funny cide.. they ought to be ashamed

[pmayjr]

You know where I think it really started to go sour for him? The '04 BC Classic at Lone Star when Ghostzapper won.

Funny Cide was coming off a gutty win in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. I was so proud of him after that day even when it turned out to be against a marginal field (Newfoundland and the Cliff's Edge). He dueled on the lead with Newfoundland, and then goin into the final turn he started dropping back. It looked like Newfoundland was gonna romp. Then the Cliff's Edge is about to pass him on the outside, and Funny Cide starts this gritty run. Newfoundland had cleared him in that final turn by a good 3-4 lengths, and the Cliff's Edge looked full of run going into the stretch. And Funny Cide gutted out a win against both of them. I was seriously enamroed with him after this race...

But then fast forward a month to the BC Classic at Lone Star. He gets killed in the race, finishes up the track. But not only that, he ran so erratic that day. You could see him in the back stretch very rank, and Santos had problems with him. Some people can blame that race on the hot weather (because he hasn't run well in it), but HE HASN'T BEEN THE SAME SINCE THAT RACE. He just hasn't. I don't know if it's a deterioration in skill, or if he just doesn't wanna race anymore... But whatever it is, it's time to hang it up.

Well... wait. Give him 2 more well-placed races on dirt. That way he'll have his 2nd and 3rd off the layoff chances to see if he can round into form. They tried a workout on the turf a couple of years ago, and it was dull. I think the Poly is no different. Keep him on the dirt, in NY, and see if he rounds into form. If he keeps losing to "inferior" horses after 2 more races, retire him for good. The only other question to ask is, what should Tagg consider "inferior" at this point?