ELMONT, N.Y. - After Funny Cide's defeat in the Belmont Stakes, trainer Barclay Tagg expressed mystification over his gelding's poor showing. Jockey Jose Santos blamed the muddy track. And most of the 101,864 people who came to Belmont Park hoping to hail a Triple Crown winner were surprised that the favorite didn't duplicate his authoritative victories in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness.
ELMONT, N.Y. - The dream was over but the melody lingered on.
Though Funny Cide was turned back in his bid for the Triple Crown and was strongly supported as the even-money favorite in the Belmont Stakes, the mood in the wake of last Saturday's exciting classic is decidedly upbeat. Almost everyone in the public sector, many beguiled by the homey story of his ownership, and in the professional sector, longing for a Triple Crown winner after 25 years, was distinctly in favor of a coronation at Belmont Park.
ELMONT, N.Y. - The repatriation of Brooklyn Bobby Frankel is almost complete. For the last three years, his horses have run rampant through the East Coast, winning nearly every major race. Frankel sightings have become rare at both Hollywood Park and Del Mar. He has a home-to-die-for in coastal L.A., but he is in the process of buying a house on Long Island. And now, just to seal the deal, he has won the biggest New York race of them all, the Belmont Stakes.
So why is this town booing?
ELMONT, N.Y. - Funny Cide has understandably been the cynosure of the racing world as he bids to win the Belmont Stakes and complete a sweep of the Triple Crown. But neither he, nor his archrival Empire Maker, nor any other 3-year-old in America this year has won races as impressively as the late-blooming colt Dynever.
ELMONT, N.Y. - The first time I attended a Belmont Stakes was 25 years ago, when I rode the train to Belmont and stood in the crowd, jumping up to catch glimpses of Affirmed and Alydar slugging it out down the stretch. I was rooting for Alydar, and when Affirmed won the race and the Triple Crown, the history of the moment was lost on me.
It was the third time in six years the Crown had been won. Big deal. Who would have imagined that 25 years later, we would still be waiting for the next one?
ELMONT, N.Y. - The Triple Crown trail is notoriously perilous, and few horses negotiate the entire trip without a misstep. That's why only 11 have swept the series, and why it has been 25 years since the last sweep, by Affirmed.
Funny Cide was enjoying a faultless trip until Tuesday morning, when the feel-good gelding zipped five furlongs in a rapid 57.82 seconds. Trainer Barclay Tagg feels that Funny Cide, a remarkable physical specimen, can handle the added bit of stress as well as he has dealt with stress through the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Parallel worlds collide on Saturday at Belmont Park, when the razzle-dazzle hype of a potential Triple Crown winner comes face to face with the cold, hard business of preparing immature 3-year-olds for the only mile and a half race they are ever likely to run.
WASHINGTON - When Funny Cide attempts to win the Belmont Stakes and capture the Triple Crown, he must do more than defeat a formidable group of opponents. He must overcome history.
The Triple Crown series almost unfailingly thwarts horses who are not among the sport's all-time greats. In the past 55 years, only Citation, Secretariat, Affirmed, and Seattle Slew have swept the 3-year-old classics. Even Funny Cide's admirers could not argue that the gelding is in their exalted class.
ELMONT, N.Y. - "How would you like to look that good naked?"
Under normal circumstances, that might be a punch line to one of Cincy Dollase's famously naughty jokes. More often than not, they leave her audience in stitches and her adult offspring shaking their heads, "Sheesh, Mom. Not again."