Funny Cide

Funny Cide
by The Funny Cide Team with Sally Jenkins
(22)

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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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Although the story of Funny Cide's against-the-odds gallop into first place in the Kentucky Derby and then again in the Triple Crown's second leg is familiar to most people, this audiobook provides an inside look at an endeavor that started out as merely "kicks for hicks." The hicks in this case—a group of middle-aged, high school cronies—were tired of being "habitually careful," so they took a chance on a horse with an undistinguished pedigree. With the help of a down-on-his-luck trainer and a jockey who'd seen better days, Funny Cide left all the predictable favorites in the dust. This is a grand story full of endearing, oddball characters. Reader Sheridan, who's best known for his performance on Law and Order: Criminal Intent, sounds more like the Marlboro Man than a police captain here. His voice is gruff, almost bashful, as he emphasizes not only the workaday victory of the story, but the emotion that lies close to the surface. Although Sheridan has a tough time taking on some of the team members' accents, this doesn't detract much from the overall quality of the production.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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