Crown Hits a Slop Sign

Kindly Sackets Harbor, that little New York village near the Canadian border, deserved better, but there was no dancing in the street in Sackets Harbor on Saturday night.

All of racing, not only the six former Sackets Harbor school chums who owned a piece of Funny Cide, was prime for a celebration, but the Triple Crown has gone begging once more. Empire Maker won the 135th Belmont Stakes, and Funny Cide didn’t, and that still leaves Affirmed, in 1978, as the 11th and last horse to sweep the series.

To find out what it sounds like to hear tens of thousands people groan in unison, you had to be at rain-soaked Belmont Park, where minutes later they booed the return of Empire Maker and jockey Jerry Bailey to the winner’s circle. The near-misses have been too frequent, the Triple Crown drought too lengthy, for them to react any other way, and Funny Cide, a confirmed off-track performer, seemed to have everything his way Saturday. But by the end of the 1 1/2-mile Belmont endurance test, it was Empire Maker fighting off Ten Most Wanted at the wire, and all Funny Cide could do was save third, unable to add this one to his Kentucky Derby and Preakness wins.

Empire Maker, giving trainer Bobby Frankel his first Triple Crown win, had beaten Funny Cide before, in the Wood Memorial, but in the race that really counted, five weeks ago at Churchill Downs, Empire Maker was second, almost two lengths back. Before a crowd of 101,864, Empire Maker won by three-quarters of a length. Ten Most Wanted, who ran ninth while injuring his back in the Derby, finished 4 1/4 lengths ahead of Funny Cide and Jose Santos. Dynever, Supervisor and Scrimshaw completed the order of finish over a sloppy track that had been doused with a steady rain for nine hours before the race.

The second choice behind the even-money Funny Cide, Empire Maker paid $6 for $2, coming home in 2:28 1/5.

Funny Cide is the 17th Derby-Preakness winner to fail in the Belmont, the ninth since Affirmed and the fifth in the last seven years. Funny Cide’s 10 owners could have collected a $5-million Triple Crown bonus with a Belmont win.

“I’ve had bigger disappointments,” said a flustered Barclay Tagg, Funny Cide’s trainer, as he hot-footed it from a brief post-race TV interview back to the barns. “But losing $5 million is disappointing. [Almost] $6 million.”

First place in the Belmont, worth $600,000, went to Khalid Abdullah, the Saudi Arabian prince who watched on television from England. Instead of $5.6 million, Funny Cide earned $110,000 for third place.

“To win the Triple Crown, you’ve got to win three major races in five weeks,” said John Chandler, who manages the prince’s racing and breeding operations. “That’s what makes it so difficult.”

Bailey, who went into this Belmont with one win (Hansel, 1991) in 17 mounts in the race, has seldom ridden a cannier race. Stuck with the inside post, with the slowest part of the track in front of him, Bailey allowed Funny Cide and Scrimshaw to out-break him, but going into the first turn he cleverly moved Empire Maker off the fence, clearing Dynever and positioning his colt outside of the two leaders.

“When we turned into the backside,” Bailey said, “Funny Cide was pulling on Jose, while my horse was relaxing. That’s the whole key to winning a mile-and-a-half race. You’ve got to have something left when you turn for home.”

Scrimshaw didn’t want to run much farther than six furlongs, and as he dropped out of contention, the 1-2 finishers from the Derby hooked up. Bailey waited to pounce with Empire Maker. They cruised past Funny Cide approaching the quarter pole. Santos needed to get his whip out then, while Bailey continued to hand-ride his horse.

“My horse was not handling the track,” Santos said of Funny Cide. “I’m still very proud of him, and he will be back. I want to see what he can do over a good track. Empire Maker was the best today, but my horse was best in the most important race in the world.”

Santos said that he hit Funny Cide for the first time at the five-sixteenths pole. The New York-bred gelding responded for about a sixteenth of a mile, but then he flattened out.

“I thought he would handle the slop better than he did,” Santos said.

Pat Day and Ten Most Wanted zeroed in on Empire Maker’s right flank through the stretch.

“My horse ran an awesome race,” Day said. “We just came up a little bit short and got outrun. When we couldn’t go by [Empire Maker] in the stretch, I knew we were going to run out of time. At the sixteenth pole, we were just holding our ground.”

A bruised foot at Churchill Downs compromised Empire Maker’s training going into the Derby. Frankel said last week that if it hadn’t been the Derby, he probably wouldn’t have run the horse. Other than Commendable, who won here in 2000, Empire Maker is believed to be the only other Belmont winner who didn’t have a race after the Derby.

