Mahan, Funny Cide partner, dies

Dave Mahan, part of the group that owned the 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, Funny Cide, died Wednesday from brain cancer. He was 61.

The Republican-American of Waterbury, Conn., reported that Mahan had been hospitalized since Dec. 26. Mahan was a caterer based in Wolcott, Conn.

Mahan was one of the principal figures of Sackatoga Stable, a partnership formed in the mid-1990s that paid $75,000 for Funny Cide in 2002.

Funny Cide would win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness before having his Triple Crown bid ended by Empire Maker in the Belmont Stakes. Funny Cide went on to win 11 of 38 starts and bank $3,529,412 before being retired last summer.

Speaking of Mahan, Jack Kowlton, the head of Sackatoga Stable, told the Associated Press, "He loved the thought of being involved in a sport that was involved with glorious animals. It was his passion."