[QUOTE=Glimmerglass;2538306]
The field for the $100,000 Wadsworth Memorial Handicap - 8th race @ 4:19 eastern time
The race will be available on the radio and internet radio too:
Live coverage of the $100,000 stakes race will be available on WYSL 1040AM and on www.wysl1040.com
Also on the web (delayed by 3 minutes) too:
ESPN Video: choose Finger Lakes track, click[/QUOTE]
Just a pinch over two hours to go …
Soo sorry that I wasnt able to go but the rain made me move up my plans for getting the hay up (we just finished 10 acres in both round and squares and now have to rush getting it here before the rain started) …I was looking forward to going today too. 
Did read a funny article that called Finger Lakes a Country Fair Track…wow wouldnt everyone there love to know that! Louise…I hope your turn out was good…sorry I didnt get to see you today
Funny Cide keeps on going
(http://www.suntimes.com/sports/horseracing/450884,CST-SPT-horseplug01.article)
July 1, 2007
BY JOHN KEKIS
FARMINGTON, N.Y. – Funny Cide always has been different. That won’t change.
Born on the Saratoga Springs farm of Joe and Anne McMahon, Funny Cide became the first New York-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby – and the first gelding since Clyde Van Dusen in 1929 – when he beat favored Empire Maker in 2003 in an upset at Churchill Downs and nearly went on to capture the elusive Triple Crown.
Four years later, the chestnut son of Distorted Humor and Belle’s Good Cide, who was neutered because he was born with an undescended testicle that made him uncomfortable when he ran, has lost a stride or two from his heyday. But he’s still racing at age 7, something only two other Derby winners – Assault (1946) and Tomy Lee (1959) – have done in the past six decades.
‘‘It is unusual,’’ said Elliott Walden, vice president of WinStar Farm in Versailles, Ky., where Funny Cide was bred. Funny Cide is considered New York-bred because a thoroughbred’s state affiliation is determined by where the foal is dropped, not conceived.
‘‘The nice thing about that ownership group is they’re having fun racing,’’ Walden said. ‘‘He’s a gelding, and in this day and age, with horses being whisked off to stud, it’s nice.’’
Funny Cide’s next race is on the Fourth of July, and it will be something completely different for a Derby winner – he’s entered in the 32nd Wadsworth Memorial Handicap at Finger Lakes Gaming and Racetrack.
When Funny Cide won the Derby, the Churchill Downs crowd was 148,530. Finger Lakes, located just southeast of Rochester, can accommodate 2,000 patrons in the clubhouse and another 4,000 in the grandstand, and president Chris Riegle readily acknowledges the facility’s main claim to fame until now was dubious at best.
Finger Lakes once was home to Zippy Chippy, a gelding who was acquired by his owner for a used van and appeared in People Magazine but never in a winner’s circle in 100 starts. Zippy Chippy, who even lost a 40-yard dash to a minor league baseball player, finally was banned from racing at Finger Lakes in 1998 after losing by 37 lengths.
Funny Cide, who won the 129th Derby, captured the Preakness by nearly 10 lengths and finished third in the Belmont Stakes, is poised to become the first winner of a Triple Crown race to compete here since the track opened in 1962.
‘‘I see nothing wrong, in fact, quite the contrary, from Funny Cide’s adventures in the bullrings,’’ said William Nack, who won seven Eclipse Awards for his coverage of thoroughbred racing. ‘‘It’s a homecoming bonus for the owners, who are from upstate New York. I wish more Derby winners would visit the county fair tracks around the country.’’
Funny Cide won’t challenge the longevity of some of the great geldings of the past – John Henry had 39 wins in 83 starts before retiring in 1984, Kelso raced 63 times all over the place from 1959-66 and Forego ran 57 times from 1973-78 – but as long as he’s fit he’s going to keep running.
AP
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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bump with just a couple minutes to post
http://espn.go.com/horse/liveracing06.html
Announced official attendance at Finger Lakes: 11,400 which is the 2nd largest ever in the history of that track and 2,000 more then were at Santa Anita to see Lava Man’s historic win last weekend.
Nice to see the support in Central New York!
Yippee! Funny wins!
Finger Lakes got a memorable 4th of July.
And he wins it. Nicely timed ride by Garcia.
Roar of the crowd as the Funny Cide of days gone by surges in the stretch from 4th place to win the 32nd Wadsworth Memorial Handicap over a muddy track by 2 lengths 
Did you notice they called the track Fast??? Nice to see the old boy get back to the winners circle. And that attendance is fantastic! Guess they didnt need me there today 
Very handily done by Funny Cide. Alan put in a great ride as well. Its nice to see him have the well deserved win. I was rooting hard for Tommasi but he never looked like he quite had the dig in the mud today. Congrats to Funny Cide and his connections and I couldn’t be happier that it was such a success at Finger Lakes. Louise, I’m sure FLTAP will have benefits to reap!
Very handily done by Funny Cide. Alan put in a great ride as well. Its nice to see him have the well deserved win. I was rooting hard for Tommasi but he never looked like he quite had the dig in the mud today. Congrats to Funny Cide and his connections and I couldn’t be happier that it was such a success at Finger Lakes. Louise, I’m sure FLTAP will have benefits to reap!
WHAM-13 ABC Rochester NY “Funny Cide Wins at Finger Lakes”
The video report doesn’t appear to up yet
Per the final numbers Funny Cide won by 3-lengths not 2 
Go Funny Cide!
