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Press Release |
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BarbaraLivingston(small-cropped).jpg) Kentucky
Derby Winner Funny Cide Coming to the
Kentucky Horse Park
Second Derby Winner to Take Up Residence
at the Park this Year
By: Kentucky Horse Park
November 26, 2008
LEXINGTON, KY (November 26, 2008)
Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness (G1)
winner Funny Cide will become the newest
resident of the Kentucky Horse Park on
December 5. He will join another
Kentucky Derby winner, Alysheba, who
came to the park in October.
Funny Cide (Distorted Humor – Belle’s
Good Cide, by Slewacide) was bred by
William Casner and Kenny Troutt’s
WinStar Farm in a collaborative venture
with McMahon Thoroughbreds of Saratoga
Springs, New York where he was foaled,
raised and then sold as a yearling for
$22,000 at the August 2001 Fasig-Tipton
NY Bred Preferred Yearlings Sale. He was
later purchased privately as a two-year
old by Sackatoga Stable for $75,000. For
them he went on to earn $3,529,412 and
an Eclipse Award as Champion
Three-Year-Old Colt, becoming the
highest-earning New York-bred in history
for trainer Barclay Tagg, under Jose
Santos. His nine stakes wins also
included the prestigious Jockey Club
Gold Cup (G1).
John Nicholson, Executive Director of
the Kentucky Horse Park stated, “Funny
Cide will be a welcome addition to our
Hall of Champions. He was one of those
rare horses who captured the public’s
imagination while he was on the track
and continues to have a significant
following of loyal fans. He is quite a
young horse, so we hope the public will
visit him often and get to know him over
the coming years, and develop a special
relationship with him the way they have
so many of our other resident champions.
We are honored that Funny Cide’s
connections recognized the Kentucky
Horse Park as a good fit for their horse
and his fans.”
Jack Knowlton, Managing Partner of
Sackatoga Stable, stated “The 10 owners
of Funny Cide are truly honored that the
Kentucky Horse Park has invited him to
reside in its Hall of Champions. We are
pleased that his large fan base will
have an opportunity to visit him at this
wonderful facility not too far from his
greatest triumph.”
WinStar Farm’s President, Doug Cauthen,
said, “Funny Cide helped put WinStar
Farm on the map, because he proved we
could breed a top horse, and that we
were willing to sell our best to promote
our stallions. He was the first classic
winner for his sire Distorted Humor, who
is the foundation stallion at WinStar
Farm, and who has proven to be one of
the top sires in the world. Watching
Funny Cide win the Kentucky Derby was a
surreal moment, and a game-changing
event for WinStar Farm. We owe him big!”
Since his retirement as a race horse in
2007, the eight-year-old gelding has
been used as Barclay Tagg’s stable pony
on the track. According to Barclay, “The
rigors of racing and training for
several years have started to cause him
mild discomfort recently as he continued
working on a regular basis as my stable
pony. So, now the time has come, as he
is turning 9-years-old, to really
retire.”
Robin Smullen, the Assistant Trainer to
Barclay Tagg stated, “We have been
fortunate and very blessed to have had
Funny Cide in our lives. He has changed
people’s perspective about horse racing.
Realistically, he is a once in a
lifetime horse and now he will be able
to touch other people’s lives in his
retirement. We will miss him dearly in
our daily schedule.”
Funny Cide has his own website,
FunnyCide.com, and a fan club.
The public is invited to the Kentucky
Horse Park for Funny Cide’s Welcome
Reception on Friday, Dec 5 at 2pm. It is
included with park admission.
Watch a video of Funny Cide on The
Blood-Horse Web site by clicking on:
www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/videos/watch/1A74B97D-E66B-4366-87EA-F49D028808F7.
For more information contact the
Kentucky Horse Park, 859-233-4303 or
www.KyHorsePark.com
Park hours and rates: The park is open
Nov 1- Mar 14 Wednesdays through
Sundays, 9am to 5pm. Winter admission is
$9 for adults, $7 for children ages 7-12
and children 6 and under are admitted
free of charge. Admission includes the
International Museum of the Horse, the
American Saddlebred Museum, and
FunnyCide’s Reception.
PHOTO (c) BARBARA LIVINGTON
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On
a sad note, Dave Mahan, one of the original
owners of Funny Cide passed away on
Wednesday, January 15th. The following are
links to two well-written articles that you
might be interested in reading.