SWC75
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2003: Funny Cide
A bunch of racing fans from Sackets Harbor, NY got together to create “Sackatoga Stable”, the name, being a combination of Sackets Harbor and Saratoga. They bought a Kentucky horse named Funny Cide. It seemed such an unlikely story that maybe this horse could break the Triple Crown jinx just based on his Cinderella Story. He was trained by Barclay Tagg and ridden by Jose Santos. He won the 2003 Derby by almost two lengths over favored horses Empire Maker and Peace Rules.
Then we saw something that has become more common in recent years: because of the emphasis on the Triple Crown, the owners of competing horses who hadn’t won the Derby pulled out of the Preakness to rest for the Belmont, leaving the Derby winner to win the Preakness easily and set up a Triple Crown chance that was at least partly an illusion.
But then the Miami Herald ran a bogus story with a misleading photo suggesting that Santos had cheated in the Derby: “The photograph, with accompanying comments, was posted highlighting what appeared to be a metallic object in Santos's right hand as he and Funny Cide crossed the finish line. Due to the angle from which the photograph was taken, it appeared that Santos was holding an object in his right hand, and so raised suspicion that he had cheated to win the world-famous race. The results of the investigation showed that in reality Santos did not have an object in his hand and it was the angle of the photograph that only made it appear otherwise. Other photographs and angles showed absolutely nothing in Santos’s hand and revealed that it would have been virtually impossible for him to be holding anything.
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/horses/triple/derby/2003-05-12-santos-inquiry_x.htm
“Blood-Horse magazine's Steven Haskin wrote: "Pimlico stakes coordinator David Rollinson had to go out and recruit Preakness Stakes horses when it looked like only six or seven were going to run. All was calm that first week after the Derby. Then, Empire Maker was officially declared out, leaving only six confirmed starters. Then Midway Road came in. Then all hell broke loose when the Miami Herald's bogus story and photo of Santos cheating in the Derby appeared. Empire Maker suddenly jumped back in, his Triple Crown hopes alive once again. Hours later, when the inferno began to subside, he was back out. Then Peace Rules officially came in.”
It didn’t matter. Funny Cide blew them all away by almost 10 lengths, the second greatest margin of victory in Preakness history. It made Funny Cide the overwhelming favorite for the Belmont. But Funny Cide got stuck along the rail, where the mud was thickest on a wet day, and finished third to the well-rested Empire Maker. "Looking back, Tagg wonders if Funny Cide's 9¾-length victory in the Preakness and his overly fast workout the week before the Belmont weren't the results of an on-edge horse who had little left for the final leg of the Triple Crown. Tagg was quoted as saying, 'He didn't need to have his adrenaline popping through his head every time a bunch of people came running down the aisle way.'" (all quotes from Wikipedia).
A gelding, Funny Cide had a long racing career, from 2002-2007. In 38 starts he was 11-6-8. He had to overcome some physical problems, including a respiratory ailment. But he earned the boys from Sackets Harbor $3.5 million off of a $22,000 investment.
A bunch of racing fans from Sackets Harbor, NY got together to create “Sackatoga Stable”, the name, being a combination of Sackets Harbor and Saratoga. They bought a Kentucky horse named Funny Cide. It seemed such an unlikely story that maybe this horse could break the Triple Crown jinx just based on his Cinderella Story. He was trained by Barclay Tagg and ridden by Jose Santos. He won the 2003 Derby by almost two lengths over favored horses Empire Maker and Peace Rules.
Then we saw something that has become more common in recent years: because of the emphasis on the Triple Crown, the owners of competing horses who hadn’t won the Derby pulled out of the Preakness to rest for the Belmont, leaving the Derby winner to win the Preakness easily and set up a Triple Crown chance that was at least partly an illusion.
But then the Miami Herald ran a bogus story with a misleading photo suggesting that Santos had cheated in the Derby: “The photograph, with accompanying comments, was posted highlighting what appeared to be a metallic object in Santos's right hand as he and Funny Cide crossed the finish line. Due to the angle from which the photograph was taken, it appeared that Santos was holding an object in his right hand, and so raised suspicion that he had cheated to win the world-famous race. The results of the investigation showed that in reality Santos did not have an object in his hand and it was the angle of the photograph that only made it appear otherwise. Other photographs and angles showed absolutely nothing in Santos’s hand and revealed that it would have been virtually impossible for him to be holding anything.
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/horses/triple/derby/2003-05-12-santos-inquiry_x.htm
“Blood-Horse magazine's Steven Haskin wrote: "Pimlico stakes coordinator David Rollinson had to go out and recruit Preakness Stakes horses when it looked like only six or seven were going to run. All was calm that first week after the Derby. Then, Empire Maker was officially declared out, leaving only six confirmed starters. Then Midway Road came in. Then all hell broke loose when the Miami Herald's bogus story and photo of Santos cheating in the Derby appeared. Empire Maker suddenly jumped back in, his Triple Crown hopes alive once again. Hours later, when the inferno began to subside, he was back out. Then Peace Rules officially came in.”
It didn’t matter. Funny Cide blew them all away by almost 10 lengths, the second greatest margin of victory in Preakness history. It made Funny Cide the overwhelming favorite for the Belmont. But Funny Cide got stuck along the rail, where the mud was thickest on a wet day, and finished third to the well-rested Empire Maker. "Looking back, Tagg wonders if Funny Cide's 9¾-length victory in the Preakness and his overly fast workout the week before the Belmont weren't the results of an on-edge horse who had little left for the final leg of the Triple Crown. Tagg was quoted as saying, 'He didn't need to have his adrenaline popping through his head every time a bunch of people came running down the aisle way.'" (all quotes from Wikipedia).
A gelding, Funny Cide had a long racing career, from 2002-2007. In 38 starts he was 11-6-8. He had to overcome some physical problems, including a respiratory ailment. But he earned the boys from Sackets Harbor $3.5 million off of a $22,000 investment.
