Funny Cide, the plucky chestnut colt who won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness in 2003, turns 10 years old today.
Funny Cide raced until he was 7 years old, won $3.5 million, and is now retired to the Kentucky Horse Farm. Alas, Funny Cide is a gelding, so it’s not the usual retirement at stud enjoyed by most Derby winners and NFL quarterbacks. Still, he’s eating peppermints and enjoying life.
Funny Cide fell just short of the Triple Crown, finishing third in the Belmont behind Empire Maker and Ten Most Wanted on a sloppy track. (It was revenge for Empire Maker, who had been favored in the Derby.) But Funny Cide remains the only gelding since 1929 to win the Kentucky Derby. He’ll always have Louisville.
Happy birthday, Mr. Cide! Enjoy the doughnuts.