there, that’s what the Breeders’ Cup championship is all about,” Iavarone said. “I’m not saying, ’Been there, done that,’ but (Curlin) should be in that race.”

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