News from Hou

Two incredible items showed up in the latest weekly press notes from Sam Houston. Funny Cide could be coming to Houston for the Connally, and Alumni Hall might be gay!

First, about Funny Cide...

"Sam Houston Race Park stakes coordinator, Don Thompson, has been in contact with trainers on the East and West coast and one of the most interesting nominations is Funny Cide, who won the 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, before finishing third in the Belmont Stakes. Thompson spoke to Funny Cide’s trainer, Barclay Tagg, last month and he indicated they might be interested in trying the 7-year-old gelding on turf."

Reading between the lines there, I'm skeptical that Tagg is seriously considering Houston right now, but I'll hope for the best. It would be a great spot for him, actually. While Funny Cide can't win a Grade I these days, he still runs credibly against horses of that caliber, which makes me think he might even be favored if he came here.

And now on to Alumni Hall...

"Alumni Hall, winner of the $100,000 MAXXAM Gold Cup at Sam Houston Race Park in 2005, was retired last March to stand stud in Kentucky at Lane's End. In addition to his victory in the MAXXAM, the son of A.P. Indy won the Grade 3 Ben Ali at Keeneland. His stud fee was $5,000, but after several months, it became clear to the powers that be at Lane’s End that Alumni Hall had absolutely no interest in impregnating mares! W. Temple Webber, who owns Alumni Hall in partnership with Will Farish and James Elkins, commented that while most stallions have no problem adjusting to stud duty, Alumni Hall was a challenge."

Elkins then gave this great quote...

“If Will Farish can’t figure it out, we knew we had to try something else,” said Webber, who resides in Houston. “They tried everything to get him interested in the mares and nothing worked.”

I did a quick google search for homosexual horses and found this fascinating feature about gay thoroughbreds (and horsemen)...

Gay Stallions and Tomboy Mares

I highly recommend this article. It's well-researched and includes some great nuggets of information. The author starts with the story of her own gay ex-jumper and has this great line: "He liked grays the way some men like blondes."

There's also a lot of information about all the gay men in 17th-century England who helped develop the breed that would come to be called the Thoroughbred. Who knew?

Anyway, Alumni Hall has been turned over to Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard, who will try to turn him into a jumper. The mares at Lane's End might not have interested Alumni Hall, but maybe the sight of Sheppard's famously charismatic stable pony, John's Call, will!