General George Favorite Funny Guy One Serious Racehorse

His name evokes a smile, and though he has yet to register a win against open competition, make no mistake – Funny Guy is one serious racehorse.

Gatsas Stables, R. A. Hill Stable and Swick Stable's Funny Guy is a five-time stakes winner against fellow New York-breds that owns six wins, six seconds and $638,645 in purse earnings from 17 lifetime starts.

The 5-year-old son of 2008 Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness (G1) winner Big Brown has fared well in the occasional foray into open company, including a runner-up finish behind Grade 1 winner Firenze Fire in the Vosburgh (G2) last fall at his home base of Belmont Park.

Funny Guy is entered to make his graded-stakes return in Saturday's $250,000 General George (G3) at Laurel Park, where he is the 9-5 program favorite against a field boasting seven other stakes winners including Grade 3 winners Laki, Majestic Dunhill and Share the Ride.

The 45th running of the General George for 4-year-olds and up and $250,000 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie (G3) for females 4 and older, both sprinting seven furlongs, serve as the co-headliners on a nine-race Winter Sprintfest program featuring six stakes worth $900,000 in purses rescheduled from Feb. 13 due to weather.

Funny Guy has been at Laurel since last week under the supervision of Tonja Terranova, wife and assistant to trainer John Terranova. Though training has been intermittently interrupted by weather, John Terranova said Funny Got got in a “strong gallop” Wednesday morning.

“It's all good. We'll just do what we've got to do during the week,” he said. “I guess everyone else is in the same boat with the postponement. We'll just ride the wave.”

The General George will be only the second time Funny Guy has raced outside of New York. The first came in the 2019 Oklahoma Derby (G3), when he ran sixth behind Owendale, third in that year's Preakness, and runner-up Sleepy Eyes Todd, most recently fourth in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1) Jan. 23 at Gulfstream Park and running in Saturday's $20 million Saudi Cup.

“He's been great. He's honest, he does everything right. He's been a fun horse to be around,” John Terranova said. “He's versatile and just keeps coming back for more each time. He's had a couple little circumstances where maybe the track got to him a little bit or it just didn't set up quite right, but he's always given us a big effort.”

One start prior to last year's Vosburgh, Funny Guy wound up fourth by 2 ½ lengths in the Forego (G1) at Saratoga to Win Win Win, another veteran of the 2019 Triple Crown trail, and Grade 1 winner Complexity, the runner-up. The seven-furlong Forego was contested during a thunderstorm that rolled through at post time. In a sign of respect, Funny Guy was sent off as the favorite in the Forego and Vosburgh.

“The Forego was one of those circumstances with that horrific rainstorm we were in the middle of when they snapped the gate on us. Everybody rushed out to the track and it was an absolute deluge,” Terranova said. “You couldn't even see them. It was like running through a river. He was down inside, just buried in there. The track took away from a lot of performances on that afternoon.”

Funny Guy's stakes wins have come at distances from 6 ½ furlongs to the 1 1/8 miles of the Albany, which he captured by a neck in 2019 at Saratoga, earning him a shot in the Oklahoma Derby. Given some time off after that effort, he returned with back-to-back stakes wins in the one-mile Commentator and seven-furlong John Morrissey last summer.

In his 2021 debut, Funny Guy ran second as the favorite in the seven-furlong Say Florida Sandy Jan. 9 at Aqueduct, his first start since a neck triumph in the New York Stallion Series Thunder Rumble Nov. 22, also going seven-eighths at the Big A.

“The track was a little loose on him. He's a big, heavy horse and winter tracks, they get cold, they get cuppy, they get loose and dry,” Terranova said. “He doesn't really get his feet that far up off the ground so I think he struggled with it, having that quickness to him. It took it a little bit away from him the last start. Our jock said the same thing after getting off him.”

Funny Guy owns two wins and two seconds in five career tries at the General George distance, and is two-for-three on an off track. A second winter storm is scheduled to pass through the Laurel area Thursday into Friday morning.

“He's certainly doing well coming into this. We're just kind of like in this holding pattern, not much to do this week,” Terranova said. “He's doing great. We've been looking forward to this race. Wet or dry, he's been great. Everything's good.”

Terranova has shipped in to Maryland and left with graded-stakes before, taking the 2019 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G3) with Killybegs Captain. It was the trainer's most recent of more than a dozen graded triumphs.

“We've been lucky down there and very fortunate that we've had some good success with our horses,” he said. “Hopefully it continues with Funny Guy.”

