Funny Cide, the champion 3-year-old male of 2003, winner of two thirds of the Triple Crown, and one of the greatest ambassadors for the Kentucky Horse Park, has died at the age of 23, Sackatoga Stable announced via Twitter on Sunday morning.
em Funny Side takes a shower at Belmont the day before the race. /em
Funny Side takes a shower at Belmont the day before the race. By Irish America Staff
Many know Funny Cide as the great chestnut gelding who just missed winning the Triple Crown, but few know the Irish people who were instrumental in bringing him to the forefront of racing. Having secured first place at Kentucky Derby and Preakness, Funny Cide was bred by third-generation Irish-American Joe McMahon and his wife Anne at Saratoga Thoroughbreds in New York. McMahon told Irish America, “The last few weeks have been like the American dream. My wife and I were everyday Americans, we had no illusions that we were going to breed a horse of this caliber. A possibility for a Triple Crown, a win at the Derby, that’s as big as it can get in the horse business. We didn’t set out to have a Derby winner. We wanted to have a farm to bring our kids up on.”