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Sooner of later, the day was going to come and that day is here. Funny Cide, the hero of the 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness, is officially retired.
The 8-year-old gelding is quitting his post as stable pony for trainer Barclay Tagg's barn and heading off to a life of leisure at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky.''The rigors of racing and training for several years have started to cause him mild discomfort recently,'' Tagg said. ''So, now the time has come, as he is turning 9 years old, to really retire.'' Funny Cide is scheduled to be at the Horse Park a week from Friday, where he will be officially welcomed. Jack Knowlton of Saratoga Springs, the managing partner of Sackatoga Stables, which owns the gelding, said he plans to take the trip to Kentucky to be there for the ceremony. Funny Cide will live in a spacious stall in the park's Hall of Champions. The park is also home to Cigar, who held the North American record for earnings before it was broken by Curlin this season, and Alysheba, the winner of the 1987 Kentucky Derby and Preakness. Alysheba, now 24, arrived at the Horse Park on Oct. 31. Funny Cide was retired from the racetrack in July of 2007 after running 38 times in his career. Tagg wanted to keep him around the barn and Funny Cide was the stable pony. It was common to see Tagg or his assistant, Robin Smullen, aboard Funny Cide on mornings at Saratoga Race Course or Belmont Park. After workouts at the Spa, Tagg would allow Funny Cide to stand outside the barn, his reins tied to a telephone pole. People would wander over and pet the gelding, who was born up the road at McMahon Thoroughbreds of Saratoga. ''I liked to see him at Saratoga or Belmont or when I was at my place in Florida over the winter and he was at Gulfstream Park,'' Knowlton said. ''I am not looking forward to not seeing him. It just reached a point where he couldn't be out there working every day.'' Funny Cide's fans will be able to visit him at the Horse Park, a sprawling, 12,000-acre facility right in the middle of horse country. The park is open year-round and the cost of admission is $15 per person in season, $9 out of season. According to Cindy Rullman, associate director of marketing at the park, 900,000 people visit the facility each year. ''We believe that Funny Cide will be very popular here,'' Rullman said. ''He won the Kentucky Derby and those horses generally have a lot of fans coming to see them. It is wonderful to be able to say that he is coming here.'' Tim Wilkin can be reached at 454-5415 or by e-mail at twilkin@timesunion.com.
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