All,
Thanks very much.. I didn't want to get into 'what could have been' with Funny Cide, but I will say that I thought that running in the '03 BCC destroyed any chance he had at being a great horse beyond his Classic exploits. He was basically in training for three straight years without a significant break. That mistake belongs squarely on the ownership.
I also will say that Sackatoga's shameless merchandising nonsense involved added to the scenario. Had Tagg been allowed to make all the calls with him, he might have had an exceptional career. Then there's also the matter of the Miami Herald's complicity in helping ruin his chances at a Triple Crown with their buzzer stupidity after Derby. That influenced how Santos rode him hard to wire in the Preakness when he could have jogged. Coupled with the crazy Belmont workout where Robin Smullen couldn't control him, and 'good bye' Triple Crown.
But for those two weeks in May '03, he couldn't have been better, and that's frequently enough to stamp a horse's passport to fame. I'll always appreciate him and that spring...
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All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind. ~ Joseph Conrad
A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right. ~ Thomas Paine
Don't let anyone tell you that your dreams can't come true. They are only afraid that theirs won't and yours will. ~ Robert Evans
The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. ~ George Orwell, 1984.
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