I have a wish, just one wish. Forget about hitting the lottery or winning a Pulitzer Prize, eternal happiness or any of that nonsense. Before I die, I want to see a Kentucky Derby that actually makes sense. I'm growing increasingly pessimistic.

It's not that I didn't like Funny Cide. All that stuff about geldings and New York breds never winning the Kentucky Derby was a bunch of nonsense. This is a good horse who had run very well in the Wood Memorial. He figured, at least as I saw it, to run a big race.

But how could he beat Empire Maker? Empire Maker had toyed with him in the Wood Memorial just three weeks earlier. You almost had to feel sorry for Funny Cide that day; it was like the playground bully had taunted him before beating him to a pulp in full view of everyone. With Jose Santos whipping and slashing and driving and asking his horse for his life, Jerry Bailey was still as stone on Empire Maker. Empire Maker won by a half-length. It seemed like it could have been 20.

Even trainer Barclay Tagg had to convince himself that there actually was a ray of hope after such a display of futility.

"If you looked at it objectively, my horse was getting the hell beat out of him with the whip and Jerry Bailey seemed to be nothing more than steering on Empire Maker," he said. "I talked myself into believing it just looked that way because was he was trying to keep him from drifting out. I started to believe that both riders were riding as hard as they could. I clung to that thought to remain faithful."

Funny Cide slipped into town Wednesday, well after the others had been happily bedded down at Churchill Downs. No one even seemed to know he was here. The only mention of him came when someone brought up the long list of geldings who had failed in the Kentucky Derby or scoffed at the nation of a lowly New York bred winning America's greatest horse race. New York breds win the ninth at Aqueduct in the middle of February, not the Run for the Roses.

It was all Empire Maker all the time. There was the bruise, the three-quarter shoe, the goofy antics Friday morning out on the track. He had star power, and lots of it. Every time the horse sneezed, it made front page headlines all across America. Besides, he is trained by Bobby Frankel, the magic man. And he is owned by a card carrying prince from Saudi Arabia.

By the way, who is Barclay Tagg?  And what's a Sackatoga Stable?

As the race unfolded, it was clear that Funny Cide had come to play. Under Jose Santos, he got a perfect trip, sitting just off the pace until he glided to the lead near the head of the stretch. But Empire Maker was right behind him, poised, it seemed, to make the winning move any time Jerry Bailey chose to say go. Instead, it was Funny Cide who shifted into another gear and rolled to a 1 3/4-length win at odds of 12-1. Empire Maker was lucky to finish second. It was if the Wood Memorial never happened.

"I still think Empire Maker's better than that horse," Bailey said afterward. "But that doesn't change what happened today."

So, here we go again. Did the best horse win the Kentucky Derby? The answer is, probably not. But what else is new.

More and more, it's starting to look like the Derby is nothing more than a crapshoot. Line them up, put them in the gate and something odd will happen. Did anyone really expect War Emblem to get loose on the lead and waltz around the track unchallenged in 2002? Why didn't Point Given win in 2001? He was, after all, the best horse. Charismatic at 31-1 in 1999. Yeah, that figured. Right. Now this.

Take nothing away from Funny Cide. He ran his eyeballs out and was clearly the best horse. Empire Maker had no excuse whatsoever. Neither did Peace Rules or anyone else. But the supposed star didn't get the job done and some non-descript gelding out of New York did, to the surprise of everyone.

That's the Kentucky Derby for you.