Belmont Stakes Live thread - A Funny thing happened on the way to the Triple Crown? Empire Maker!

Belmont Stakes Website ^ | June 7, 2003

[HairOfTheDog]

Race Time: 5:38 p.m. Central time. NBC will televise.
Pre-race show on ESPN now

Funny Cide Runs For History Despite Rainy Belmont Stakes
By Bruno Zalubil| June 7, 2003

2003 Belmont Stakes

photo by Rick Schmitt

D espite rains that have drenched thousands of faithful fans, Funny Cide will run for Visa Triple Crown immortality when he goes to post today for the 135th running of the $1 million Belmont Stakes (Gr. 1) at 6:38 p.m. EDT at Belmont Park.

Track conditions for Belmont Stakes Day have slowly deteriorated throughout the day. The main track was changed to sloppy prior to the sixth race. The turf course is soft. The 12th race is the only race that has been removed from the turf. Complete scratches and changes are available on the Belmont Park Main Page. There are no scratches or changes in the Belmont Stakes.

The Belmont Stakes will be run as the 11th of 13 races. General Admission is still available for $2. The event will also be televised on ESPN from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. EDT and on NBC from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. EDT.

Funny Cide, a New York-bred gelding, will break from post position No. 4 in the 1 1/2-mile race. He must beat five horses to become the 12th winner of the Visa Triple Crown and the first since Affirmed in 1978. If he can win the third jewel, Sackatoga Stable will receive the $5 million Visa Triple Crown Challenge bonus.

Jose Santos, who rode the New York-bred gelding to victories in the Kentucky Derby (Gr. 1) and Preakness Stakes (Gr. 1), will again be aboard for trainer Barclay Tagg.

The post positions for the 135th Running of the $1 million Belmont Stakes (Gr. 1) for 3-year-olds at 1 1/2 miles, with post position, owner, trainer, jockey and odds as of 3:30 p.m. EDT, are as follows:

1 Empire Maker (Juddmonte Farms Inc., Robert Frankel, Jerry Bailey) 4
2 Supervisor (Rodney Lundock, Linda Rice, John Velazquez) 11
3 Scrimshaw (Bob & Beverly Lewis, D. Wayne Lukas, Gary Stevens) 8
4 Funny Cide (Sackatoga Stable, Barclay Tagg, Jose Santos) 3-5
5 Dynever (C. Wills & P. Karches, Christophe Clement, Edgar Prado) 7
6 Ten Most Wanted (J. Chisholm, et al., Wallace Dollase, Pat Day) 8

[HairOfTheDog]

BELMONT STAKES : 1 2 down, 1 /2 miles to go

BY DICK JERARDI PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS

Saturday, June 7, 2003

PHILADELPHIA — Before Secretariat dominated the Triple Crown 30 years ago like it never had been dominated, people were saying it was too difficult. "I think people had begun to feel that it was never going to happen," said Penny Chenery, Secretariat’s owner. "I understood the feeling of the fans. And the pressure to produce a winner was intense. That’s the only negative thing ... But it’s a wonderful experience to go through. We all just wish Visa had been around when we had our moments."

That would be Visa and its $5 million Triple Crown bonus. The cash and history are what is on the line for Funny Cide and his connections in today’s Belmont Stakes....*continued*....

[Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette :: Sports ]

1	Empire Maker

Owner:	Juddmonte Farms Inc.
Trainer:	Robert Frankel
Jockey:	Jerry Bailey
Morning Line:	6-5

2	Supervisor

Owner:	Dr. Rodney G. Lundock
Trainer:	Linda Rice
Jockey:	John Velazquez
Morning Line:	50

3

Scrimshaw

Owner:	Robert B. and Beverly J. Lewis
Trainer:	D. Wayne Lukas
Jockey:	Gary Stevens
Morning Line:	20

4	Funny Cide

Owner:	Sackatoga Stables and Jackson Knowlton
Trainer:	Barclay Tagg
Jockey:	Jose Santos
Morning Line:	1

5

Dynever

Owner:	Dr. Catherine Wills and Peter Karches
Trainer:	Christophe Clement
Jockey:	Edgar Prado
Morning Line:	5

6	Ten Most Wanted

Owner:	J. Paul Reddam, Michael Jarvis, James Chisholm and Horizon Stable
Trainer:	Wallace Dollase
Jockey:	Pat Day
Morning Line:	10

[HairOfTheDog]

Previous Races Ping...

[hole_n_one]

It's gonna be a muddy mess.......

[hole_n_one]

[SamAdams76]

FunnyCide is a horse? I've been hearing a lot about FunnyCide over the past few weeks and I just assumed it was some rap singer they were talking about.

[HairOfTheDog]

Previous Races ping!

[HairOfTheDog]

Name this Quote:

"His Father was a Mudder?"

[HairOfTheDog]

Se... now yer hip.... you are in the *know*

[Molly Pitcher]

Great thread. Thanks.

[HairOfTheDog]

Thanks... I was hopin' you would be around for pics!

[hole_n_one]

Seinfeld

[aristeides]

We've had torrential rains and flooding here in the D.C. area today. How heavy has the rain been at Belmont?

[savedbygrace]

Is he a mudder?

[hole_n_one]

It's pouring......

[HairOfTheDog]

Previous Races Ping...

[PoorMuttly]

A horse ate his Fodder ?!!

[Katya]

This is just so exciting...I was a teen when Affirmed won, and remember having the ultimate crush on Steve Cauthen.