“I blew the Triple Crown this year,” Frankel said. “I got a little overconfident going into the Derby. If I had leaned on this horse a bit more in the Derby, he would have won in Kentucky. I was very, very confident going into this race, although I worried some about the 25 years [since Affirmed], I worried that destiny might have something to do with the 25 years. But I didn’t think I’d get beat. It was nice to be right, because so many times you’re wrong in this business.”

Frankel is planning a Saratoga campaign for Empire Maker, running him in the Jim Dandy on Aug. 3 and the Travers on Aug. 23. Funny Cide might have been the New York horse and the local favorite, but Frankel’s colt had his name going for him, and the trainer himself is a New York-bred.

“He’s Empire Maker, and this is the Empire State,” said Frankel, a longtime California fixture who grew up in Brooklyn. “It kind of fits, you know?”

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Belmont Blues

*--* In five of the last seven years, a horse has won the first two legs of the Triple Crown -- the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes -- but failed to win the Belmont Stakes: YEAR HORSE BELMONT FINISH 2003 Funny Cide THIRD, 5 lengths behind Empire Maker 2002 War Emblem EIGHTH, 19 1/2 lengths behind Sarava 1999 Charismatic THIRD, 1 1/2 lengths behind Lemon Drop Kid 1998 Real Quiet SECOND, a nose behind Victory Gallop 1997 Silver Charm SECOND, 3/4 length behind Touch Gold

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*--* (c) Equibase Company LLC 135TH BELMONT STAKES. Run as 11th race on Belmont Park card. Distance: 1 1/2 miles. Weights: 126 pounds each. Purse: $1,000,000. First: $600,000; Second: $200,000; Third: $100,000; Fourth: $60,000; Fifth: $30,000

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*--* PP Horse 1/4 1/2 3/4 M 1 1/4 St r Fi n To $1 and Jockey 1 Empire 3 2 1 2 1 1/2 2 1 1/2 1 1 1 1 1/2 1 3/4 2.00 Maker, Bailey 6 Ten 4 5 5 4 hd 4 hd 3 4 2 1 1/2 2 4 1/4 9.70 Most Wanted, Day 4 Funny 1 1 1 1 hd 1 hd 2 1 3 5 3 5 1/4 1.00 Cide, Santos 5 5 4 hd 5 7 4 3 4 3 4 10 4 15 1/4 8.50 Dynever, Prado 2 6 6 6 6 6 5 1 5 4 1/2 14.80 Supervis or, Velazque z 3 2 3 1 3 hd 3 hd 5 4 6 6 11.00 Scrimsha w, Stevens

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*--* 1 -- EMPIRE MAKER...6.00 3.70 2.80 6 -- TEN MOST WANTED...5.80 3.20 4 -- FUNNY CIDE...2.70

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*--* Time -- 23.85, 48.70, 1.13.51, 1.38.05, 2.02.62, 2.28.26. Track condition -- Rainy & sloppy. Winner -- dbb.c.3 Unbridled-Toussaud. Trainer -- Robert Frankel. Owner -- Juddmonte Farms. Betting pools -- Mutuel: $21,283,153. Exacta: $11,308,960 Trifecta: $12,485,369 Daily Double: $513,341 Acorn/Belmont Double: $569,982. Pick Three: $496,621. Pick Four: $1,205,886. Pick Six: $1,298,118

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*--* $2 EXACTA (1-6) PAID $44.00 $2 TRIFECTA (1-6-4) PAID $67.50 $2 DAILY DOUBLE (10/1) PAID $16.00 $2 PICK THREE (5/10/1) PAID $84.00 $2 PICK FOUR (2/5/10/1) PAID $271.00 $2 PICK SIX (5/6/2/5/10/1) 6 WINNERS PAID $900.00; 5 WINNERS PAID $24.20 $2 ACORN/BELMONT DOUBLE (7/1) PAID $20.20

