NEW YORK, June 7 (UPI) -- If Funny Cide wins Belmont Saturday, Visa might be cheering the loudest.
Through its eight-year sponsorship of the three thoroughbred races that make up the Triple Crown, Visa has been offering a $5 million bonus to the owners of a horse that wins all three.
Carl F. Pascarella, Visa's chief executive, told The New York Times he hoped for a Triple Crown winner every year, but especially this year because Funny Cide and his owners are such a heartwarming story.
Funny Cide, which won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, is owned by a group of 10 men, 6 of them friends since their high school days in the upstate New York town of Sackets Harbor. Some of them put in $5,000 each to help buy Funny Cide for $75,000.
The story has all the makings of a feel-good publicity bonanza for Visa.
