Lose 'em and use 'em

[Kentucky Bred]

What a different take:

http://www.belleville.com/mld/newsdemocrat/5787138.htm

While all the farms around here are weeping that a lowly NY Bred horse had the audacity to win the Kentucky Derby (let alone from a non-Kentucky stallion like Distorted Humor), the real insult to them is that the fact that Funny Cide is a gelding means they can't make tens of millions of dollars from breeding him as a stallion.

Well this writer has a very interesting way of looking at things. Maybe a gelding is just what the sport needs. In other words, "lose 'em and and use'em".

Kentucky Bred

[Shacopate]

This NY bred gelding was actually conceived in Versailles, Ky. Then Belles Good Cide was shipped to NY where she dropped the Derby winner. The choice to make Funny a gelding was because he had been born a ridgling (which means only one testicle was fully developed). They thought it was best for the horse.

I hope Funny stays healthy enough to race at 8 or 9, but we all know what todays win-right-away breeding philosophy does.

I think Funnys chances in the Preakness are excellent, but I don't see him getting past a freshened Empire Maker or an improving- by-the-day Dynever in the Belmont.

I probably gonna bet a Funny Cide-Peace Rules (cold) exacta in the preakness. I was lucky enough to settle on Funny as my longshot in the Derby when Sir Cherokee was scratched. But I remember one of the lessons my mentor taught me: NEVER FALL IN LOVE WITH A HORSE.

[rastajenk]

Jay Privman at DRF (http://www.drf.com/tc/derby/2003/news.html) reports that Empire Maker is a go for the Preakness, so the rivalry continues.

I like people getting hopped up over Dynever too, because I think it's misplaced enthusiasm. I think he's going in the Lone Star Derby this weekend, so we'll get a better idea then if he's ready to take on the top tier of 3yo's. So far, all he's done is trash Supah Blitz, which isn't very flattering. He looked good, but so did Ten Most Wanted, once. Wiseman's Ferry (Lone Star Derby winner) and Perfect Drift (by Dynaformer) seem like useful points of reference before handing anything to Dynever before he earns it.