BELMONT STAKES Funny Cide's run ended

Empire Maker spoiled the horse's bid for the Triple Crown Saturday.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Funny Cide's improbable run at the Triple Crown ended Saturday when Empire Maker came splashing through the mud around the far turn and won the Belmont Stakes.
Funny Cide's defeat left racing still longing for its first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.
Despite a steady rain, Funny Cide drew a large crowd who hoped to witness history. Instead, the New York-bred gelding became the fifth Kentucky Derby-Preakness winner in the last seven years to come up short in the Belmont.
This time Empire Maker turned the tables on Funny Cide, who upset trainer Bobby Frankel's colt in the Kentucky Derby. The colt ran up alongside Funny Cide with three eighths of a mile to go and jockey Jerry Bailey cruised home in the slop and held off closer Ten Most Wanted.
Took lead early
Funny Cide, sent right to the lead at the start by jockey Jose Santos, finished third. The first gelding to challenge for the Triple Crown never seemed to handle the sloppy surface.
Funny Cide became the 17th horse to win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness and come up short in the 11/2-mile Belmont, the longest and most grueling of the Triple Crown races.
Empire Maker gave Frankel his first win in a Triple Crown race. The Hall of Famer was 0-9 in the series, but had come close twice before in the Belmont. Medaglia d'Oro was second last year, and Aptitude was the runner-up in 2000.
In the days leading up to the race, Frankel relished the role of spoiler, saying, "I hope everybody hates me after the race -- then I'll know I did well."
Bailey said he knew he had Funny Cide "from the top of the backside."
"I knew he'd wear himself out," he said.
Santos' son and daughter were tearing up before the horses even entered the starting gate. And after the chestnut ran out of gas in the stretch and finished five lengths behind Empire Maker, the jockey's wife consoled Jose Jr. and told him, "It's OK."
Winner well rested
Empire Maker, owned by Saudi prince Khalid Abdullah, bruised his foot Derby week and finished 13/4 lengths behind Funny Cide. He skipped the Preakness, but was "dead fit" for Belmont, Frankel said.
"You know he's the best horse," Brooklyn-born Frankel said. "He pulled up but then he took off when that other horse [Ten Most Wanted] challenged. I wanted the race to shape up like that."
Bailey won the Belmont for the second time in 18 attempts, winning his first aboard Hansel in 1991.
Funny Cide's trainer Barclay Tagg was disappointed he couldn't deliver a Triple Crown.
"I feel bad for all the people who were behind him wanting him to win this," Tagg said. "I was pretty confident."
Funny Cide put in a sizzling final workout Tuesday, leading to speculation that he might have left his best race on the track.
Tagg said that wasn't the case.
"I really truly think that had nothing to do with it," he said. "You never know what they're going to do in mud."
Though thoroughbred racing is still without a Triple Crown winner, it may have gained a rivalry. Empire Maker owns a 2-1 advantage over Funny Cide, having won the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 12.
The two could meet again in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga in August.
Empire Maker, the 2-1 second choice, returned $6, $3.70 and $2.80. Ten Most Wanted, ridden by Pat Day, returned $5.80 and $3.20. Funny Cide, the even-money favorite, paid $2.70. Dynever was fourth, followed by Supervisor and Scrimshaw.
Funny Cide broke cleanly from the gate and moved right to the lead passing the grandstand as a crowd of 101,562 cheered on their New York hero. Scrimshaw was second along the inside, with Empire Maker running smoothly in third.
First sign of trouble
Along the backstretch, it appeared Funny Cide started fighting Santos and that's when Bailey knew he was looking at a victory.
"He was pulling on Jose, and my horse was relaxed," Bailey said. "The key to running a mile-and-a-half is to get your horse to relax."
Midway through the final turn, when Empire Maker took control, it was clear there would be no Triple Crown winner.
Funny Cide's defeat extended the Triple Crown drought to a record 26 years. Secretariat won the Triple Crown in 1973, 25 years after Citation.
Empire Maker, not Funny Cide, was supposed to be the big Triple Crown threat this year. He won the Wood and took the Florida Derby by nearly 10 lengths and was the clear favorite to win the Kentucky Derby. But when the gelding owned by some high school pals from Sackets Harbor, N.Y., won, Empire Maker dropped out of the spotlight.
Frankel, however, never lost confidence and for the past two weeks has been saying Empire Maker was ready to win the Belmont.
"I don't feel bad right now," Frankel said. "I feel great. I didn't think I'd get beat this time, and I was right."