Anywhere have the video clip up yet? I missed it live.
The turnout today was the second highest ever at Finger Lakes. The crowd was happy and excited, and people were standing in long lines to get autographs from the owners, available for a donation. The booth with both Funny Cide merchandise and FLTAP merchandise was busy, busy, busy, and all of the proceeds went directly to the Finger Lakes Thoroughbred Adoption Program.
I don’t know how much the final total will be, but every penny will be used for the benefit of Funny Cide’s less well know brothers and sisters. Some of the folks who were introduced to FLTAP for the first time today will, hopefully, remember us, and be interested in either adopting or donating.
The horse was, obviously, in fine form, and it looked like the owners were having a great time. I, for one, am extremely grateful that they brought him to the track. They did a lot of good, and won some money too.
I think I got the biggest kick out of the horses in the preceding races. They were pretty focussed on running, but, after each race, as they were brought back in front of the grandstand to be untacked and taken to the backside, there were some pretty wide-eyed and interested looks on those ponies. They just are not used to all of that commotion and movement going on in those stands. Here’s hoping that some of the folks who came out today, liked what they saw, and will be back out again, to help those horses get used to commotion and movement.
I’m sorry I wasn’t able to be there to see him in person, but I’m so glad he won! I can’t imagine that many people there. On my visits to Finger Lakes, I doubt there were 120 people there to watch. :lol:
Did he really ship in from Belmont just this morning, though?! I’ve done that drive, and I wouldn’t want to:
A. Cross my fingers that there would be no traffic delays.
and
B. Expect a horse to run well after that long a trip!
Woohoo! Way to go, Funny Cide!
At least Tagg had one winner today - Nobiz Like Shobiz was a well beaten second on Any Given Saturday at Belmont
Associated Press 7-4-07 “Funny Cide breaks 6-race losing streak”
excerpts
The 7-year-old Funny Cide had not won in six straight outings, but the 1 1-8-mile test for 3-year-olds and up proved to his liking as a near-record crowd of more than 12,000 cheered his every stride. He covered the distance in 1 minute, 51.77 seconds despite an uncharacteristic slow break from the gate.
“I don’t think he cared for the surface,” assistant trainer Robin Smullen said. “But he still loves it. He’s got dapples from ear to tail. They don’t look like that if they’re not happy. Hopefully, we can use this as a springboard and keep going. He’s healthy and he’s happy, so let’s have at it.”
Funny Cide, who arrived at dawn, looked calm as he pranced around the gazebo at the center of the paddock with hundreds of fans straining their necks to get a glimpse of the workingman’s horse who won the first two legs of thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown.
The Finger Lakes attendance record is 13,066, set July 4, 1962.
Up next, or at least suggested, is the $100,000 Kelso, a 1 3/16-mile race at Delaware Park on Sept. 29.
I don’t quite get it.
A Derby, Preakness and JCGC winner reduced to running in a minor stakes race at a 2nd tier track to get a win.
I think it’s more sad than exciting myself.
AP Photo: Funny Cide with Alan Garcia up are led to winner’s circle
AP Photo: Funny Cide with Garcia up pose for photos
(Sakatoga Stables swelled to almost 100 members with their family/friends in the winner’s circle)
Tagg did suggest that a race at Saratoga, again, is possible although that hasn’t been successful ever in his career.
Funny Cide in his last three races has finished in the money.
[QUOTE=Drvmb1ggl3;2541758]
I don’t quite get it.
A Derby, Preakness and JCGC winner reduced to running in a minor stakes race at a 2nd tier track to get a win.[/QUOTE]
Running at Finger Lakes in a $100k race (not exactly a $10k claiming show) shouldn’t be looked at any differently then running at Belmont for the same amount of money.
The added twist to it is that (1) his participation gave the means for fund raising for the Finger Lakes race horse adoption program (2) gave a publicity boost to the track within its own community of greater Rochester who has largely overlooked it and (3) perhaps the biggest motivator was that most of the owners (and their family) live closer to this track then any other. So rather then voyaging all the way down to Elmont NY for a costly $$ afternoon, Sakatoga friends and family could enjoy a day at the track and be back home by 7 pm if they wanted.
No harm, no foul to Funny Cide as he was treated like a king, the team was lavished with plenty of ink in the media, earnings were pushed over $3.5 Million, scored his 11th career win, and he proved he still wanted to run despite it being a sloppy sealed track. Had he run at Belmont he would’ve had polite applause and barely a couple lines in Daily Racing Form if he had won.
For a horse that openly owners were saying his last race was likely just that - his career last - we now are likely going to see him go after another race with a confidence reborn.
Thanks for posting that, Glimmerglass. If he arrived at dawn, he must have left Belmont between 8-11 PM last night. Assuming he got back on the truck after he won and was cleaned up and put away, he wouldn’t get back to Belmont until well after midnight.
That’s a long day’s work for everybody involved- glad they were successful. 
Forget the elitist stuff in the trades–I thought this was what racing is all about. Bring out your horse so your closest 10,000 hometown friends can see him and have him put on a show. I was rooting for the runner up for personal reasons (I have a broodmare by his broodmare sire) but good for Funny Cide and good for Finger Lakes. Hopefully this translates into a confidence boost for Funny.
The carpers need to ask themselves–is this better or worse than the schedule Perfect Drift has done in the last two years? Personally I think owners and trainers need to put horses where they can do good even if that means big drops into easier circuits and claiming races.
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