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| May 17, 2003 | Saturday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 14, 1424 |
Triple Crown bid by Funny Cide
BALTIMORE (Maryland), May 16: Kentucky Derby champion Funny Cide, the first gelding in 74 years to capture the American horse racing classic, makes his case for a Triple Crown sweep here Saturday at the 128th Preakness.
Funny Cide was a 7-5 betting favorite for the second jewel in American thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown, which also includes next month’s Belmont Stakes.
No gelding has won the Preakness since Prairie Bayou a decade and no New York-based horse has won the race since Margrave in 1896, when the event was contested in New York.
Trainer Barclay Tagg’s prized speedster drew the ninth post position in the 10-horse field, leaving an outside run for Funny Cide jockey Jose Santos in the 1 3/16-mile race at Pimlico, where more than 100,000 spectators are expected.
“There are a lot of things that go on in a race more important than post position,” Tagg said. “It’s a two-turn race, not a straightaway they are running.
“You’ve got to have a good trip. Your horse has to be ready and you have to be lucky.”
Funny Cide’s luck held earlier in the week when a controversy erupted after a photo image brought accusations that Santos might have improperly inducted Funny Cide’s Derby victory.
An investigation cleared the jockey and upheld the result, but the distraction added to the drama and tension.
Also boosting those factors is Peace Rules, the third-place Derby horse who starts from the seventh spot as an 8-5 second choice and figures to be the chief rival for Funny Cide.
“Peace Rules is the one to beat,” Tagg said. “But he is going to have to have a good trip too.”
Peace Rules jockey Edgar Prado is winless in six Preakness starts while trainer Bobby Frankel has never won a Triple Crown event. But the distance is 1/16th of a mile shorter than the Derby.
The outside starts bring hope to the inside longshots. The egg shape of the Pimlico course makes the outside line harder in theory, but veteran trainer D. Wayne Lukas dismissed the notion.
“I think it’s a myth,” he said. “This race runs to form and the best horse usually wins it. You can’t always say that about the Derby.”
Lukas put Scrimshaw, the third choice of oddsmakers at 5-1, in the second post position to keep him well away and force the favorites outside with their later draw picks.
“They are the two best horses in the race and I wanted to keep them outside where they have to hustle a little early or worry.—AFP
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