- A Derby contender on the Cide
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.
But the wonderfully named colt (Distorted Humor-Belle's Good Cide by Slewacide) racked up 3 impressive wins in 3 starts at 2 before a lung infection shelved him for '02. A late starter, Funny Cide destroyed a NYB Maiden field by 15 lengths opening week at Big Sandy before a 10 length score in a 7f NYB stake September 29. Three weeks later he turned in another sparkler coming back to pass Spite the Devil for his second consecutive stakes win.
After recovering from the respitory illness, Tagg took the Sackatoga Stable rising star to Gulfstream for the Holy Bull. Despite the layoff, the 13 post, a first trip outside NY, first two-turn trip and his first time versus open company, Funny Cide still ran a credible 5th. Sunday at the Palm Meadows training center, in preparation for the Florida Derby, Funny Cide continued to impress in his morning efforts, breezing 5f in :59.2.
A look at Funny Cide's pedigree lends credence to his connections hopes for success in the Triple Crown. While his Raise a Native line (Mr. Prospector-Forty Niner-Distorted Humor) makes him look like your usual Derby suspect, it's the dam side that will make you Raise an Eyebrow. Dam Belle's Good Cide is the product of a Slewacide- Belle of Killarney mating. The interesting note there being their respective sires only won 5 of the 6 Classics in which they ran: Slewacide by Seattle Slew (TC), and Belle of Killarney by Little Current (Preakness, Belmont)!! (Little Current may very well have won the Triple Crown in 1974 if not for the ridiculous field of 23 in that edition). He is also inbred 5x5 to Ribot.
Clearly staying power will not be a problem for Funny Cide who should only improve with added distance. Another positive attached to him is Jose Santos. Unlike some of the other top jocks who bounce from one Derby contender to another, Funny Cide is Santos' only current Derby horse. Also in Cide's corner is conditioner Barclay Tagg, a veteran horseman with 30 years in the game. While not in the training elite, Tagg is widely respected in the Northeast with a history of getting the most out of his charges. Connections Sackatoga Stables, a Saratoga-based partnership of friends from Western NY led by health care consultant Jackson Knowlton, has been a fixture on the NY circuit. Funny Cide, pinhooked for $22,000 at the Spa Fasig-Tipton sales in '01, is in good hands.
30-1 in the first Derby Fiuture wagering, Funny Cide bears watching. If he moves forward in the Florida Derby you would expect him to then go on to the Wood or perhaps the Blue Grass. Progress in these starts would place him at Churchill May 3rd for his 7th lifetime start. With his success at 2 and a foundation of three well-spaced sophomore efforts, Funny Cide would sport a pattern that frequently spells Derby success, NY breeding and gelding status a-cide.