Funny Cide

Sackatoga Stable’s Funny Cide, winner of the 2003 Kentucky Derby and one of the most popular winners of the “Run for the Roses” in recent years, will return to the site of his greatest triumph when he travels to Churchill Downs on Saturday, Oct. 1 to greet living recipients of the United States’ Medal of Honor and other guests as part of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society Convention underway this week in Louisville, Ky.

Funny Cide, who is now 11 years old and resides at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky., will be in Churchill Downs paddock as Medal of Honor recipients and guests arrive for a noon (all times Eastern) luncheon and other activities at the historic home of the Kentucky Derby.  He is scheduled to travel Churchill Downs by van  from the Kentucky Horse Park Saturday morning, and will walk from the stable area to the paddock around 11:15 a.m.. Funny Cide will be available to pose for pictures with Medal of Honor recipients while in the paddock.

Saturday’s Congressional Medal of Honor Convention gathering at Churchill Downs is a ticketed event and is not open to the general public.

“This is really wonderful,” said Jack Knowlton, the managing partner of Sackatoga Stable via telephone from Saratoga Springs, NY.  “We are honored to have Funny Cide be part of this special day that honors America’s greatest heroes.  The Medal of Honor is our country’s highest military honor and its distinguished recipients displayed incredible bravery, character and compassion in the most difficult of situations.    In our sport and industry, there is no greater achievement than winning the Kentucky Derby, one of the world’s great sports events, and we hope Funny Cide’s presence as one of only 137 horses that have won this historic race will make the visit to Churchill Downs by the Medal of Honor recipients even more memorable and special.” 

Funny Cide followed his Kentucky Derby victory with an emphatic 9 ¾-length victory in the Preakness, the second jewel of racing’s Triple Crown, but fell short in his bid for that rare three-race sweep when he finished third to Empire Maker in the Belmont Stakes.  The first gelding to win the Kentucky Derby since 1929, the New York-bred son of Distorted Humor was named America’s champion 3-year-old of 2003.  He raced four more seasons and completed his career with a win in the Wadsworth Memorial Handicap at New York’s Finger Lakes on July 7, 2007.

Bred by WinStar Farm and rained by Barclay Tagg, Funny Cide raced 38 times in his career with a record of 11-6-8 and earnings of $3,529,412.  He moved to the Kentucky Horse Park in December, 2008 after a brief career as a stable pony for Tagg’s New York-based stable.

(Nov. 5, 2008) – Trainer Barclay Tagg returns to the scene of his greatest triumph in racing on Saturday when he sends out Lael Stables’ My Princess Jess in the 18th running of the $175,000-added Mrs. Revere (GII) for 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/16 miles over the Matt Winn Turf Course.

The Mrs. Revere, which attracted a field of 11, will go as the ninth race on Saturday’s 10-race card. First post time is 12:40 p.m. ET.

Tagg, who saddled Funny Cide to win the 2003 Kentucky Derby, won last year’s Mrs. Revere when Bit of Whimsy scored by a half-length over Ciao. Like Bit of Whimsy, My Princess Jess enters the Mrs. Revere off an appearance in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (GI) at Keeneland, a race that Bit of Whimsy won.

My Princess Jess rallied to finish third in the QE II after breaking from post position 11. She will exit from the outside No. 11 hole in the Mrs. Revere under Eibar Coa on Saturday and carry co-high weight of 121 pounds.

My Princess Jess has won four of eight starts this year with stakes victories coming in the Boiling Springs (GIII) at Monmouth Park and the Lake George (GII) at Saratoga.

One other runner from the QE II is in the Mrs. Revere field, Magdalena Racing’s My Baby Baby, who finished 11th in the Keeneland race. Trained by Ken McPeek, My Baby Baby will break from post position one under Robby Albarado, who won the 2005 Mrs. Revere aboard My Typhoon.

Another runner who figures to command attention Saturday is Helen Alexander and Helen Groves’ Acoma, who won her turf debut in the Valley View (GIII) at Keeneland on Oct. 17. Trained by David Carroll, Acoma has won four of seven career starts and claimed the Dogwood (GIII) on the main track at Churchill Downs this spring. Julien Leparoux has the mount and will break from post position three.

The field for the Mrs. Revere, from the hedge out, is as follows: My Baby Baby (Robby Albarado, 117 pounds), Clear Pond (E.T. Baird, 117), Acoma (Julien Leparoux, 117), Seemingly (Calvin Borel, 117), Scolara (Kent Desormeaux, 117), Absolutely Cindy (Larry Melancon, 117), Golden Doc A (Jesus Castanon, 117), Raw Silk (Shaun Bridgmohan, 121), Dark Sky (Jamie Theriot, 117), Sky Mom (Miguel Mena, 117) and My Princess Jess (Eibar Coa, 121).