HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. — In May 2003, he was THE horse, winner of the Kentucky Derby, showered with media attention, roses and glory.
Today, he is the most famous stable pony at any racetrack in the country.
Unlike other recent Derby winners, Funny Cide — a gelding — wasn’t rushed to stud duty after his 3-year-old season. Instead, he continued racing until last year, when he was retired at age 7.
Now, his job is to carry trainer Barclay Tagg or assistant Robin Smullen as they accompany active racers to and from morning workouts — and the “Funny Cide” saddle towel is all that signals the uninformed that they are in the presence of a champion.
“That’s probably a first and a last, for the winner of the Kentucky Derby,” said Hall of Fame trainer and Lexington, Ky., native Shug McGaughey.
A gelding hadn’t won the Derby since Clyde Van Dusen in 1929 until Funny Cide claimed the garland of roses five years ago at odds that paid $27.60 on a $2 win bet.
After he won by more than nine lengths in the Preakness Stakes, the racing world harbored high hopes that Funny Cide could become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.
But he finished third in the Belmont Stakes after dueling with eventual winner Empire Maker.
In the years after that, Funny Cide remained a fan favorite — he won every year he raced, except when he was injured at 5, with victories in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, the Dominion Day Stakes and in the last race of his career, the $100,000 Wadsworth Memorial at Finger Lakes.
“We kind of reached a point where we said, ‘What more can he do for us?’ ” said Jack Knowlton, managing partner for Funny Cide’s owners, the Sackatoga Stable group known for riding to the 2003 Derby in a yellow school bus.

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