Lightly regarded even after a Derby win, the horse is dominating in the Preakness.
By Compiled from Times wires
Published May 18, 2003
BALTIMORE - Funny Cide came into the Preakness as the people's choice, a gelding who inspired affection and sympathy more than respect.
After Saturday, he has to be considered a powerhouse.
He demolished his nine rivals at Pimlico Race Course by 93/4 lengths, the biggest winning margin in this race since 1873.
With another perfect ride by jockey Jose Santos, Funny Cide had his main rival, Peace Rules, beaten by the time he turned into the stretch, and there he steadily extended his margin over runner-up Midway Road.
Suddenly, unexpectedly, he appears to have a legitimate chance to become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.
Funny Cide's main distinction as a Derby winner was he is owned by plain folks - a partnership of friends in upstate New York who termed their purchase of the horse "a $75,000 lottery ticket."
He got even more popular support this week because of an outpouring of public sympathy for his jockey.
A week ago, suspicions arose that Santos had carried something in his hand in his victorious Derby ride. The controversy was spurred by a newspaper photograph that appeared to show a black object in Santos's hand; it led to a wave of national publicity and an investigation by the Churchill Downs stewards.
When he was cleared after the photo proved to be an optical illusion, Santos said publicly he needed a Preakness win to finally verify his Derby victory was legitimate.
Few could have imagined how definitive his vindication would be.
Funny Cide's Derby victory hadn't fully convinced fans of his superiority, because Santos had such a perfect trip. Breaking from post position No. 9, he didn't seem likely to enjoy such good fortune again.
Trainer Barclay Tagg has been watching the Preakness for three decades, and he said, "You just can't just hang wide around the first turn at Pimlico." His main instruction to Santos was to avoid racing wide at that point. Santos didn't.
When the gate opened, Peace Rules broke sharply from Post 7 and raced outside of Scrimshaw as they dashed to the first turn. Santos almost immediately put Funny Cide under a measure of restraint, but the gelding's speed carried him into a perfect striking position behind the leaders.
Instead of getting hung wide at the first turn, he was in a perfect spot stalking the two pacesetters, just as he'd been in Kentucky. "It was a piece of cake," Santos said.
Edgar Prado urged Peace Rules to get a length clear of Scrimshaw on the backstretch, but Funny Cide loomed. He couldn't have been better positioned.
Uncharacteristically, the rail at Pimlico appeared to be a disadvantage; horses who seized the lead on the inside during undercard races were fading. Peace Rules wound up stuck on the rail and Funny Cide was in the ideal spot outside him.
At that point the 100,268 onlookers at Pimlico might have expected an exciting duel between the two standouts in the 10-horse field. But Funny Cide went past effortlessly.
"He had been relaxing real nice for me," Santos said. "I hit him three or four times and I was pushing, pushing, and he responded."
Funny Cide, who'd been narrowly favored at 9-5, covered 1 3/16 miles in 1:55.61 over a track labeled "good" after heavy rains Friday.
Midway Road rallied from seventh place to catch Scrimshaw for second, as Peace Rules faded to fourth.
Though it was not until Saturday that Funny Cide became a bona fide star, he demonstrated speed and talent since the start of his career. When he won his first three starts against New York-bred company, Santos told Tagg the horse was the best 2-year-old he had ever ridden.
The gelding had some nagging throat problems that compromised his first two starts as a 3-year-old, but his second-place finish in the Wood Memorial Stakes prompted Tagg to try the Derby.
Funny Cide's victory there was his first outside modest New York-bred company. It took the Preakness to legitimize him.
"This showed that the Derby was not an aberration," said Jack Knowlton, managing partner of the Sackatoga Stable. "This horse has a tremendous amount of talent."
His victory sets the stage for what will be one of the most anticipated running of the Belmont Stakes in its long history. As a New York-bred, Funny Cide will go home to New York in his bid to accomplish the most difficult feat in American racing, a sweep of the 3-year-old classics.
There he meets three formidable challengers: Empire Maker, the beaten favorite in the Kentucky Derby; Atswhatimtalknbout, fourth in the Derby after a troubled trip; and Dynever, a lightly raced but brilliant colt which has won three straight stakes.
Many assumed Funny Cide wouldn't have much a chance in the Belmont, even if he defeated a weak Preakness field. That assumption was obliterated as he drew away with every stride in the Pimlico stretch.
