LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 19, 2023) – Funny Cide, 2003 Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1) winner, died\u00a0July 16 following complications from colic at 23 years old. The New York-bred, nicknamed the \u201cGutsy Gelding,\u201d was a resident at the Kentucky Horse Park\u2019s Hall of Champions barn since 2008.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the last 15 years, we have been graced by Funny Cide\u2019s presence at the Kentucky Horse Park,\u201d said Kentucky Horse Park President Lee Carter. \u201cThis year we celebrated the 20th\u00a0<\/span>anniversary of his Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes victories, allowing the gutsy gelding to captivate our hearts once again.\u00a0While we mourn Funny Cide\u2019s passing, he will forever remain the people\u2019s horse.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a great honor and privilege to be responsible for Funny\u2019s care,\u201d says Hall of Champions Supervisor Rob Willis. \u201cHe was the perfect ambassador for the sport of horse racing and responsible for creating new fans, reinvigorating old fans, and bringing new owners to the sport. Funny\u2019s story was not only admired by his fans but was also an inspiration to many. His legacy will live on at the Hall of Champions.\u201d<\/p>\n Sired by WinStar Farm\u2019s Distorted Humor and out of Belle\u2019s Good Cide, Funny Cide was foaled on April 20, 2000 at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbred Farm. Purchased as a gelding by a group of high school friends from Sackets Harbor, New York, known as Sackatoga Stable and trained by Barclay Tagg, Funny Cide won all three of his races as a two-year-old. His three-year-old campaign began in Florida where he was 5th in the Holy Bull Stakes (G3). \u00a0He then finished 2nd in both the Louisiana Derby (G2) and the Wood Memorial Stakes (G1) before heading to Kentucky.<\/p>\n Sent off at odds of nearly 13-1, Funny Cide scored a decisive win in the 2003 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, defeating the favorite Empire Maker by 1 1\/2 lengths under jockey Jose Santos. He became the first New York-bred to wear the blanket of roses and the first gelding winner since 1929. Two weeks later, in the Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico Race Course, he proved the Derby was no fluke, winning the second jewel of the Triple Crown by over 9 lengths. However, the fairy tale ending was not to be. Funny Cide battled through the long stretch to finish third in the Belmont Stakes, losing the race, and the Triple Crown, by only 5 lengths.<\/p>\n Funny Cide raced more than twenty times following his Triple Crown bid, hitting the board in half those starts and winning 3 graded stakes. In one of the most impressive performances in Funny Cide\u2019s long career, he returned to Belmont Park for the 2004 Jockey Gold Cup\u00a0(G1)\u00a0and reminded everyone why he\u2019ll always be known as the gutsy gelding. Overall, Funny Cide banked $3,529,412 in 38 starts and retired in 2007. After a brief stint as Tagg\u2019s stable pony, Funny Cide joined the Kentucky Horse Park\u2019s Hall of Champions.<\/p>\n \u201cSackatoga Stable wishes to express its heartfelt appreciation for the fabulous 15 years of Funny Cide\u2019s retirement that he was privileged to spend in the Hall of Champions at the Kentucky Horse Park,\u201d says Sackatoga Stable\u2019s managing partner Jack Knowlton. \u201cWe would like to express our thanks for the wonderful care provided to Funny Cide. To say we will miss him is an understatement.\u201d<\/p>\n Like other great Hall of Champions horses at the Kentucky Horse Park, Funny Cide will be buried at the Memorial Walk of Champions alongside past Thoroughbred residents Go For Gin, Forego, Bold Forbes, John Henry, Alysheba, and Da Hoss.<\/p>\n A public memorial service will be held at a future date.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 19, 2023) – Funny Cide, 2003 Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1) winner, died\u00a0July 16 following complications from colic at 23 years old. The New York-bred, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9185,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_gspb_post_css":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n