SARATOGA SPRINGS — Funny Cide took Jack Knowlton and his Sackatoga Stable associates on the ride of their lives when the New York-bred gelding bid for a Triple Crown sweep in 2003.

Today, Knowlton is hoping to bring the thrill of thoroughbred ownership to new sets of partners.

Funny Cide captured the hearts of racing fans across the nation when he won both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness before coming up short in the Belmont on his improbable Tripe Crown bid.

The 61-year-old Knowlton, who lives in Saratoga Springs and is the president of Empire Health Advisors, continues to look for potential champions. He recently put together his fourth ownership syndicate that is dedicated to purchasing New York-breds. One of the group’s horses, Doc N Roll, will run in today’s $150,000 Cab Calloway Division of the New York Stallion Stakes.

“We’re still involved with

horses,” said Knowlton, who named his group for Sackets Harbor, where several of his friends went to high school, and for the city of Saratoga Springs. “We’ve introduced about 65 new people, to go along with our 10 originals, to the sport in the form of owners. And we’re running in a stakes race at Saratoga for the first time since Funny Cide ran in the Woodward Stakes. There is a pretty good likelihood that we might have five horses going to run here.

“I’m kind of achieving what I hoped to when I first went into syndication. We wanted to have some horses and get some action. We’ve got a lot of people involved with the sport, and it feels great.”

Knowlton’s love of horses runs deep.

“I became involved with standardbreds in 1982, and I kind of ran an informal partnership back then,” he said. “I ran that for 10 years. I cut my teeth in the harness race business, and I made an awful lot of friends. But in 1993 and 1994, we had all the issues with the horsemen’s strikes, and I had one owner pass away. So I figured we had our run with harness racing.”

Knowlton and a small group of investors bought their first thoroughbred in 1995.

“I’ve stayed involved in the racing game ever since then,” he said. “I’ve had enough fun and have been successful enough that all of those folks who originally got in our group, except for one, stayed with it the whole way. We’ve picked up more as we went along.”

Knowlton realizes he will never feel the same emotions he and his group felt when they rode a rented yellow school bus to follow Funny Cide’s Triple Crown run.

“We were on the top of the world. We climbed the tallest market,” he said. “The Kentucky Derby is the most famous race in the world. It was thrilling and exhilarating. Once that happened, obviously, you started to think about the Preakness. And then after that win, you started to think maybe we could win the Triple Crown.

“The five weeks between the Derby and the Belmont, and then the three weeks before the Wood Memorial were fantastic. That was two months of being on top of the thoroughbred game. I never imagined having a shot like that. It was an unexpected and wonderful experience.”

Now, Knowlton is hoping for some more magic. Sackatoga Stable’s fourth syndicate is raising money to purchase more New York-breds at the Fasig-Tipton Yearling Sales. Share will be available for a minimum of $10,000, and investors may purchase multiple shares.

Trainer Barclay Tagg, who guided Funny Cide to national prom­inence, will serve as the group’s representative at the sales. After being purchased, all of Sackatoga’s horses will be shipped to New Episode Training Center in Ocala, Fla., to prepare for their racing careers.

“I don’t aspire to get another Funny Cide. Our goal now is that we’re hoping to have horses that can compete in New York-bred races,” said Knowlton.

“We’ll have fun. We might even have some reasonable financial success. But you don’t really look at making big money in this bus­iness. If you can recoup your investment and maybe keep a little more, you’re doing great.”

Knowlton said he wants to continue bringing affordable thoroughbred ownership to local investors who have a true appreciation of the sport.

”Our initial three syndicates have been successful in attracting 75 participating investors, most of whom are involved in their first thoroughbred ownership exper­ience,” he said.

“We have seven horses in the syndicates: four 3-year-olds and three 2-year-olds. Two have won at Belmont Park, with one of them also a winner at Aqueduct.

“Two 3-year-olds and three

2-year-olds will likely race at Sar­atoga. It is very exciting to announce the formation of our fourth syndicate and continue our plan for providing affordable horse ownership opportunities.”

For more information on partic­ipating in a Sackatoga Stable synd­icate, contact Knowlton at 461-1850 or Ed Mitzen at 488-8304.