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Curlin Tops Eclipse Finalists

by Leslie Deckard
Date Posted: January 4, 2008
Last Updated: January 11, 2008

The 2007 Eclipse Award winners will be announced on Jan. 21. Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt

The finalists for the 2007 Eclipse Awards were announced Jan. 4, with many of the categories, as usual, dominated by winners of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships races.

It is possible that nine of the 10 (flat) Eclipse winners will have earned their championship by winning on one of the two-days of Breeders’ Cup action last October at Monmouth Park- War Pass (2-year-old colt or gelding), Indian Blessing (2-year-old female), Curlin (3-year-old male), Corinthian (older male), Ginger Punch (older female), Midnight Lute (male sprinter), Maryfield (female sprinter), English Channel (male turf horse), Kip Deville (male turf horse), and Lahudood (female turf horse).

The finalists for the Horse of the Year award will be announced Jan. 21 at the Eclipse Awards ceremony at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Belmont Stakes and Kentucky Oaks (both grade I)  winner Rags to Riches is a finalist in the champion 3-year-old filly category alongside stablemate and Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Distaff (gr. I) third-place finisher Octave. The other finalist (grade I winner Panty Raid) in that category also hails from the barn of trainer Todd Pletcher.

Grade I winner Hard Spun, who finished second to Curlin in the Breeders’ Cup Classic - Powered by Dodge (gr. I), is a finalist in the 3-year-old colt or gelding category alongside Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner Street Sense. Hard Spun also finished second in the Derby.

The finalists for the older male category includes 2006 Horse of the Year and 2007 Dubai World Cup (UAE-I) winner Invasor and Lawyer Ron, who broke the Saratoga track record for 1 1/8 miles in winning the Whitney Handicap (gr. I).

Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs is a finalist for leading breeder once again, as is Stronach’s Stronach Stables a finalist for leading owner. As breeder, Adena Springs has won the last three years. Stronach added a title in 2000.

Stronach is joined in the leading breeder category by William S. Farish and Martin and Pam Wygod. His leading owner rivals are Maggi Moss and Shadwell Stables. As owner, Stronach earned Eclipse Awards in 1998, 99, and 2000.

The trainer category is lead by Pletcher, who won his first classic race this year with Rags to Riches and once again broke his own single-season stable earnings record. Pletcher, a winner of the last three training awards, is joined by Steve Asmussen, the trainer of Curlin and 2-year-old colt or gelding finalists Kodiak Kowboy and Pyro. Kiaran McLaughlin, who trained Invasor, rounds out the top three.

Robby Albarado, Garrett Gomez, and John Velazquez are the finalists in the jockey category. Albarado was the regular rider aboard Curlin, Velazquez rode Rags to Riches in the Belmont and English Channel in the John Deere Breeders’ Cup Turf (gr. IT), and Gomez finished the year as the leading jockey by earnings and rode two Breeders’ Cup winners, Midnight Lute in the TVG Breeders’ Cup Sprint (gr. I) and Indian Blessing in the Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I).

The finalists for the apprentice jockey category are Tyler Pizarro, Alonso Quinonez, and Joe Talamo.

Eclipse Awards winners are selected by the Daily Racing Form, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, and the National Turf Writers Association.

2007 Eclipse Award Finalists

• Two-Year-old Male: Kodiak Kowboy,Pyro, War Pass
• Two-Year-old filly: Country Star, Indian Blessing, Proud Spell
• Three-Year-old Male: Curlin, Hard Spun, Street Sense
• Three-Year-old filly: Octave, Panty Raid, Rags to Riches
• Older Male: Corinthian, Invasor (ARG), Lawyer Ron
• Older female: Ginger Punch, Hystericalady, Nashoba’s Key
• Male Sprinter: Fabulous Strike, Idiot Proof, Midnight Lute
• Female Sprinter: Dream Rush, Maryfield, River’s Prayer
• Male turf Horse: After Market, English Channel, Kip Deville
• Female turf Horse: Lahudood (GB), Nashoba’s Key, Precious Kitten
• Steeplechase Horse: Good Night Shirt, McDynamo, Planets Aligned
• Owner: Maggi Moss, Shadwell Stable, Stronach Stables
• Breeder: Adena Springs, William S. Farish, Martin and Pam Wygod
• Trainer: Steve Asmussen, Kiaran McLaughlin, Todd Pletcher
• Jockey: Robby Albarado, Garrett Gomez, John Velazquez
• Apprentice Jockey: Tyler Pizarro, Alonso Quinonez, Joe Talamo

