"If that horse can't go 1 1/2 miles, my horse can't go 1 1/2 miles," he said.
Off-handed praise
Jennifer Pedersen, the trainer of New York Hero, was a fan of Funny Cide before he won the second leg of the Triple Crown. She said the elements helped underscore just how good the horse is yesterday.
"A good horse will overcome," she said. "If you have a good horse, I don't care if it's on a cement road or hot coals, he'll run over anything. You just saw a great horse."
By the numbers
For the fourth time in the past five years, attendance at the Preakness exceeded 100,000 persons, this time by 268 despite the inclement weather that ruled the day.
It was still short of 2002's throng of 101,138, the second-largest crowd in history at Pimlico on Preakness Day.
The overall handle was $59,384,334 and represented nearly an 8 percent drop from last year when the record was shattered with $64,546,504 on a 13-race program.
1 ... 2 ... 3?
Funny Cide is the 30th horse to win both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, and the fifth in the past seven years. How those horses fared in the Belmont (Triple Crown winners in boldface):
Year Horse Belmont
1919 Sir Barton Won
1930 Gallant Fox Won
1932 Burgoo King DNS
1935 Omaha Won
1936 Bold Venture DNS
1937 War Admiral Won
1941 Whirlaway Won
1943 Count Fleet Won
1944 Pensive Second
1946 Assault Won
1948 Citation Won
1958 Tim Tam Second
1961 Carry Back Seventh
1964 Northern Dancer Third
1966 Kauai King Fourth
1968 Forward Pass* Second
1969 Majestic Prince Second
1971 Canonero II Fourth
1973 Secretariat Won
1977 Seattle Slew Won
1978 Affirmed Won
1979 Spectacular Bid Third
1981 Pleasant Colony Third
1987 Alysheba Fourth
1989 Sunday Silence Second
1997 Silver Charm Second
1998 Real Quiet Second
1999 Charismatic Third
2002 War Emblem Eighth
2003 Funny Cide
DNS - Did not start * - Won Kentucky Derby on disqualification