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*--* COMMENTS EMPIRE MAKER -- Was taken to the outside approaching the first turn, stalked the pace while four wide along the backstretch, edged closer on the far turn, drew along side FUNNY CIDE to challenge at the three-eighths pole, surged to the front midway on the turn, shook off FUNNY CIDE to gain a clear advantage leaving the quarter pole, dug in when threatened in upper stretch, drifted out when struck left-handed with the whip nearing the eighth pole then turned back TEN MOST WANTED through the final sixteenth of a mile. TEN MOST WANTED -- Brushed with DYNEVER at the start, was strung out five wide on the first turn, continued wide while just behind the leaders along the backstretch, closed the gap a bit on the turn, launched a rally five wide entering the stretch, made a run outside the winner to threaten in deep stretch, but could not get up. FUNNY CIDE -- Broke outward slightly at the start, rushed up to gain the early advantage on the first turn, set the pace off the rail while in hand along the backstretch, led to the far turn, relinquished the lead to the winner at the three-sixteenths pole, battled along the inside to the top of the stretch, then weakened. DYNEVER -- Brushed with TEN MOST WANTED at the start, settled just off the pace while between horses for a mile, raced within striking distance to the turn then came up empty in the stretch. SUPERVISOR -- Never reached contention after breaking a step slow. SCRIMSHAW -- Moved up along the rail to contest the early pace, raced close up along the inside for a mile, dropped back on the turn, drifted at the quarter pole, then gave way

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*--* Triple Threat Jockey Jerry Bailey’s victory aboard Empire Maker in the Belmont Stakes was his sixth in Triple Crown races: YEAR RACE HORSE 2003 Belmont Empire Maker 2000 Preakness Red Bullet 1996 Kentucky Derby Grindstone 1993 Kentucky Derby Sea Hero 1991 Belmont Hansel 1991 Preakness Hansel

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*--* Tripped Up How 17 horses that won the first two legs of the Triple Crown -- the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes -- lost in the series’ final race, the Belmont Stakes: 2003 FUNNY CIDE is forced to set the pace over a sloppy track, battles with Empire Maker on the second turn, then fades early in the stretch. He finishes third, five lengths behind Empire Maker, with Ten Most Wanted second 2002 WAR EMBLEM stumbles badly out of the gate, then bumps Magic Weisner at start in an 11-horse field. He is rank for three-quarters of a mile but still manages to take brief lead nearing the half-mile pole and remains a factor to the turn before giving way finishing eighth, 19 1/2 lengths behind longshot winner Sarava 1999 CHARISMATIC takes the lead briefly at the turn but is passed on the outside in the stretch by Lemon Drop Kid and Vision And Verse and finishes third behind them by 1 1/2 lengths. Charismatic is pulled up as he crosses the finish line, suffering a fractured left front leg. He is probably saved by jockey Chris Antley, who jumps off and immediately holds the injured leg off the ground, preventing Charismatic from doing more damage to it 1998 REAL QUIET is four lengths ahead with an eighth of a mile remaining but gets nipped by a nose at the wire by Victory Gallop 1997 SILVER CHARM fails to hold off Touch Gold in the final eighth of a mile and finishes second, three-quarters of a length behind 1989 SUNDAY SILENCE can’t match Easy Goer in final quarter of a mile and finishes second, eight lengths behind 1987 ALYSHEBA is checked sharply on final turn and finishes fourth, 14 lengths behind winner Bet Twice in a 10-horse field 1981 PLEASANT COLONY, never better than third, finishes 1 1/2 lengths behind Summing, with Highland Blade second 1979 SPECTACULAR BID, the 1-5 favorite, leads with a quarter of a mile left, but weakens and finishes 3 1/4 lengths behind Coastal and another head behind Golden Act 1971 CANONERO II leads 12 rivals for a mile before finishing fourth, 4 1/4 lengths behind winner Pass Catcher 1969 MAJESTIC PRINCE moves into second place with an eighth of a mile remaining, but can’t catch Arts And Letters and is beaten by 5 1/4 lengths 1968 FORWARD PASS leads at the eighth-pole, then fades slightly to finish second by 1 3/4 lengths to Stage Door Johnny 1966 KAUAI KING leads 10 rivals with a quarter of a mile remaining, but fades to fourth, seven lengths behind winner Amberoid 1964 NORTHERN DANCER is second in a nine-horse field with an eighth of a mile remaining, but finishes third, six lengths behind winner Quadrangle 1961 CARRY BACK never gets into contention and finishes seventh in a nine-horse field, 13 3/4 lengths behind winner Sherluck 1958 TIM TAM is unable to cut into Cavan’s lead and finishes second by six lengths 1944 PENSIVE leads with a quarter of a mile remaining, but loses by a half-length to Bounding Home SUMMARY 7... Second-place finishes 5... Third-place finishes. 3... Fourth-place finishes 1... Seventh-place finish. 1... Eighth-place finish Note: Burgoo King (1932) and Bold Venture (1936) won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness but did not run in the Belmont

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