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Horsemen Adapting After Winter Sprintfest’s One-Week Delay At Laurel

In a sport where making last-minute adjustments is a daily occurrence, horsemen are adapting accordingly to the one-week transfer of the Winter Sprintfest program, originally scheduled for Feb. 13 at Laurel Park in Maryland.

The entire nine-race program featuring six stakes, two graded, worth $900,000 in purses will be run Saturday, Feb. 20. Co-headlining the card are the $250,000 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie (G3) for females and $250,000 General George (G3).

Barry Schwartz's Grade 3-winning homebred Sharp Starr, based at Belmont Park with trainer Horacio DePaz, was one of two horses that shipped to Maryland for the Fritchie, which attracted a field of eight including Laurel-based multiple stakes winners Hello Beautiful, the 8-5 program favorite, and Dontletsweetfoolya.

“The only way it affects us, and it's in a positive way, is the filly has more time to settle in,” trainer Horacio DePaz said. “I'm just going to leave her here at Laurel and train from here and go into the race. It's all good on that part.”

Sharp Starr, winner of the Go for Wand (G3) Dec. 5 at Aqueduct, exits a bullet half-mile work in 47 seconds Feb. 6, the fastest of 140 horses over Belmont's training track. She drew the rail in the Fritchie and is the 3-1 second choice on the morning line for DePaz, the former private trainer for Sagamore Farm who maintains a string at Pimlico Race Course.

“She had a huge work coming into it and she's been doing good and settled in for the most part pretty good,” DePaz said. “It just gives us more time. She's eating well, so hopefully we'll get some nice days to train. We'll see what happens.”

R.A. Hill Stable's 2020 Bold Ruler (G3) winner Majestic Dunhill made the trip from Palm Beach Downs in South Florida to Maryland, where the 6-year-old gelding drew Post 4 in a field of 10 for the General George that included fellow graded winners Laki and Share the Ride and multiple stakes winners Lebda and Funny Guy, the 9-5 program favorite based in New York.

“Whenever you're pointing for a race, particularly a stakes race, you put your horse on a schedule and have a very deliberate plan, and then something like this happens with the weather,” Majestic Dunhill trainer George Weaver said. “All the other horses have to deal with it, too. It is what it is.”

Majestic Dunhill shipped in to win the 2018 City of Laurel, run second in the 2019 General George and third in the 2017 Laurel Futurity on turf and 2019 Polynesian.

“I'm just going to leave him there and train him over the phone, and hopefully he does OK,” he added. “We know he likes it at Laurel.”

So, too, does Louis Ulman and Neil Glasser's Kenny Had a Notion, whose four wins from seven career starts include the Jamestown on turf and the Maryland Million Nursery and Spectacular Bid on dirt, the latter Jan. 16. The son of Great Notion is the 5-2 second choice among seven in the $100,000 Miracle Wood for 3-year-olds going one mile.

“You know in this business, you're calling audibles every day. So, we'll have to see how the weather and the track is the next couple days and then I'll decide what I need to do with him. Hopefully we can get something done with him before Saturday,” trainer Dale Capuano said. “The extra time won't hurt him.”

Capuano also entered Mopo Racing's 5-year-old gelding Dixie Drawl in the $100,000 John B. Campbell for 4-year-olds and up at about 1 1/16 miles. Dixie Drawl is third choice in the program at 9-2.

“I don't think the extra time is going to bother him, either,” Capuano said. “I was going to scratch him anyway with the track coming up sloppy so, for him, it worked out just as well. It's another chance for a fast track for him. We'll see.”

The son of late trainer Phil Capuano whose younger brother, Gary, is also a Laurel-based trainer, Dale Capuano has won 3,530 races and more than $63 million in purse earnings since 1981, and is the all-time leading trainer in Maryland Million history with 13 wins.

“It was bad timing, but we'll see what happens next week,” he said. “You never know what you're gonna get.”

Laurel is scheduled to host a special Presidents Day holiday program Monday, Feb. 15, offering carryovers of $3,531.94 in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 (Races 4-9) and $1,386.50 in the $1 Super Hi-5 (Race 2). First race post time is 12:25 p.m.

Monday's card includes a 5 ½-furlong allowance for Maryland-bred/sired horses in Race 7 that includes narrow 3-1 program favorite Nightlife and 2020 Wide Country winner Naughty Thoughts, and a third-level optional claiming allowance for older horses in Race 8 where Grade 3 winner Always Sunshine is favored at 2-1 off a Jan. 24 victory – his first start in 541 days.

