Early start

Funny Cide takes fast track in Belmont tuneup

NEW YORK (AP) -- Triple Crown threat Funny Cide put in his final tuneup for the Belmont Stakes much earlier and faster then expected Tuesday morning.

Funny Cide breezed five-eighths of a mile (1000 meters) in a sharp 57 4/5 seconds under exercise rider Robin Smullen.

Trainer Barclay Tagg sent Funny Cide to the track at 5:30 a.m., three hours earlier then scheduled. One of the first horses out on a fast track, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner worked a full two seconds faster then his previous work over a sloppy Belmont track on May 28.

Tagg was not immediately available to comment on the workout, but Mike Silleto, jockey Jose Santos' agent, said Funny Cide "looked awesome, and didn't even look like he had just done anything when he walked off the track."

Funny Cide, who will attempt to win the Belmont Stakes on Saturday and become the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years, galloped out six furlongs in 1:11 2/5.

Clockers said Smullen was standing in the stirrups trying to slow down Funny Cide. Tagg was aboard his pony with his hands up, trying to alert Smullen to slow down the 3-year-old son of Distorted Humor.

"He's just so strong," Silleto said. "I've seen him train since the Wood Memorial, and that's the way he is. It's just an average workout for him. Even though it doesn't sound logical, he did it on his own."

There's no way of telling whether the work will affect Funny Cide's chances in the 1 1/2-mile Belmont.

"That's fast, but it all depends on the horse's constitution," said Hall of Fame jockey Angel Cordero, now a jockey agent. "But he's one strong horse, very hard to train."

Funny Cide likely will have light jogs and canters around Belmont's main track in the days leading up to the race.

 

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