I still can’t believe he lost. It is a reall bummer. I thought that he was going to fast and wore himself out. FC had it for awhile then he looked like he just kinda of gave in. Empire Maker and Ten Most Wanted did have a great race though. Congrats to all of them.
DL
I can’t help but wonder why you would change the way a horse runs in the Belmont. I have seen the same thing MANY times over the years. Horse is a middle of the pack, come from behind winner. Wins the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. In the Belmont (the LONGEST race) they send him to the front where he tires himself out. I began to notice this as a kid in the 60’s. Made me very discouraged with racing as it looked fixed to me as a 10 - 12 year old.
Darlyn
http://www.fairviewhorsecenter.com
Are We Having Fun Yet?
Horses are never “checked” unless they are in danger of running into something (clipping heels of another for example) or have broken down (in which case the rider is just trying to hold the horse up). Checking a horse at speed is dangerous. You did see Santos taking a hold of FC to keep him from running his race too early. Having a hold is necessary but can often cost a horse energy needed later (he’s fighting the rider to run how he wants without naturally rating himself). FC can be a little rank as we’d heard he was in yesterday’s race. He also worked too fast (I heard talk from an interview off THE FORM that he ran off w/ his rider, his last a.m. work before BELMONT) last week…could be that cost him his chance.
At any rate it takes a truly great horse to win those three classics and if you look at the past Triple winners you’ll note intelligently that FC was no Seattle Slew, Affirmed, and certainly no Secretariat though he is a very fine stakes contender.
If you don’t understand the training of a race horse it is a shame you can’t just sit back and enjoy it as a fan.
J
Licensed Fjord Jockey and collector of bobbleheads.
Great photo, and just think, as he ran that race he was running faster and faster, each quarter FASTER than the one before. Imagine what that felt like to be on him!
On the ESPN Classic show they quoted someone as saying it was as though God had the reins that day, as though God whispered to Secretariat: Go.
Gives me chills.
<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Soup From the Store:
Regular statements don’t bother so much as when people get so upset and angry over something they see. Why not say something like, “Why did Santos send a horse like that?” rather than, “Well I think he gave the horse a terrible ride! And here’s why…”<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
OK, Soup, let me try this a more direct way. If someone has an abrasive opinion that you might think is totally incorrect, what does it say about you if you return it tit for tat?
You are right in that an intelligent exchange of ideas consists of more than one’s opinions, but that doesn’t mean everyone always wants to have that sort of discourse, or is capable of that level of discussion. But I can tell you if you present a cogent, lucid argument and then top it off with an arrogant “you know nothing” type of statement, you might as well hang it up, because you are limited to preaching to the choir as soon as you belittle your opponent.
And you don’t need to waste the electrons presenting well thought out ideas to the choir. The choir is already singing your tune. And maybe your opponent will not change his/her mind no matter how well thought out your argument. But all the other readers who were looking for some education might just think “you know, I didn’t know that… Soup sure knows what she is talking about, and explained it well.”
You just need to figure out which person you want to be. The one who shares her knowledge, or the one who slams people over the head with it.
Call your village. Their idiot is missing…
<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by SERAPH:
I just thought Santos would/could have greater control over Funny Cide. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Seraph, the reality is that when a horse that fit and that strong says he’s going, even a strong man like Mr. Santos is not going to call the shots. Think of how incredibly fit and strong Funny Cide is. If a horse decides we are going to control him and dictate his speed today, then we will, but if they take it into their head to have it their own way, their power is tremendous and that’s just what happened.
Too bad FC picked that day and that race to be difficult but again, that’s WHY the Triple Crown is so special and rare. All the other TC winners had to hold it together through all 3 of the races in order to triumph, and it’s practically impossible, so that’s why we honor those that managed this incredibly difficult task.
Yeah buryinghill- I’m kinda with you… I won’t even break my horses out of the gate- I’m afraid of dying then and there. 
If you are on a ‘rank’ colt, or even a really competitive racer (I’ve got one with tons of heart, its impossible to hold him), you aren’t in control. You can try to influence him/her one way or another, but no one is in control. Skybeauty said everything very well!
