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Talk of the bay

Sykes enters three horses in Triple Crown series

By SCOTT BARANCIK
Published February 21, 2005

Last year, Tampa businessman John Sykes had a financial stake in horse racing's Triple Crown series, but no horse.

This year he hopes to have both.

Sykes, the retired founder of customer-service outsourcer Sykes Enterprises Inc. and an active horse breeder, had the good fortune in 2004 of owning I'll Get Along - the dam, or mother, of Triple Crown hopeful Smarty Jones.

Though Smarty ended up losing the third race in the series, the Belmont Stakes, the loss didn't prevent Sykes' CloverLeaf Farms II from selling I'll Get Along and her unborn foal for a cool $5-million in November. He paid $130,000 for I'll Get Along in 2001.

Now, Sykes has paid to enter three of his 3-year-olds into the 2005 Triple Crown qualifying races: Just My Game, Tales Not Told and Fabulous Al.

Fabulous Al comes from good stock, CloverLeaf general manager Brent Fernung says. His sire, or father, Forestry, ran "very fast" in short- to middle-distance races, while dam Alphabulous is from a family of long-distance runners.

Fabulous Al wasn't so fabulous early on. "We used to call him Fat Al, because he was just a big, porky, lazy kind of ugly duckling," Fernung says. Sykes paid a stud fee of $50,000 to mate Forestry with Alphabulous, which he owns.

Despite his good ancestry, it's unlikely Fabulous Al or his fellow CloverLeaf contestants will fare well in this year's Triple Crown. For starters, none has raced before because of injuries and other problems. "None of them have real good odds," Fernung admits.

But because the Triple Crown races allow only 3-year-olds, this is their one chance to compete. Fernung says the $600-per-horse registration fee was a modest investment given the potentially enormous returns from an unlikely victory.

"I think Mr. Sykes would love to have a great race horse," he says. "Every race you win is like the Super Bowl."

[Last modified February 19, 2005, 17:45:03]