Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Funny Cide will become the newest resident of the Kentucky Horse Park Dec. 5. He joins another Kentucky Derby winner, Alysheba, who came to the park in October.

Funny Cide earned $3,529,412 and an Eclipse Award as Champion 3-Year-Old Colt, becoming the highest-earning New York-bred in history for trainer Barclay Tagg, under Jose Santos. His nine stakes wins also included the prestigious Jockey Club Gold Cup.

Since his retirement as a racehorse in 2007, the 8-year-old gelding has been used as Tagg’s stable pony on the track (read more about this). According to Tagg, “The rigors of racing and training for several years have started to cause him mild discomfort recently as he continued working on a regular basis as my stable pony. So, now the time has come, as he is turning 9-years-old, to really retire.”

Robin Smullen, Tagg’s assistant trainer stated, “We have been fortunate and very blessed to have had Funny Cide in our lives. He has changed people’s perspective about horse racing. Realistically, he is a once in a lifetime horse and now he will be able to touch other people’s lives in his retirement. We will miss him dearly in our daily schedule.”

John Nicholson, Executive Director of the Kentucky Horse Park stated, “Funny Cide will be a welcome addition to our Hall of Champions. He was one of those rare horses who captured the public’s imagination while he was on the track and continues to have a significant following of loyal fans. He is quite a young horse, so we hope the public will visit him often and get to know him over the coming years, and develop a special relationship with him the way they have so many of our other resident champions. We are honored that Funny Cide’s connections recognized the Kentucky Horse Park as a good fit for their horse and his fans.”

Funny Cide has his own Web site, FunnyCide.com, and a fan club.

The public is invited to the Kentucky Horse Park for Funny Cide’s Welcome Reception on Friday, Dec. 5 at 2 p.m. The event is included with park admission