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Funny Cide | 
 enlarge | Author: The Funny Cide Team With Sally Jenkins
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $0.73
You Save: $25.22 (97%)
New (12) Used (9) from $0.25
Avg. Customer Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 3429115
Format: Abridged, Audiobook
Media: Audio Cassette
Edition: Abridged
Number Of Items: 4
Pages: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.2 x 4.1 x 1.1
ISBN: 0142800724
Dewey Decimal Number: 798.400929
EAN: 9780142800720
ASIN: 0142800724
Publication Date: April 26, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Also Available In:
| • | Paperback - Funny Cide: How a Horse, a Trainer, a Jockey and a Bunch of High School Buddies Took on the Sheiks and Bluebloods ... and Won | | • | Audio CD - Funny Cide | | • | Audio CD - Funny Cide | | • | Hardcover - Funny Cide | | • | Paperback - Funny Cide : How a Horse, a Trainer, a Jockey, and a Bunch of High School Buddies Took on the Sheiks and Bluebloods...and Won | | • | Hardcover - Funny Cide | | • | Hardcover - Funny Cide: How A Horse, A Trainer, A Jockey, and a Bunch of High School Buddies Took On The Sheiks And Bluebloods ... And Won | | • | Unknown Binding - Funny Cide | | • | Audio Cassette - Funny Cide | | • | Audio CD - Funny Cide | | • | Hardcover - Funny Cide | | • | Paperback - Funny Cide : How a Horse, a Trainer, a Jockey, and a Bunch of High School Buddies Took on the Sheiks and Bluebloods...and Won | | • | Audio Download - Funny Cide (Unabridged) | | • | Audio Download - Funny Cide | | • | Audio Cassette - Funny Cide | | • | Audio Cassette - Funny Cide | | • | Audio Cassette - Funny Cide |
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| Editorial Reviews:
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
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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 12 more reviews...
 A surprising page-turner July 8, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book was made for me, and people like me. As a kid I read every horse book I could find, and as an adult, I own a Thoroughbred in New York. I loved this story about honest and hardworking people and their nondescript horse who surprised everyone. The twists of fate are delightful: how the stable got the cash to buy Funny Cide; how Jose Santos came to be the jockey; how they came to ride a yellow school bus to Churchill Downs. I couldn't put it down.
Who doesn't love it when David beats Goliath? May 30, 2007
This is a modern day David and Goliath story, only with horses. A bunch of high school buddies pool their money and open a stable, competing with ultra rich Sheiks and bluebloods. And who wins the KY Derby--the little guys with their great horse Funny Cide. The best thing about this story is that it's true. A wonderful read.
 The Ride Of A Lifetime November 25, 2006
Partnerships for owning Thoroughbred racers can cost as little as a few hundred dollars to (fill in your own number, and it isn't small). There are roughly 35,000 Thoroughbreds foaled each year and by their three-year-old season, only a maximum of 20 can reach the starting gate in the Kentucky Derby. At the end of that race, only one runner will emerge as a possible Triple Crown winner.
There is a saying in the sport that how a person becomes a millionaire in Thoroughbred racing is to initially be a multi-millionaire. But for a group of friends who pooled their money together to purchase what was then considered a modestly-bred runner with the goal of trying to find success on the solid New York racing scene, well, let's just say they didn't just catch lightning in a jar; they caught the entire storm front and slammed it into the container.
Funny Cide, the members of the partnership group, trainer Barclay Tagg and assistant trainer Robin Smullen captivated sports fans worldwide in 2003 when the gelded colt captured the first two legs of the Triple Crown, only to fall short of immortality on a muddy track at Belmont Park.
Author Sally Jenkins has penned a highly readable and enjoyable account of everyone involved. And through it all, it is Funny Cide who did the most talking, with a solid two-year-old season - though it is fashionable to say he "emerged" literally out of nowhere to win the Kentucky Derby - and several gutsy performances at three that put him solidly into the mix of possible contenders on the Triple Crown trail.
Funny Cide was marketed like a rock star in the few weeks leading up to the Belmont Stakes - after winning the Preakness Stakes in convincing fashion - with hats, shirts and buttons being quickly produced and bought up by fans, along with the future plans for a Funny Cide beer. Even in 2006, the New York Racing Association handed out Funny Cide pictures to race fans on a special day honoring his achievements.
Though Funny Cide has had a very rocky racing career since the Triple Crown chase, the highlight being a commanding stretch drive performance to win the 2004 Jockey Club Gold Cup, Jenkins writes about that moment in time when a special runner took fans for a great ride in a sport which is not built on, but can sometimes produce, the best memories from modest beginnings.
Last race April 2006???? October 22, 2006
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Okay, parts of the book about the owners may be a bit boring, but the storyline about this horse and his trainer make your heart sing. It is so refreshing to hear/read a story about folks putting the animal's welfare above profit in current times. I hope a movie is made of this wonderful tale that will rival the story of Seabiscuit. Invest the few bucks and a couple hours of your time-you will be rewarded!
THIS ONE IS A WINNER! July 31, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
FUNNCY CIDE, the book, is not literature like perhaps SEABISCUIT is, but in its own way, it is easier to read and more satisfying. FUNNY CIDE is the once-in-a-generation, heart-warming story of a long-shot horse who broke though and made it big. FUNNY CIDE is not only the story of the horse but also of his Ordinary Joe owners, his has-been jockey, and his cranky trainer. Several times I had to put the book aside and wipe my eyes, blow my nose and otherwise compose myself after reading FUNNY CIDE. And you will, too. It just that kind of book, that kind of story of how hard work and persistance truly can pay off. FUNNY CIDE's success was not a freak but the result of dedicated trainers and vets, risk-taking owners and a talented jockey and, above all, a talented horse. If you like horse racing, you will love this book. If you just like stories of success against overwhelming odds, then FUNNY CIDE is also for you. For horse players, a useful tip from the book: the Belmont Stakes does not favor favorites supposedly because winners coming off the Preakness a couple weeks earlier may be too tired to go the extra distance Belmont demands. Thus Belmont Stakes long shots may be better choices. This book is a winner and would make the perfect gift for that horse player in your life.
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