John and Diane Fradkin's Rombauer, sent off as the 6-5 favorite in a field of eight, rallied from last to first for a neck victory over Javanica in the $100,000 El Camino Real Derby Feb. 13 at Golden Gate Fields. Trained by Michael McCarthy and second in the American Pharoah (G1) last fall at Santa Anita, the bay Twirling Candy colt earned an automatic berth to the 146th Preakness Stakes (G1) May 15 at Pimlico.

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Majestic Dunhill Attempting Rebound In Saturday’s General George

R.A. Hill Stable's Grade 3 winner Majestic Dunhill, exiting a pair of disappointing efforts off a career-best performance, trades the South Florida sunshine for Maryland's winter chill as he attempts to regain his winning form in Saturday's $250,000 General George (G3) at Laurel Park.

The 45th running of the General George for 4-year-olds and up and the 69th edition of the $250,000 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie for fillies and mares 4 and older, both sprinting seven furlongs, highlight a Winter Sprintfest program of six stakes worth $900,000 in purses.

Sophomores will be in the spotlight in the $100,00 Miracle Wood going one mile and $100,000 Wide Country for fillies at seven furlongs, while older horses will contest the $100,000 Nellie Morse for females and $100,000 John B. Campbell, each at about 1 1/16 miles.

Post time for the first of nine races is 12:25 p.m. The General George is carded as Race 8 (3:53 p.m.).

No horse will have traveled farther for the General George than Majestic Dunhill, a 6-year-old gelding who is no stranger to Laurel or the race, having finished second by a length to Uncontested as a 25-1 long shot in 2019. He has placed in three stakes since, including the 2019 Polynesian at Laurel, and beat Share the Ride by a head to capture the seven-furlong Bold Ruler (G3) in the mud on Halloween at Belmont Park.

Following the Bold Ruler, Majestic Dunhill was unsettled in the starting gate and got stuck racing inside when seventh, beaten 4 ½ lengths by Share the Ride, in the six-furlong Fall Highweight (G3) Nov. 28 at Aqueduct. Trainer George Weaver wheeled him back in three weeks for the seven-furlong Mr. Prospector Dec. 19 at Gulfstream Park, losing all chance after being bounced around at the start and finishing 10th.

“He won the Bold Ruler there at Belmont and we were delighted with it. We always felt like he had a graded-stake with his name on it,” Weaver said. “I tried him six furlongs in his next spot, he broke bad and didn't run a [bit]. I ran him back too quick [in Florida] and he didn't run a [bit], but we freshened him up a little bit.

“The horse is doing great,” he added. “He had a great work and he's always run well at Laurel, so we're going to take another shot at it. He's run in the race before and run well, so it looks like a good opportunity for the horse and we're happy to be in it.”

Weaver feels Majestic Dunhill heads into the General George more prepared than he did the Mr. Prospector, whose winner, Sleepy Eyes Todd, would go on to run fourth to Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner Knicks Go in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) Jan. 23.

“Gulfstream's a funny track. If you don't get away a little bit it's really hard to make up ground unless you get some pace in front of you,” Weaver said. “The horse didn't break running [at Aqueduct]; he kind of got in a tangle and even after that didn't do much running. I brought him down here and ran him on short rest without breezing him and it was probably my fault. He really wasn't ready to fire big. I was running just to take a shot and it didn't work out, but now we've got our I's dotted and our T's crossed and we're ready to roll.”

In addition to the General George and Polynesian, both with jockey Feargal Lynch aboard, Majestic Dunhill won the City of Laurel Stakes in 2018 and was third in the 2017 Laurel Futurity on turf in previous trips to Maryland. Feargal Lynch, who returned Feb. 7 from a seven-month absence due to injury, will ride from Post 4 in a field of 10.

“He's been beat there but he won the stake late in his 3-year-old year, then came back and ran a huge second at big odds in the General George. Every time he's run there, he runs well,” Weaver said. “I don't know what it is about the track. That race, every year since he's run well, has been in the back of my mind. We didn't catch it last year. The horse was on a bit of a break, but this year we were able to make it and we're glad.”

Majestic Dunhill, a five-time winner with more than $375,000 in purse earnings from 23 starts, is listed at 10-1 on the morning line.

“I feel bad for him. I've been throwing him to the wolves, but he's been a hardy horse,” Weaver said. “He's 6 years old now and we've had him since he was a baby. He's just an old war horse. I used him as Vekoma's workmate. He's the only horse I had in my barn that could work heads-up with him. He's been useful to us in many ways. He's been a real fun racehorse to have, and we hope he can get it done.”

