The Day After

Some Sunday-morning thoughts on Derby 129:

The New York connection: Blind hometown loyalty would have made this a simple Derby for a New Yorker. The winner was the only New York-bred in the field. The $97 exacta consisted of the only two horses who made their last start in New York. The $664.80 triple was a simple box of the only three New York-based jockeys in the field of 16 - Santos, Bailey and Prado. How easy was that?

Frankel frustration: Bobby Frankel was as gracious as a man can be after running 2-3 in the Kentucky Derby but he had to be smoldering over which horse denied him, since he had already beaten Funny Cide with both of his colts. Funny Cide was third in Peace Rules's Louisiana Derby and second in Empire Maker's Wood.

The perhaps promising pattern of running third in your penultimate prep race and second in your final prep might have led you to two horses this year: Funny Cide, who finished first, and Brancusi, who finished last.

Empire Maker's price: While 6-5 was an unrealistic morning-line price on Empire Maker to begin with, it still was surprising to see him at 4-1 with 45 minutes to go before closing at 2.60-1. Whether or not you think that was an overlay, his place and show prices absolutely were: $5.80 in the middle and $4.40 on the end were extraordinary prices, especially since he wasn't exactly surrounded by bombs - Funny Cide was the seventh choice at 12.70-1, Peace Rules the second choice at 6.30-1. When's the last time a 6-5 morning-line favorite paid 6-5 to show?

Fighting the last war: Bettors determined not to be burned twice seemed to go overboard betting horses with similarities to last year's 1-2 Derby finishers. Indian Express, a late-blooming Baffert-trained front-runner, was a mere 10-1 due largely to his similarities to War Emblem. Scrimshaw was only 16-1, probably because he resembled Proud Citizen, also a Lukas-trained Lexington winner. This year the result was 14-11 instead of 1-2, though Indian Express's performance can be thrown out due to a nightmare trip.

Longshots: Isn't it strange that no one seems to go off at gigantic prices in the Derby any more? None of the 16 starters was more than Lone Star Sky's 52-1 and horses who on paper looked over 100-1, like Ten Cents a Shine and Outta Here, went off at only 37-1 and 39-1 respectively.

Right idea, wrong results: The Pick-4 and Pick-6 ending with the Derby turned out to offer extraordinary value, not that I came close.

The Pick-4 combining Heat Haze ($6.80), Sightseek ($3.60), Honor in War ($50.60) and Funny Cide returned a whopping $14,035 (7,017.50 for $1), more than double the parlay. Had you preceded that quartet with Aldebaran ($4.60) and Limehouse ($15.20), the Pick Six (with a $67k carryover) paid $453,285.

The Pick-3 ending with the Derby was not terrible either, paying $2.085 for $2.

Perhaps a clue: There are no incoming simulcasts at Churchill Downs on Derby Day, which is probably a good thing. Betting lines are horrendously long, there are no self-service betting machines, and it's bad enough standing behind julep-fueled locals calling out superfectas at glacial speed without the additional possibility they could be betting the wrong track as well as the wrong race.

Had Aqueduct been piped in, though, it's possible the Withers Stakes could have pushed you toward the Derby winner. In his only two previous stakes victories, Funny Cide had beaten the same fellow New York-bred, Spite the Devil, who was second in both the Bongard and the Sleepy Hollow. Who's Spite the Devil? The upset winner of the Withers, at $35.80, exactly 40 minutes before the Derby.

What's next: Funny Cide and Peace Rules seem definite for the Preakness but it would be surprising if Empire Maker goes. Without a Triple Crown to chase, he seems like he could use a freshening. He had the look of a struggling horse Saturday down the stretch, and even though he ran second in the Kentucky Derby it sure didn't seem like his best race.

Funny Cide looks like a deserving Preakness favorite. He got a dream trip but he was close to a fast pace and he outfinished the two favorites down the lane. The Preakness, a sixteenth of a mile shorter, may prove an easier task than going an extra quarter-mile in the Belmont.

The best thing about Funny Cide: He's a gelding. He won't be whisked off the racetrack and into the breeding shed the first time he loses a couple of races or before his fourth birthday. He has a patient horseman for a trainer in Barclay Tagg, and he'll race as long as he's healthy and willing. What a concept: A Derby winner that fans might get to enjoy for more than one season.