Saturday Stakes
What’s next for Funny Cide? That’s the question after his disappointing performance in the Suburban at Belmont this afternoon. Late last week, assistant trainer Robin Smullen told the Daily Racing Form, “If he doesn’t run well in this race we probably will not pursue Grade 1’s unless they come up very, very easy.” Trainer Barclay Tagg said in a pre-race interview that he was looking for Funny Cide to be close to the pace, but he never was, starting in fifth, falling back to seventh, and finishing an indifferent sixth. Funny Cide beat two horses — the longshot Runaway Russy and the inexperienced class-jumper Record Buster (who was fractious in the gate). Unfortunately for Funny Cide, he doesn’t have any excuses for today — he was at the right track, at the right distance, the weather was good, and he’s been training great (he worked a fast five furlongs in :58.2 last week). Jockey Jerry Bailey, who replaced Jose Santos as Funny Cide’s rider, couldn’t come up with an explanation for the race. “He felt perfectly fine warming up, but I never had any horse once the gate opened,” said Bailey (Blood-Horse). Maybe the 2003 Derby winner is burned out on racing and needs a long vacation — something I’ve noticed in Funny Cide’s performances this year is that he doesn’t show the same heart he did last year or the year before. He doesn’t seem as game as he once did.
The Suburban winner was Offlee Wild, at odds of 7-2. Since returning to the track in 2004 after a 10-month layoff, the five-year-old has won three of five starts, including one at Belmont last May (followed by the Massachusetts Handicap in June). He appeared badly beaten in his last start, the Pimlico Special, but it was pretty clear today that he just didn’t like the sloppy track. Tap Day finished second, Pollard’s Vision third.
With a little help from a rabbit, Better Talk Now took the United Nations Stakes at Monmouth (Daily Racing Form). Trainer Graham Motion, concerned that the pace scenario might not be to the 2004 Breeders’ Cup Turf winner’s liking, entered Shake the Bank “to ensure an honest pace,” as his wife Anita Motion told ESPN’s Jeanine Edwards this afternoon. The strategy worked, and made for a pretty entertaining race as well, when Shake the Bank opened a 20-length lead on the second run down the backstretch before tiring at the top of the stretch. Better Talk Now and jockey Ramon Dominguez, caught at the back of the pack, made a smart move angling to the inside, surging past Shake the Bank and the rest of the field on the rail to win by three-quarters of a length.
Stellar Jayne made a sensational return to racing in the Misty Galore Stakes at Belmont (Thorougbred Times) and Wend won her fifth straight race (and first graded stakes race) today in the New York Handicap (Blood-Horse).
Unbelievably, that’s not even all the stakes action today or this weekend. I’m still catching up from vacation, but hope tonight to get through the charts for the Vanity Handicap and the American Oaks at Hollywood on Sunday and the Dwyer and Firecracker on Monday.
The Dwyer has lost one starter: Peter Pan winner Oratory is out owing to a fracture in his right front leg (Blood-Horse).
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Rockport Harbor won’t race this year. Owner Rick Porter announced Friday that Rockport will be sent to a farm for two to three months so that his hoof may heal. If all goes well, the colt may run as a four-year-old. Here’s one photo of the gash in Rockport’s hoof and here’s another — this is the injury that he sustained in the November 2004 Remsen and which has been a problem ever since.
