Alumnus Takes the Derby

Kevin Callahan '84 owns Offlec Wild, another Derby contender. Here (third from left) he's shown at the Derby with Marco Sartori '63, John Fasolino '60, MS '62, and Alfred George '58, MS '67.

Jackson Knowlton '69 (front right) had a spectacular May 3, when Funny Cide, the horse he co-owns with five high school friends and four new partners, won the Kentucky Derby. The gelding, purchased by the group's Sackatoga Stables for just $75,000, was the first gelding since 1929 and the first New York State-bred horse ever to take the coveted blanket of roses. He posted the 10th fastest time in Derby history, and the winners' share was more than $800,000. "It's kind of an American dream," Knowlton was quoted as saying in the Louisville, Kentucky, Courier Journal after the race. "We bought a lottery ticket --- it was a $75,000 lottery ticket --- and we won." Two weeks later the Barclay Tagg-trained Funny Cide, again ridden by jockey José Santos, won the Preakness.