Randy Hill also shares an ownership stake with Gatsas Stables and Swick Stable in Funny Guy, the 9-5 program favorite for the General George. Based in New York with trainer John Terranova, the 5-year-old son of 2008 Preakness (G1) winner Big Brown is a five-time stakes winner against New York-breds who was second in the Vosburgh (G2) and fourth in the Forego (G1) last year and most recently second in the seven-furlong Say Florida Sandy Jan. 9 at Aqueduct. Sheldon Russell is named to ride from Post 2.

Breaking from the rail with regular rider Horacio Karamanos will be Hillside Equestrian Meadows' 8-year-old gelding Laki, rallying nose winner of the six-furlong Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G3) on the 2020 Preakness undercard. The De Francis was Laki's first graded attempt since finishing third in the 2019 General George, 1 ¼ lengths behind Majestic Dunhill.

Laki exits back-to-back fourth-place finishes, each going six furlongs, in the Dec. 26 Dave's Friend and Jan. 16 Fire Plug, the latter as the favorite after clipping heels early in the race and never able to find his stride. The second and third-place finishers, Share the Ride and Lebda, also return in the General George.

“Any kind of stumble or clipping heels or checking at that level is definitely going to compromise them, but he kind of fooled me going into that race. I just thought he was super sharp and he didn't kick,” trainer Damon Dilodovico said. “They're not machines. They all have bad days, but he hasn't had many.

“He's unbelievable, he is. He is a godsend, this guy,” he added. “He just does his work. He's easy in the barn.”

Laki has won at least one stakes every year since 2017 and owns six overall, four of them coming at Laurel, where he has a record of 8-7-3 from 21 starts. He is the richest horse in the field, with $715,662 in purse earnings.

“Hopefully he can make another good showing for himself. He definitely doesn't owe me anything,” Dilodovico said of the 9-2 morning line third choice. “Hopefully he can make some noise.”

Euro Stable's Lebda was third in the 2019 Iroquois (G3) and won Laurel's one-mile Miracle Wood and 1 1/16-mile Private Terms last winter before the coronavirus pandemic paused live racing in Maryland for 2 ½ months. He has gone winless in six starts since returning, including a fifth in the Dave's Friend and third in the Fire Plug after missing time with a minor injury.

“For me he ran really good last time. He's running with the older horses now. The last one was good,” winter meet-leading trainer Claudio Gonzalez said. “The time before he had a little problem and was off for a couple months and he needed a race, and the last time he showed a little more. I was very happy how he ran and how he is doing now.”

Lebda dueled for the early lead and forged a short advantage after a half-mile in the Fire Plug before being passed late and settling for third, beaten 2 ½ lengths. Alex Cintron, up for eight of his last nine races including both stakes wins, gets the return call from Post 3.

“The last race he was going easy and the outside horse pushed him and that's why he had to move soon. If he was able to keep going and nobody come from the outside I think we could have win the race,” Gonzalez said. “I believe six, seven furlongs are going to be good for him. I like it.”

Silvino Ramirez's Share the Ride ran third behind Firenze Fire and Funny Guy in the Vosburgh and second to Majestic Dunhill in the Bold Ruler before capturing a seven-furlong allowance at Parx and turning the tables in the Fall Highweight. The 6-year-old Candy Ride gelding will be making his third start this year, caught at the wire by Wendell Fong in the Fire Plug at Laurel and finishing third as the favorite in the seven-furlong Toboggan (G3) two weeks later at Aqueduct.

Three horses – Tattooed, Chilly in Charge and Fortunate Friends – enter the General George off wins. Holt, Montuori and Palumbo Racing Stable's Tattooed became a stakes winner for the first time by rallying from last to first and stick his neck out at the wire in the one-mile Jennings for Maryland-bred/sired horses Jan. 16 at Laurel.

William McCarty's Fortunate Friends will be racing first time off the claim for trainer Shaun Morrow, who took the 5-year-old gelding for $35,000 out of a Dec. 11 win at Laurel for Dilodovico. Newtown Anner Stud Farm's stakes winner Chilly in Charge, beaten a neck by Honest Mischief in the 2019 City of Laurel, won an optional claimer Jan. 4 at Parx going seven furlongs.

