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Originally Posted by Suffolk Shippers
I think the majority opinion on this board is that Funny Cide is NOT done and people are generally not hard on the horse himself. The ones who SHOULD be taken to task are the owners in Sackatoga Stables.
The horse is about to be seven years old, he is a gutsy, dual classic champion. He gave fans of the sports and non fans a common cheering interest because of the "feel good" story. He created alot of new fans in horse racing, who have stuck around to watch the last few years. Funny Cide should be championed for those reasons, and I think, by and large he is.
He has his detractors, as do most people, horses, etc. However, at the end of the day, even detractors cannot dispute his spirited run from March-June 2003, from the Wood battle with Empire Maker to the Derby and through the Preakness and Belmont. He was a revered horse, especially to New Yorkers, who turned out 100,000+ on a dismal day of rain and cool weather.
You also cannot dispute that since that point, he hasn't been a top horse in almost any regard. That's not necessarily a bad thing.
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I really don't think you can look at Funny Cide's 2004 season and not have considered him one of the top horses. In addition to his JCGC, he barely lost by a head in the 04 Suburban. Every single beyer figure in his 04 season was from 102 to 112.
In fact, I'd say Funny Cide was a better and more consistent runner at 4 than 3. He faced the top horses in the world for the whole year and always hit the board except for the Breeders Cup Classic.
I also agree with the other poster that said the Woodward was weakly drawn. He wasn't going against Invasor or Bernardini. He was up against a suspect group of off form horses like Flower Alley and Second of June.
I'm saying that lower quality stakes horses take their shot at Grade 1s all the time and nobody thinks about it. But because it's Funny Cide it gets more attention.