by Steve Byk
first published on February 24, 2003 

Though the weekend didn’t uncover any new faces on the Derby Trail, several potential contenders continued working “under the radar” toward starts in key preps. But while big name grail-seekers KAFWAIN (7f, 1:25.0, SA) and DOMESTIC DISPUTE (6f, 1:11.4, SA) turned out handy efforts, a few of the sophomores that are out of the spotlight’s hot glare keep impressing in the a.m.

Chief among these lower profile ponies is Barclay Tagg’s FUNNY CIDE. While hardly an unknown having black type credits from Belmont’s Fall meet, Funny Cide remains an intriguing Derby candidate that has not garnered much attention. And there are a couple of reasons for that… As a NY-bred and a gelding, Funny Cide would be bucking huge odds to find himself draped with a rose blanket the first Saturday in May. No NY-bred has won the Derby, and a gelding still hasn’t won since Clyde Van Dusen in 1929.

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