Raul DelValle's stakes winner Arthur's Hope, a seven-furlong allowance winner last July at Laurel, and Trin-Brook Stables, Inc.'s Informative, second in the 2019 James F. Lewis III and fourth in the 2020 Concern at Laurel, complete the field.

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Equibase Analysis: Performer Appears Ready For Spotlight In Cigar Mile

This Saturday's Grade 1, $250,000 Cigar Mile Handicap drew a field of nine and will likely be run on a wet racetrack given the weather forecast near Aqueduct.

  • Among the nine, five are millionaires, led by Firenze Fire ($2.2 million), who won the Grade 1 Vosburgh Invitational Stakes in September. However, Firenze Fire has only won once on a wet track in five races and finished 11th and fourth in his last two stakes on the type of surface he's likely to be running over in the Cigar Mile.
  • Another millionaire is Snapper Sinclair ($1.3 million), who moves back to the main track after a pair of in-the-money finishes on turf including a second place in the Tourist Mile this past summer.
  • Mr. Buff is a horse who likes to lead early, resulting in 15 wins in 40 starts and $1.2 million in the bank. He has a liking for off tracks with three wins but nearly all of his 15 career wins have been racked up against New York breds only and he finished fifth in his two tries in graded stakes this year.
  • Mind Control ($1 million) put together three straight graded stakes wins from August 2019 through March of this year including the Grade 3 Tom Fool Stakes at Aqueduct but hasn't threatened to win in five races since then, two of those over sloppy tracks.
  • Similarly, True Timber ($1 million) has now gone winless in 13 races since September of 2018 although he did finish third in the Grade 1 Forego Stakes in August over a sloppy track.
  • Majestic Dunhill won the Grade 3 Bold Ruler Handicap in October and returns on five days rest following a seventh place effort in the Grade 3 Fall Highweight Handicap last Sunday.
  • Three-year-old King Guillermo won the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby in March before a second place finish in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby in May and makes his return to the races in the Cigar Mile.
  • Bon Raison has won 11 of 44 races but has never won a stakes race.
  • Last but certainly not least is Performer, who has won five races in a row going back to June, 2019, including the Grade 3 Discovery Stakes in November of 2019, before a win in October following 11 months off.

Performer lost the first start of his career in November, 2018 and has not lost a race since. Moving straight through his first two allowance conditions in the summer of 2019, Performer improved to earn 105 and 106 Equibase Speed Figures before a new career-best figure in November of last year when victorious in the Discovery Stakes at Aqueduct. Rested for 11 months, Performer returned as if he had never been away to win a classified allowance race in mid-October with a 109 figure effort. Joel Rosario has been aboard for every race since the debut, all wins, and rides again. With the ground saving rail and the ability to take up a stalking spot from the start behind likely early leader Mr. Buff, and with logical improvement off his comeback effort in October, Performer should be very tough to beat in this year's Cigar Mile Handicap.

King Guillermo proved his 49-1 upset win in the Tampa Bay Derby was no fluke when clearly second in the Arkansas Derby on what would have otherwise been Kentucky Derby day in May. Although regressing a bit to a 101 figure in the Arkansas Derby from the 110 earned in the Tampa Bay Derby, King Guillermo proved he belongs in top company. Rested since May, King Guillermo put in a very strong pair of half-mile drills at his home base in south Florida, the first of the two the best of 59 on the day and the second the best of 38, suggesting he may be able to do what Performer did in his recent comeback off a long layoff, and that is run as if he had never been away at all.

Snapper Sinclair has more second place finishes (six) than wins (five) in his career but he is competitive quite often and may be the one finishing fastest of all in the Cigar Mile. Snapper Sinclair ran well when second in the Essex Mile Handicap in March on a sloppy track with a 107 figure, similarly missing by a head on a muddy track in the Fifth Season Stakes in January with the same figure. This fall, Snapper Sinclair has run even better, earning a 114 figure when second (beaten three-quarters of a length) in the Tourist Mile Stakes. That race was on turf, but having run so well on dirt earlier this year, I think Snapper Sinclair could get a big piece in this race in his current form.

The rest of the field, with their best Equibase Speed Figures, is Bon Raison (116), Firenze Fire (111), Mr. Buff (119), Majestic Dunhill (112), Mind Control (113) and True Timber (113).

Win Contenders, in preference order:
Performer
King Guillermo
Snapper Sinclair

Cigar Mile Handicap – Grade 1
Race 10 at Aqueduct
Saturday, Dec. 5 – Post Time 4:13 PM E.T.
One Mile
Three Years Olds and Upward
Purse: $250,000

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