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CNN Saturday Morning News

Funny Cide Will Try to Become First Triple Crown Winner in a Quarter-Century

Aired June 07, 2003 - 09:12   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SANJAY GUPTA, CNN ANCHOR: Later today, Funny Cide will try and become the first horse to win the Triple Crown in a quarter-century. But to make that dream come true, Funny Cide will have to battle the rest of the field, and possibly Mother Nature.
Joining us with some more information on that and the race is our Josie Karp, who's live at the Belmont -- Josie.

JOSIE KARP, CNN SPORTS: Good morning, Sanjay.

You know, the air is heavy with anticipation, and, right now, moisture. It's just starting to rain right now. How's that for good timing? That should have some effect on the race, but it's not necessarily a bad thing for Funny Cide's chances. He's trying to become the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years, and he has an -- some experience on a track conditions that are less than ideal.

You go back to the Preakness. That was a good track, and the best is fast, and that was a step below. And all the way back to the Wood Memorial, which is right before the Kentucky Derby. He came in second in that race, and that was run on a muddy track.

And he finished second in that race to Empire Maker. Empire Maker was the favorite to win the Kentucky Derby, and so Funny Cide upset him in that race. They haven't gone head-to-head since, because Empire Maker sat out the Preakness. And today, Empire Maker is expected to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) have the main challenge to Funny Cide's chances again to make history, Sanjay.

GUPTA: You know, you know, it's interesting, Josie, it's a small field of horses this time around. How do -- what are people saying how that will affect Funny Cide's chances?

KARP: The belief is that it's not a bad thing for Funny Cide that the field is so small, especially if you look at history. If you're into numbers, there was 11 horses prior to this who ended up winning the Triple Crown. The average field that they went up against in the Belmont was between five and six. You have a six-horse field. So that seems to really play into Funny Cide's hands.

And it takes out a little bit of that element of the uncertain, of people bumping each other, horses getting off to a bad start, things like that. They can spread out a little bit more, Sanjay. GUPTA: You know, the other thing we were talking about, Josie, Heidi and I were talking about earlier, we've never seen a gelding win the Triple Crown. That's a horse that's been fixed or castrated. What does that mean for the sport if the Triple Crown actually goes to Funny Cide?

KARP: It's potentially a really great thing for the sport. It's not a great thing for owners who want to get rich, because you can't send that horse out to stud. But horse racing needs all the fans it can get now. And because this horse is a gelding, he will have a long racing career, as long as he stays sound. That's another five or six years of watching this horse run, Sanjay.

GUPTA: Yes. And Josie, you know, it's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- you can feel the excitement all the way here in Atlanta for this. I'm not a big horse racing fan, but certainly this is a big deal. What's the mood like over there in Belmont?

KARP: There is a lot of excitement, there was a lot of excitement yesterday. And I think a lot of that comes from the owners. This is a horse that has gotten a lot of people who aren't necessarily interested in horse racing in this horse, because they have these guys, these 10 guys who own the horse, that really are regular guys. They aren't the wealthiest people in the world. They aren't well known.

And a lot of people probably feel like, Hey, I could be this guy. They only paid $75,000 for this horse, which is not all that much, considering you can pay millions for them.

GUPTA: That's right. Josie, thank you so much. They -- hopefully they'll get their money many times over. Have fun out there today at the Belmont.

KARP: Thanks, Sanjay.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




a Quarter-Century>


Aired June 7, 2003 - 09:12   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN ANCHOR: Later today, Funny Cide will try and become the first horse to win the Triple Crown in a quarter-century. But to make that dream come true, Funny Cide will have to battle the rest of the field, and possibly Mother Nature.
Joining us with some more information on that and the race is our Josie Karp, who's live at the Belmont -- Josie.

JOSIE KARP, CNN SPORTS: Good morning, Sanjay.

You know, the air is heavy with anticipation, and, right now, moisture. It's just starting to rain right now. How's that for good timing? That should have some effect on the race, but it's not necessarily a bad thing for Funny Cide's chances. He's trying to become the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years, and he has an -- some experience on a track conditions that are less than ideal.

You go back to the Preakness. That was a good track, and the best is fast, and that was a step below. And all the way back to the Wood Memorial, which is right before the Kentucky Derby. He came in second in that race, and that was run on a muddy track.

And he finished second in that race to Empire Maker. Empire Maker was the favorite to win the Kentucky Derby, and so Funny Cide upset him in that race. They haven't gone head-to-head since, because Empire Maker sat out the Preakness. And today, Empire Maker is expected to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) have the main challenge to Funny Cide's chances again to make history, Sanjay.

GUPTA: You know, you know, it's interesting, Josie, it's a small field of horses this time around. How do -- what are people saying how that will affect Funny Cide's chances?

KARP: The belief is that it's not a bad thing for Funny Cide that the field is so small, especially if you look at history. If you're into numbers, there was 11 horses prior to this who ended up winning the Triple Crown. The average field that they went up against in the Belmont was between five and six. You have a six-horse field. So that seems to really play into Funny Cide's hands.

And it takes out a little bit of that element of the uncertain, of people bumping each other, horses getting off to a bad start, things like that. They can spread out a little bit more, Sanjay. GUPTA: You know, the other thing we were talking about, Josie, Heidi and I were talking about earlier, we've never seen a gelding win the Triple Crown. That's a horse that's been fixed or castrated. What does that mean for the sport if the Triple Crown actually goes to Funny Cide?

KARP: It's potentially a really great thing for the sport. It's not a great thing for owners who want to get rich, because you can't send that horse out to stud. But horse racing needs all the fans it can get now. And because this horse is a gelding, he will have a long racing career, as long as he stays sound. That's another five or six years of watching this horse run, Sanjay.

GUPTA: Yes. And Josie, you know, it's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- you can feel the excitement all the way here in Atlanta for this. I'm not a big horse racing fan, but certainly this is a big deal. What's the mood like over there in Belmont?

KARP: There is a lot of excitement, there was a lot of excitement yesterday. And I think a lot of that comes from the owners. This is a horse that has gotten a lot of people who aren't necessarily interested in horse racing in this horse, because they have these guys, these 10 guys who own the horse, that really are regular guys. They aren't the wealthiest people in the world. They aren't well known.

And a lot of people probably feel like, Hey, I could be this guy. They only paid $75,000 for this horse, which is not all that much, considering you can pay millions for them.

GUPTA: That's right. Josie, thank you so much. They -- hopefully they'll get their money many times over. Have fun out there today at the Belmont.

KARP: Thanks, Sanjay.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




a Quarter-Century>