Funny Cide Heats Up Horse Park

by Lenny Shulman
Date Posted: December 5, 2008
Last Updated: December 7, 2008

Funny Cide is presented to his fans at the Kentucky Horse Park. Photo: Alex Cutadean

Funny Cide was officially welcomed to his new home at the Kentucky Horse Park’s Hall of Champions Dec. 5, becoming the second Kentucky Derby (gr. I) winner and champion to take up residence there in just over a month.

Like his immediate predecessor at the Hall of Champions, Alysheba, who arrived Oct. 31, Funny Cide was known as a “people’s horse.” This was due to the fact  he was a New York-bred and a gelding, but also because his owners, Sackatoga Stable, were the epitome of the “small guys” in the business who reached the top.

At the Horse Park ceremony, Jack Knowlton, managing partner of Sackatoga, stated what he felt was Funny Cide’s legacy as the horse was paraded in the pavilion in front of him.

“He represents hope for the little guy,” Knowlton told several hundred people who braved the cold to welcome Funny Cide. “People tell us all the time that they’ve gotten into this game because of him. Also, racing needs more horses like him who fans can enjoy after their Triple Crown seasons. He was a huge fan favorite because he ran as long as he did–into his 7-year-old season–and because he was an underdog. We still get emails and letters from his fans everywhere.”

Funny Cide Slide Show

Funny Cide

Funny Cide’s popularity grew through the Triple Crown series thanks to his ownership–10 partners who were small-time players in horses, including six who went to high school together in Sackets Harbor, a small town on the eastern shore of Lake Ontario in upstate New York.

The Sackatoga Stable partners each threw in $5,000 to buy horses, and they furthered their blue-collar reputation by traveling to the Triple Crown races in a yellow school bus, the only means of transportation they could find for their large group at a reasonable rate in Louisville en route to the Derby. After winning in Kentucky, they figured why break up a good thing, and rented school buses in Baltimore and New York.

A $22,000 yearling purchase, Funny Cide, by Distorted Humor–Belle’s Good Cide, by Slewacide, was running under everyone’s radar until he finished second to the powerful Empire Maker in the 2003 Wood Memorial (gr. I).

Three weeks later at Churchill Downs, Funny Cide turned the tables, laying close throughout the Derby and holding off Empire Maker by 1 3/4 lengths. He went on to crush his field in the Preakness Stakes (gr. I) before finishing third behind Empire Maker and Ten Most Wanted in the Belmont Stakes (gr. I).

New York in particular embraced Funny Cide as a hometown hero, as 101,864 patrons showed up for the Belmont Stakes, the second-highest crowd in history for the race. His popularity continued to skyrocket in Saratoga after the Triple Crown series, and a Funny Cide shop opened in town. Beer, ice cream, and souvenirs were marketed in his name.

Funny Cide went on to race 38 times over six seasons, winning 11, including the Jockey Club Gold Cup (gr. I) as a 4-year-old. He earned $3,529,412 for his owners and trainer Barclay Tagg. Funny Cide was named champion 3-year-old male of 2003.

After his retirement from racing in 2007, Funny Cide served as Tagg’s stable pony, but recently, infirmities from his racing career made it difficult for the horse to continue in that capacity, prompting his retirement to the Horse Park.

Knowlton thanked Tagg; Tagg’s assistant, Robin Smullen; Funny Cide’s regular jockey Jose Santos; Funny Cide’s fans; and the Horse Park.

“We are thrilled this will be his retirement home,” Knowlton said. “It is an honor to be here today. I know he’ll get the best care in the world.”