For the racing fans who made D’ Funnybone a 1-10 favorite in the Carry Back Stakes (G2) at Calder last month, there was nothing funny about the Florida-bred colt’s runner-up performance. The son of Vinery stallion D’wildcat tired to finish a length behind Florida-bred Coffee Boy while making his eighth consecutive start in a graded event.
D’ Funnybone returns Saturday in the $250,000 King’s Bishop Stakes (G1) at Saratoga, where he’s been installed as the 5-2 second choice in a field of seven 3-year-olds. The 6-5 favorite is Discreetly Mine, who was the runner-up to D’ Funnybone in both of their matchups.
D’ Funnybone beat Discreetly Mine by 4 ¾ lengths in the Futurity (G2) last September and by 3 ¼ lengths in the Woody Stephens Stakes (G2) in June, both at Belmont Park. But Discreetly Mine enters the race off an 8 ¾-length win in the Amsterdam Stakes (G2) at Saratoga on Aug. 2. He scored a 111 Beyer Speed Figure that day, the highest mark for any horse entered in the King’s Bishop.
Rick Dutrow Jr., who trains D’ Funnybone, said he thinks his horse can beat Discreetly Mine for a third time.
“I’ve got to figure we’re as live as (Discreetly Mine) is,” Dutrow said. “I’m not afraid of running against him again. He’s probably a better horse than when D’ Funnybone beat him, but I would expect he would beat him again.”
D’ Funnybone, bred by Ocala’s Harold J. Plumley, has earned five Grade 2 scores, including the Saratoga Special last year and the Hutcheson and Swale stakes this year at Gulfstream Park. He’s 4-for-4 at the seven-furlong distance of the King’s Bishop. The speedy colt has won six of his 10 starts and earned $655,700 for owner Paul Pompa Jr., making him the richest horse entered in the King’s Bishop.
D’ Funnybone will have usual rider Edgar Prado aboard when he breaks from the No. 3 post.
Discreetly Mine, trained by Todd Pletcher, will leave from the No. 4 post under John Velazquez. The son of Mineshaft ranks second in the field with $649,350 in earnings, having won the Jersey Shore Stakes (G3) at Monmouth Park in July and the Risen Star Stakes (G2) at Fair Grounds in February.
The King’s Bishop also features the return of Florida-bred Hurricane Ike, a son of Winding Oaks Farm stallion Graeme Hall bred by Summerfield’s Stanley Boileau. Hurricane Ike (6-1), won the Derby Trial Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs in April and was being pointed toward the Preakness Stakes (G1) when it was discovered that he had an injury to his left hind leg.
Hurricane Ike has won two of his eight start and earned $249,732 for owners Ike and Dawn Thrash and trainer John Sadler. He was a $115,000 purchase at OBS as a yearling in August 2008.
Hurricane Ike will have Calvin Borel aboard when he breaks from the No. 2 post.
“We brought him back to California, got him right, and he’s training well,” Sadler said. “I don’t think the layoff is a problem. I think the quality is going to be more of a question. The two elite horses in there are very good.”
The field also includes In Jack’s Memory (20-1) and Latigo Shore (20-1), who finished third and fourth in the Amsterdam Stakes; Bulldogger (5-1), who won a $52,000 allowance by 4 ¾ lengths at Saratoga on Aug. 14; and Bank Merger (8-1), who improved to 2-for-2 with a 1 ¼-length score in a $52,000 allowance at Saratoga last month.
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Photo by Coglianese