Retraining and rehabbing Off Track TB’s.
There’s a thread on this Racing forum called Funny Cide Wins the Preakness, and that thread has discussion on FC’s multiple lead changes. People counted 13 lead swaps for him in that race and several people commented on it, so it’s not something he just did on Saturday.
Funny Cide is rank and doesn’t rate well. His connections would have preferred if ANY horse would have gone for the lead so FC could sit off the pace. Everybody else could keep their horses slower than FC, so he ended up on the front end.
FC wouldn’t cooperate enough even for Santos to be able to hold Empire Maker inside of him. Bailey/EM sees Santos can’t slow down,so he slows just enough to “switch lanes” and put EM outside and just a little behind FC. This moves FC down into the deeper water and forces him to feel pressured. Bailey said he knew he had FC beat when they entered the backstretch because of how rank FC was acting.
Santos said FC was acting like he didn’t like the slop. He said he was climbing early in the race. Climbing is when a horse picks his head and front feet up too high,sometimes switching leads back and forth. They usually climb if water splashes their belly or they don’t like dirt in their face. Climbing would make a rank horse even more difficult to control.
I hope this explains why FC was on the lead. The trainer nor the rider could have prevented it.
<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Fairview Horse Center:
I have noticed it so often in previous TC’s, that I actually said to my husband that I hope they don’t take him right to the front. and I chanted it while he was in the gate. and then I said “oh cr*p” before the first turn when he took the front.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
For those who play into history repeating itself, I believe (but can’t state for a fact off the top of my head) that I heard/read somewhere in the coverage this week that every horse that has won the TC has completed the crown has won the Belmont by going to the front.
Two Toofs
(formerly - but still - NDANO)
<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Anne FS:
On the ESPN Classic show they quoted someone as saying it was as though God had the reins that day, as though God whispered to Secretariat: Go.
Gives me chills.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Wow - I had the SAME feeling when I too was watching the ESPN greatest athletes show on Saturday!
Buryinghill1, indeed that is one of those great pictures that captures for all of time an athlete at the top of their prime and without peer!
I still love the famed image of the two horses (names are totally escaping me right now!!) on the cover of My Racing Heart by Nan Mooney with the one biting at the other in the match race.
[QUOTE]Originally posted by SERAPH:
Fairview Horse Center–I second your opinion and agree with you whole-heartedly.
I believe that Funny Cide could have won this race, regardless of how fit EM or TMW looked. He did not look unhappy, unwell, unsound at all. I saw the same fire in his eyes that he always has. I did not see the same fire in anyone else’s eyes. IMHO, Funny Cide was robbed of his hard-fought triple crown victory and America was robbed of a hero. In other words, I believe the jockey sent him from the gate with great urging and I did not see him check him once…
I personally will not watch another tc race as I am sick to my very heart at such crookedness.
I hope your joking!?
Sorry, I meant that in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, he was not in front, and had other horses setting the pace while he was running comfortable behind them, then passing the front running “pace setters”. In the Belmont he went right to the front. I had just seen the same thing again and again, esp with horses that have won both. If that had been the case, he may have been more relaxed and not fighting. Could that have been the reason he won the others? Is he always easier to control if he has a couple in front of him? If so, why change when he is going for the Tripple Crown? If so, surely the trainer would have figured that out by now? Why change?
(Just not up on proper racing terminology - to me a middle of the pack horse is one that is not the front runner, and not way back, and one that comes from behind is passing other horses later in the race to win)
Darlyn
http://www.fairviewhorsecenter.com
Are We Having Fun Yet?
I hate to start a flame war here, but I am getting rather sick of the “know it all attitude” from some (not naming any name…). I think that ALL posters on this racing forum should be made to feel welcome, and to not have to be afraid to post there comments, thoughts and questions, no matter how absurd others on here may think they are. How else could we all learn? I applaud those who want to learn more about racing, that is what we NEED most - to educate the public on racing, and it’s good points.
