As Triple Crown hopeful Funny Cide continued his preparations for the Belmont Stakes by jogging around a wet Belmont Park racetrack Saturday morning, rival Empire Maker was suddenly entered in Monday's $100,000 Jersey Derby at Monmouth Park.
Trainer Bobby Frankel, fearful his colt would not be properly prepared for the 1A-mile Belmont because of continuing bad weather, made the decision to enter Empire Maker in the 1 1-16th-mile Jersey Derby when the race was moved off the turf.
"You have to train him more than you would a horse coming out of the Preakness," Frankel said of his colt, who skipped the second leg of racing's Triple Crown after finishing second to Funny Cide in the Kentucky Derby.
"I definitely haven't been able to do what I've wanted to with him," Frankel said. "I have to do something. This should get him where I need him."
Frankel could scratch the colt if the track at Belmont becomes good enough for him to train over.
The colt would be ridden in the Jersey Derby by Aaron Gryder as regular rider Jerry Bailey will be aboard Frankel's Aldebaran in Monday's Met Mile at Belmont. Empire Maker, the beaten Derby favorite, is considered Funny Cide's chief rival in the June 7 Belmont.
Meanwhile, Derby and Preakness winner Funny Cide remained on schedule for the Belmont despite the wet weather.
"It hasn't affected me at all," trainer Barclay Tagg said. "But I would like to breeze him at some point. This is an outdoor sport. You can't do much about it."
With rain having soaked the New York area since Friday, the gelding went onto the track at 6:30 a.m.
"I do that when the track is bad like this because when they harrow the track early, they don't harrow it all the way to the outside," Tagg said. "If the track is bad, I just jog him on the outside fence."
Tagg said Funny Cide's final tuneup for the Belmont would be June 3, the Tuesday before the race.
Funny Cide is bidding to become the first New York-bred and first gelding to win the Triple Crown, last won by Affirmed in 1978.
Meanwhile, Atswhatimtalknbout, fourth in the Derby, went back to the track Saturday morning at Churchill Downs after missing two days of training with a bruised right front foot. The colt popped an abscess, which allowed him to return to his schedule.
"Everything's a lot better than it was yesterday," trainer Ron Ellis said. "He ended up missing two days of training but with all the bad weather in New York, it seems like others have had their training affected, too."
Also, Colita, an allowance winner on May 21, will be ridden in the Belmont by Ramon Dominguez, said Team Valor president Barry Irwin. Another Belmont contender, Dynever, galloped 1D miles and trainer Christophe Clement said he hopes to work the colt on Monday, weather permitting.
Go Rockin' Robin won the Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont on Saturday, and is a possibility for the Belmont Stakes, along with runner-up Alysweep. Go Rockin' Robin, a New York-bred sired by Distorted Humor, the sire of Funny Cide, would have to be supplemented for $100,000.
http://www.hoosiertimes.com/stories/thisday/sports.0525-SH-C3_JPP32543.sto
Trainer Bobby Frankel, fearful his colt would not be properly prepared for the 1A-mile Belmont because of continuing bad weather, made the decision to enter Empire Maker in the 1 1-16th-mile Jersey Derby when the race was moved off the turf.
"You have to train him more than you would a horse coming out of the Preakness," Frankel said of his colt, who skipped the second leg of racing's Triple Crown after finishing second to Funny Cide in the Kentucky Derby.
"I definitely haven't been able to do what I've wanted to with him," Frankel said. "I have to do something. This should get him where I need him."
Frankel could scratch the colt if the track at Belmont becomes good enough for him to train over.
The colt would be ridden in the Jersey Derby by Aaron Gryder as regular rider Jerry Bailey will be aboard Frankel's Aldebaran in Monday's Met Mile at Belmont. Empire Maker, the beaten Derby favorite, is considered Funny Cide's chief rival in the June 7 Belmont.
Meanwhile, Derby and Preakness winner Funny Cide remained on schedule for the Belmont despite the wet weather.
"It hasn't affected me at all," trainer Barclay Tagg said. "But I would like to breeze him at some point. This is an outdoor sport. You can't do much about it."
With rain having soaked the New York area since Friday, the gelding went onto the track at 6:30 a.m.
"I do that when the track is bad like this because when they harrow the track early, they don't harrow it all the way to the outside," Tagg said. "If the track is bad, I just jog him on the outside fence."
Tagg said Funny Cide's final tuneup for the Belmont would be June 3, the Tuesday before the race.
Funny Cide is bidding to become the first New York-bred and first gelding to win the Triple Crown, last won by Affirmed in 1978.
Meanwhile, Atswhatimtalknbout, fourth in the Derby, went back to the track Saturday morning at Churchill Downs after missing two days of training with a bruised right front foot. The colt popped an abscess, which allowed him to return to his schedule.
"Everything's a lot better than it was yesterday," trainer Ron Ellis said. "He ended up missing two days of training but with all the bad weather in New York, it seems like others have had their training affected, too."
Also, Colita, an allowance winner on May 21, will be ridden in the Belmont by Ramon Dominguez, said Team Valor president Barry Irwin. Another Belmont contender, Dynever, galloped 1D miles and trainer Christophe Clement said he hopes to work the colt on Monday, weather permitting.
Go Rockin' Robin won the Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont on Saturday, and is a possibility for the Belmont Stakes, along with runner-up Alysweep. Go Rockin' Robin, a New York-bred sired by Distorted Humor, the sire of Funny Cide, would have to be supplemented for $100,000.
http://www.hoosiertimes.com/stories/thisday/sports.0525-SH-C3_JPP32543.sto