[hole_n_one]

ESPN talking head seems to think that the mud will not have any impact on 2 of the 6 horses in the field

Funny Cide was mentioned as one of the two.....

[HairOfTheDog]

...I was a teen when Affirmed won, and remember having the ultimate crush on Steve Cauthen.

I had a poster of him in my room. ;~D

Steve Cauthen with Affirmed on the 20th anniversary of their Triple Crown victory. (AP)

[Unknown Freeper]

Geez, hole, you're everywhere today. lol. As always, thanks for your efforts here.

[William McKinley]

I am ticked. You would think ESPN Classic would have the sense, in the run up to the race, to be showing classic races, such as the Secretariat Belmont, or all three of the Affirmed Triple Crown races against Alydar.

But no. They had SportsCentury features on them at 4 in the freaking morning. And basketball now.

[hole_n_one]

My pleasure, UF!

Cameras along the home stretch rail...

[HairOfTheDog]

The camera only needs to get that ONE pic before it drowns....

[Endeavor]

Hair -

Excellent job on the lead-in to this thread! Thank you so much.

I'm worried about the track and the possibility of injuries to all the horses. At least the field is small.

I sure hope Funny Cide can pull this off. How nice it would be to have a Triple Crown winner.

[Endeavor]

I wish I'd have known you were a DC'er - I was there all week, and would have bought you a beer.

[AnAmericanMother]

Wow - that's not just a "sloppy" track - they're gonna have to swim for it!

Somebody keep an eye on how the footing looks in the earlier races. So long as they don't start slipping and sliding, it should be o.k. (but horses and jockeys are going to be big mud monsters, except for their teeth and eyeballs.)

[HairOfTheDog]

May they all have a safe race.

At the very least, the one at the back of the pack is gonna be absolutely COVERED with mud.

[Endeavor]

I just watched them run the "Riva Ridge" and everybody did ok, but the track is a mess. Don't look for any speed records today.

[HairOfTheDog]

I was looking for pictures of what mud shoes look like to post, but I am not having any luck... Farriers appear to have a weak internet presence! ;~D

[hole_n_one]

At the wire......

[savedbygrace]

Off topic, I just noticed that you joined FR the day after I did. Cool.

[ewing]

NBC is really stretching this thing into prime time-they are not even racing until 6:40 EST!!

[ewing]

THE CAMERAS ARE DROWNING!

[hole_n_one]

If I would have registered the day I found FR, it would have been 12/04/97

[willyboyishere]

Coverage of the Belmont starts in about 5 minutes---I just came from OTB in Nanuet NY, and watched the fifth and sixth races, and the track is about as bad as I've seen it---muddy but "sealed"----the few races i saw, though, still show that everything is holding true to form---the horses that should win are in fact winning. This Belmont, now with only SIX starters, could prove to be the
worst of all Belmonts as a betting race: if either of the two faves are 1st, 2nd or 3rd, (which either or both WILL be) the biggest Trifecta payoff (FunnyCide with Supervisor)
would still pay about $60.00. So I refused to make a bet with both Funny and Empire in the top three. Honoring the tradition of upsets in the Belmont, I only made a simple $2 trifecta bet with Ten Most Wanted on top, then Dynever, then either Empire or FunnyC for third. That MIGHT pay $125. I also made a straight $3 with FunnyC, Ten Most Wanted 2nd and Scrimshaw 3rd, and the same with Funny,Dynever and Scrinshaw first second and third. Yhe horse that worries me is 10 Most Wanted, since I never underestimate the talents of Pat Day. Having said that, my gut instinct tells me that FunnyCide could win this by a Secretariat-like margin of 22 lengths or more. I loved watching his amazingly long fluid stride in the Preakness, but this sloppy track may put a crimp in that. I DON'T think he will try for the lead until just before or during the 2nd, and final turn. Empire Maker may try to go after the early leaders (all 4 of them besides FunnyC.) and get bogged down chasing them, since it's a predictable pattern for also-rans without stamina to get out on the lead and think they can "steal" a race as long as this. It won't happen. Funny will blow by whoever's in the lead in the stretch, and I think his real competition nearing the wire may be Ten Most Wanted.

[StriperSniper]

Don't look for any speed records today.

Except maybe the backstroke! ;-)

The ground is soaked all around the area from the last set of storms. There has been so much run-off that the salinity level of Raritan Bay is down about 50% in a week. I think even the fish have all drowned, I keep getting skunked. :(

(Still gonna try tonight, rain or no ;-)

[aristeides]

Well, thanks for the thought. Another time, perhaps.

[Molly Pitcher]

Here it is!

[hole_n_one]

Not that anybody cares, but......

I can't stand Bob Costas

[willyboyishere]

BTT

[Mears]

Would they ever cancel this race because of track conditions?

[ewing]

The Funny Cide school buses from Upstate NY have arrived..

[LionsDaughter]

They would swim the race if it flooded!

[HairOfTheDog]

NBC Coverage starting now:

NBC Sports Belmont Homepage

[HairOfTheDog]

The Funny Cide school buses from Upstate NY have arrived..

I just love those guys...

[ewing]

[hole_n_one]

lol!

[Dog]

Found it.....:-)

[ewing]

4 full school buses today!!

[Unknown Freeper]

There has been so much run-off that the salinity level of Raritan Bay is down about 50% in a week.

The trees are disappearing along the river here.

I hope everyone at Belmont can swim.