Product Description

In 2003, he became "the people's horse," the unheralded New York-bred gelding who-in a time of war and economic jitters-inspired a nation by knocking off the champions and their multimillionaire owners and sweeping to the brink of the Triple Crown. Trained by a journeyman who had been knocking around racing for more than thirty years, ridden by a hard-luck jockey, and owned by a tiny stable founded by a band of high school buddies from Sackets Harbor, NY (pop: 1,386), who tossed in a few thousand dollars each and decided to follow their dream, Funny Cide became a blue-collar hero with a bit, his story crammed with colorful characters-only one of which happened to be a horse.

Written with Sally Jenkins, coauthor of Lance Armstrong's number-one bestseller It's Not About the Bike, Funny Cide tells the whole story-the parts we know and the parts we never suspected-as it follows the group's emotional ups and downs against overwhelming odds, illness, and even scandal, to capture the imagination of millions. It is a book for the underdog in all of us-a new American classic.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1080311 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-26
• Released on: 2004-04-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780399151798
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
It sounds like a Hollywood movie script. In 2003, an unknown gelding named Funny Cide came out of nowhere to win both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, shocking the horseracing establishment and thrilling racing fans around the world. It wasn't just the horse that was so unusual, but the entire team: the owners were ten businessmen and laborers, six of which were childhood friends from a tiny New York town, with much more enthusiasm than experience; the trainer was a capable veteran of 30 years who, despite his skill, had endured a long series of disappointments; and the jockey, a battered 42-year-old who had "been up and down so many times, he needed a seasick remedy," had tasted victory before, but never expected it to come again. How such a group made it to the winner's circle is a touching and exhilarating story that Sally Jenkins, co-author of Lance Armstrong's It's not About the Bike, conveys with warmth and excitement. Along with inside information about the peculiarities of breeding and raising horses and the background on Funny Cide's owners, trainers, and jockey, Jenkins offers entertaining insight into the culture of horseracing. In particular, she makes much of the collision between Funny Cide's middle class owners and the rich bluebloods who dominate the sport. She notes with obvious pleasure how they traveled by yellow school bus rather than in expensive cars or limousines and how they couldn't even find the winner's circle at the Derby. She also shows how their original underdog status also worked wonders for the sport by captivating the public and providing a classic long-odds story that is hard to resist. Funny Cide captures this spirit well making it an enjoyable read from start to finish. --Shawn Carkonen

From Publishers Weekly
In May 2003, a relatively unknown racehorse named Funny Cide won the Kentucky Derby, then two weeks later won the Preakness, the first two events in horse racing's legendary Triple Crown. Jenkins, a skilled sportswriter and author of two books with cyclist Lance Armstrong (It's Not About the Bike; Every Second Counts) delivers a first-rate account of the improbable Funny Cide story, aided by her access to its main players, including the horse's owners, a group of longtime buddies from the small town of Sackets Harbor, N.Y. The book is at its liveliest showing them in action, especially when their unpretentious excitement subverts the wealthy elegance of the Kentucky Derby. But Jenkins does her book a disservice by trying to present the Funny Cide story as metaphoric as that told in Laura Hillenbrand's instant classic, Seabiscuit. Despite Jenkins's best efforts to show otherwise, 2003 is not 1938, the Iraq War isn't the Depression and Funny Cide's breeders, owners and trainers are from "the vast middle class in horse racing," making them closer to "Sheiks and Bluebloods" than to the working class. Still, Jenkins never lets her broad cultural swipes get in the way of delivering a sprightly and entertaining tale of a lovable winner from nowhere.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
There is a natural tendency, mostly avoided by Jenkins if not by this book's prepublication publicity, to reshape the story of Funny Cide into the rags-to-riches mold of Seabiscuit. It doesn't really fit, but the story of Funny Cide, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner of 2002, is dramatic enough on its own merits. And like the story of Seabiscuit, it is inextricably intertwined with the stories of the horse's no-nonsense trainer, his aging jockey, and his owners, an unconventional crew of 10 upstate New Yorkers, 6 of whom were high-school buddies. This makes for a wealth of material, and Jenkins, like Laura Hillenbrand in her remarkable book on Seabiscuit, mines every vein for its most telling nuggets, then organizes them into a compelling narrative about unlikely heroes achieving extraordinary things. Every Kentucky Derby winner is a miracle wrought by talent, hard work, and good fortune against incredible odds, but Funny Cide was more miraculous than most, and his story, so ably told, is irresistible. Dennis Dodge
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

EVERYONE LOVES A WINNER, AND THIS READING IS ONE
Everyone loves a winner, especially when the winner is an underdog. That was certainly the case with Funny Cide, the never-heard-of gelding who won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness thus almost copping the fabled Triple Crown. Yep, America loved him.

The resonant voice of Dan Cushman chronicles Funny Cide's amazing story from starting gate to finish. Of course, it's not just a horse's story but also the tale of friends, including a trainer and a jockey who were determined to win a race.

No one in this All-American story is a blue blood, not the racehorse or the men behind Funny Cide. They were blue collar workers from Sackets Harbor, New York (little more than a village with 1,386 residents) who pooled their resources to fund a small stable. They had a dream and, by golly, they were going after it.

All who loved "Seabiscuit" will root for Funny Cide and the men who believed they'd found a winner.

- Gail Cooke

Funny Cide, the best gelding of the 21st century
Funny Cide was an exceptional racehorse. The gelding came out of nowhere to win the Kentucky derby! that's worth writing about. His story was closely followed in a way that you cannot see on television or read in the newspapers everything that happened. A great book to read. Funny Cide outstandingly successes Seabiscuit as the underdog that triumphed in the sport of kings.

fast-paced equine biography
Funny Cide was the 2003 winner of both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness (two legs of the prestigious horse racing Triple Crown). He was an underdog in the truest sense: unimpressive bloodlines and birthplace, with a jockey considered washed-up, and a group of owners from New York, who were neither outrageously rich or very horse savvy. In fact, they arrived at the Derby in a schoolbus: a handful of friends who had known each other since high school, who were in it for a good time and a way to bond.

Funny Cide's journey to the most well-known horse race in America is fast paced, funny and irreverent as many of the people closely associated with the colt. A must for horse lovers and racing fans - and everyone who loves to root for the underdog.