What Funny Cide Did For Me
By admin. Filed in 2007, Horses |
by Steve Byk
first published on July 17, 2007
The retirement of equine heroes always marks a milestone of some kind for horseplayers and horse lovers alike. Whether the runner in question grabbed the admirer with flashy good looks or with pleasurable recall of mutuel window euphoria, the end of a career invariably produces a flood of memories or mental snapshots of particular moments.
The end of Funny Cide’s racing career July 13 especially resonates given what has transpired in my own racing-related life since the start of his brilliant run to and through the 2003 Triple Crown. On a snowy Saturday morning in February 2003, I created a Yahoo’s Sports Group called “The Derby Trail” with the Hutcheson and Fountain of Youth scheduled to be run that afternoon at the ‘old’ Gulfstream Park.
Having been a fan for more than decade and serving as a ‘carny’ on the Carolina Barbecue Co. concessionaire caravan through Breeders’ Cups, Triple Crown events and Saratoga meets since 1999, I had been bitten by the racing bug and felt compelled to share my interest with anyone that cared to hear it. I devoured dozens of racing histories and handicapping tomes, with each reading only serving to fuel greater passion and devotion to a game that seemed to suit my personality and peccadilloes perfectly.
I was certain that my chance to achieve anything as a writer or broadcaster had long since passed me by. But with the advent of the Internet, interpreting unfolding stories in racing and handicapping races leading to the Derby felt like a great way to retrieve the enjoyment I had experienced calling Colgate Hockey games on WRCU or reporting on Syracuse Basketball for the Oneida (NY) Daily Dispatch.
While those initial posts about the stakes at Hallandale were modest and missed their mark, a feature written February 24 would ultimately change my entire life. “A Derby Contender on the Cide” came after a quiet weekend in racing with little to offer the two dozen members that had signed on to the ‘Trail’ in its’ infancy. Barclay Tagg’s trainee had been working steadily towards a start in the Louisiana Derby, and there were several things about him that caught my admitted neophyte eye.
“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.”
Reading books like W.H.P. Robertson’s “The History of Thoroughbred Racing in America” and combing through Triple Crown runners backgrounds on Pedigree Query.com, helped give me an inkling that this son of Distorted Humor had the qualities to be successful come the first Saturday in May. Being a regular at Saratoga since the 80’s, I was familiar with Tagg. At the time, there likely wasn’t a punter at the Spa who had not watched the lanky and taciturn horseman saddle a price horse to victory at the most important meet in the U.S.
The thought that Funny Cide could win the Run for the Roses or be successful in the troika of sophomore classics, came with a concern that I could very well be hopelessly wrong. The Louisiana Derby was my first opportunity to select winners in a race including Funny Cide, and my appraisal of his chances were still unabashed.
His performance at Fair Grounds was heartening as he demonstrated an uncommon gameness re-rallying at the top of the stretch after appearing finished setting the pace through three-quarters in 1:10.3. He was beaten 3 lengths by the very nice Peace Rules, and nothing that happened in New Orleans would dim my view of him heading to Aqueduct and a date with 2003 Derby Trail darling Empire Maker. His try there versus Bobby Frankel’s blueblood cemented the resolve of all those in his corner.
Without a laptop, keeping the fledgling Trail members informed of the Derby doings was a challenge. After working at the Downs all day, I would drive to Standiford Airport to the business center and pay to use one of their computers to write. One of my last assessments was an analysis of each entrant addressing their potential based on pedigree, style and value:
“The hero in these quarters for months, Funny Cide seems on the verge of harnessing his headstrong nature at precisely the right moment. As long as the fractions remain sensible, Funny Cide can be in prominent view down the long Churchill stretch. We expect a board finish at worst, and a history maker at best.”
I watched Funny Cide win the Derby on a TV next to the Barbecue Stand we always had near the old Silks Bar at Churchill before the renovation. The race unfolded thrillingly, and when they reached the top of the stretch, Funny Cide had every chance to win. By the time they hit the eighth pole, the tears had started to well in my eyes.
Aside from a juicy trifecta, something much more meaningful came in for me with Funny Cide that day. I realized with each step “the gutsy gelding” took down the 1,234 feet of Churchill’s stretch, that I had found something I thought was lost long ago for myself and my future. His win validated my hope that I might still find a niche in journalism through a game that rewards confidence in one’s own opinion like few others can.
Funny Cide of course went on to a resounding Preakness win, and though his own legacy likely suffered slightly after that day, his exploits through the spring of 2003 remain the basis for any bet I make or commentary I bring forth.
His success changed the lives of Jose Santos, Barclay Tagg and Robin Smullen; the gleeful partners of Sackatoga; the fortunes of Distorted Humor and the NY bred program; and countless fans of racing. And given the wondrous things that have happened for me during the breadth of his career, inexorably, my own. For that, my appreciation of Funny Cide will never wane.