Funny Cide gets back on track

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Funny Cide, the 2003 Kentucky Derby winner, won his first start north of the border Saturday at Woodbine in the $200,800 .

Jockey Richard Migliore let Funny Cide roll from the start, and they set fractions of 23.62 seconds, 47.14, and 1:11.48. Summer Book, Cryptograph, and Arch Hall all stalked the pace, and Cryptograph joined Funny Cide up front on the far turn.

Migliore asked Funny Cide to kick on at the quarter pole, and they put Cryptograph away with a sixteenth left en route to a 1 1/2-length victory. Nolan's Cat rallied strongly to edge Cryptograph by a nose for second in the seven-horse field.

"I figured we'd be on the lead," said Migliore, who rode Funny Cide in a third-place finish the start before, in the Grade 3 William Donald Schaefer Handicap at Pimlico. "Last time, I got caught up in behind horses with him, and I didn't like the way it worked out. When he wanted to go today, I let him. He did everything great. The only hard thing was getting him over to the gate - he was a little difficult."

Funny Cide returned $5.20 as the favorite in the Grade 3 event. He covered the distance in 2:02.41, earning $120,000 for Sackatoga Stable and trainer Barclay Tagg.

Funny Cide became the fifth Kentucky Derby winner to compete at Woodbine, the first since Sea Hero, who was third in 1993 Molson Million. The others were Secretariat, Northern Dancer, and Decidedly.

* Tothemoonandback ($3.90) came close to matching Woodbine's six-furlong track record in Saturday's supporting feature, the $150,000 Achievement Stakes for Ontario-foaled 3-year-olds.

Ridden by Jim McAleney, Tothemoonandback prevailed by 3 1/4 lengths over a closing Bad Hat. His time of 1:08.33, over a lightning-fast track, was .28 of a second off the track record, set by Chris's Bad Boy in 2003.