Monday, Aug. 4, 2003 | 9:22 a.m.
Ralph Siraco's horse racing column appears Monday and his Southern California selections run Tuesday-Sunday.
They're back. Those glamour sophomores who became racing's newest household names during the Triple Crown campaign returned to the track Sunday. And the crowds were back as well.
Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Funny Cide and Belmont Stakes winner Empire Maker lured almost 119,000 fans to the races in their comebacks on the Eastern seaboard. And, along with some other talented classmates, they prepared for their final sophomore competitions before they must face their elders in the fall championship races.
The Jim Dandy at Saratoga was the return engagement for Empire Maker as an announced crowd of 65,346 on a T-shirt giveaway day came to see the Bobby Frankel trainee prep for the spa's centerpiece event, the Travers Stakes, 20 days hence on Saturday, Aug. 23.
Funny Cide headlined the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park as 53,638 -- the largest crowd in the track's history -- came to watch their Derby darling's return to the races since his Triple Crown failure in the Belmont Stakes on June 7.
And, again, it was Frankel who was in the center of the action with runners in both events.
A four-time Eclipse-Award winning trainer, Frankel has built the most powerful stable in America.
While Frankel kept Empire Maker at Saratoga for the Jim Dandy, he sent Peace Rules to Monmouth Park for the Haskell. Frankel came within a neck of completing a perfect sweep in the nation's three biggest races of the weekend.
Although Funny Cide prepared for his return at Saratoga, trainer Barclay Tagg thought that the Haskell would be an easier spot for a return victory. Shipping to the New Jersey shore from upstate New York was the plan to avoid Empire Maker for at least his comeback outing. Frankel also had Peace Rules training at Saratoga for his return and wanted to keep his star sophomores competing apart for as long as he could. Thus, Peace Rules hitched a ride on the van to Monmouth Park.
Peace Rules hadn't raced since a dismal fourth May 17 in the Preakness Stakes. Frankel reasoned the Louisiana Derby and Blue Grass Stakes winner needed time off.
He was right.
Peace Rules dotted right out of the starting gate in the Grade I Haskell and cleared his main rivals by the time they hit the first turn in the 1 1/8-mile race. Funny Cide uncharacteristically retreated to mid-pack and never looked like a winner from that point on. Peace Rules took it to his six rivals and played "catch me if you can" in the $1 million race, and simply put, they couldn't. Peace Rules reported home in 1:49:1 and returned $6.60 to win. Sky Mesa finished second, Funny Cide a disappointing third.
Jockey Edgar Prado, who was aboard as Peace Rules registered his sixth victory in 11 lifetime starts, said Frankel pointed the winner for the Haskell immediately after his Preakness loss. Frankel also told Prado that Peace Rules runs his best races fresh. The trainer knows his horses.
About 20 minutes earlier, however, it wasn't Frankel who failed to know his horse as much as multiple Eclipse-winning rider Jerry Bailey. Some observers cited Bailey for an untimely ride that led to a neck shortcoming in the Jim Dandy.
Empire Maker was sent off as an odds-on favorite to win the $500,000 Travers prep. But, as in the Haskell, pace made the race. Strong Hope, who had employed front-running tactics in stringing four consecutive victories leading to the Jim Dandy, attended the pace in the 1 1/8-mile race. Bailey, who has ridden Empire Maker in all of his eight lifetime starts, allowed his equine partner to lag in fifth place early in the Grade II race. While putting in his stretch run, Empire Maker went wide into the home stretch as jockey John Velazquez opened up a 2-length buffer on Strong Hope for the run to the finish. Although Empire Maker made up ground-eating strides to the wire, Strong Hope had built up enough margin to hold off Empire Maker by a neck to win his fifth race in a row. The Todd Pletcher trainee paid $15.40 to win and completed the trip in 1:48.
Bailey seemed to be more upset at the loss than Frankel. When asked if the wide run made the difference of victory, Bailey said anytime "you go wide and get beat by less than a length it makes a difference." Frankel thought his horse ran a winning effort in defeat and didn't feel bad about the loss. He said the race should "set him up well for the Travers."
Frankel also has his division of handicap horses ready for the fall classics. He launched comeback victories by stable aces Medaglia d'Oro and Milwaukee Brew over the weekend as well.
Medaglia d'Oro returned from a 119-day layoff in resounding fashion on Saturday at Saratoga in the Grade I Whitney Handicap. Last seen winning the Oaklawn Handicap on April 5, the Frankel trainee repelled Breeders' Cup Classic winner Volponi to capture the $750,000 1 1/8th mile event while Evening Attire finished third. Under jockey Jerry Bailey, Medaglia d'Oro reported home in 1:47:3 and returned $3.60 to win as the favorite. While taking his third race of the year in as many outings, Medaglia d'Oro evened the score with Volponi. Medaglia d'Oro finished second in the Breeders' Cup Classic as a 3-year-old last year.
The trainer stirred the pot after Saturday's victory. Frankel defended his trainee by saying that Medaglia d'Oro is a good horse. He said, "Everybody knows he's a good horse except for the guy who didn't think he was a good horse; that was the guy who finished second." Referring to the connections of Volponi, Frankel concluded, "I've learned that winning is the best revenge."
On Sunday in the opening race on the Haskell card at Monmouth Park, Frankel returned two-time Santa Anita Handicap winner Milwaukee Brew to the races. The son of the first Breeders' Cup Classic winner Wild Again picked up right where he left off at the March 1 "Big 'Cap" -- winning, again.
It seems that Frankel's ultimate revenge is winning in multiples.
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