As for the race today, I believe everyone has there own opinion on it, and I personally respect them all. My own opinion is that he seemed to handle the track ok - wasn’t climbing - but Santos was REALLY having to hold him, and he was just all spent up. I wonder if the outcome would’ve been the same had theer been more horses in the race, where he could’ve settled behind the front runners, and rated better, instead of wanting to Go, Go, Go, and then being al spent up at the end - didn’t anyone tell him the race was a mile and a half?? LOL. As for his many lead changes - I honestly didn’t notice as I was having to chase my 14 month around the house during the race - but if he did indeed switch more then he normally did, it would - to me anyway - indicates some sort of a problem, like either he was sore, or rank (didn’t want to relax) etc. I also have to say that I ALWAYS pay attention to how a horse acts in the post parade, in fact I thought I detected a slight bobble in Funny Cide’s hind end, but who knows.
Okay, one more poiunt before I get off my soapbox…How on EARTH can you even begin to compare FC to SS, Affirmed, etc. Thats like compairing apples and oranges. They are/were different horses, with different styles, during different years. If we matched them all up in one big race, who knows who would win, so maybe you are right about one thing - there is no comparison. For THIS year, in THESE Triple Crown races, I very MUCH think that FC is a class act - what more proof do you want?? (I think a 1st in BOTH the KD and Preakness, and a 3rd in the Belmont in pretty damn good if you ask me.) I also think that both his owners and trainer are class acts - which is more then I can say for the Bobby Frankel trained Empire Maker - while the horse ran an awsome race, I am not a huge B Frankel fan…guess I’m not a big fan of “holier-then-thou’s”
~~Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either. Just pretty much leave me the hell alone.~~ Straight from the horse’s mouth ~~
SNC–you are right…it was the left…sorry!
There just was something NQR about the way he was moving.
A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men…
FairWeather
CANTER West Virginia
I was, am and will be loyal to Empire Maker. As I have said before, you can never have enough In Reality, and he has plenty.
Also, you have to love this little blurb about Toussaud from del mar. Methinks this mare has as much heart as Funny Cide:
<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Toussaud’s health is quite fragile. She developed laminitis after producing Chester House and shortly after Empire Maker was born in 2000, she needed colic surgery to correct an impaction. As a result, Toussaud doesn’t gallop free with other mares in an open paddock, but is grazed on a lead shank in her own special paddock every day. However, she does get to roam freely in another, smaller pen carpeted with soft wood chips, and she is examined by a veterinarian once a week. Due to her fragile health, Toussaud’s foals are all raised on nurse mares, and she has a goat friend named Liz to keep her company. When she isn’t feeling well, she nips at Liz, and thus the goat provides a great early warning system for Toussaud. The two are best friends. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Not to take away from FC, because he is a great horse, and I hope to see a rematch of EM, TMW and FC in the Breeder’s Cup. So maybe a Triple Crown winner isn’t the best thing for racing. Maybe a bonafide RIVALRY is better? That whole 1 1/4 mile issue could be up for discussion again… 
Call your village. Their idiot is missing…
Like millions of others around this country, I was pulling for Funny Cide and his team. They all showed the “class” that’s been lost in this sport for many years. Even though he didn’t win, he has a following that, I believe, will be like that of John Henry. With good health and training, Funny Cide may very well become the next John Henry. He will win more and will be remembered by the fans long after his rivals have been retired and forgotten.
Secretplace Farm
www.spfarm.com
I think history generally gets it right in regards to TC winners. I really didn’t think Funny Cide was in the same league as Affirmed, Slew and certainly not Secretariat, so I wasn’t rooting for him to win it at all. I think the only time a horse didn’t win the TC that really should have was Spectacular Bid. When the next super star horse comes along, the Crown will be won and it will be SOOOOO good!
Funny Cide is a very nice horse, and since he’s a gelding, we’ll be seeing plenty more of him down the road. Maybe he’s our next Kelso or Forego…
No matter who won, it is terrific to have this much interest in horse racing among non-horsey folks - the industry needs it. Hopefully, the Seabiscuit movie next month will only increase interest in this wonderful sport.
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