GEORGETOWN, KY – MAY 25, 2011 – On Memorial Day Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement facility in Georgetown, KY, will have a commemorative service for the six retirees that passed away since last spring.
The public is invited to attend the event, which will begin at 2 p.m. on Monday May 30 at Old Friends’ Dream Chase Farm, 1841 Paynes Depot Road in Georgetown. Refreshments will be served.
Honored will be:
–Academy Award (1986-2010), one of the few remaining sons of Secretariat, he was the sire of 10 stakes winners;
–The Wicked North (1989-2011), a California superstar, he was named Eclipse Champion Older Male in 1994;
–Polish Navy (1984-2011), a great son of Danzig and multiple GR1 winner;
–Bonnie’s Poker (1982-2010) one of Old Friends’ mares, she was the dam of 1997 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Silver Charm;
–Glitterman, (1985-2011) a world-record-setting sprinter and sire of four millionaires, including Balto Star;
–Jade Hunter (1984-2011), a GR1 winner and sire of Horse of the Year, Azeri.
GEORGETOWN, KY – APRIL 26, 2011 – Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Facility in Georgetown, KY, will hold its annual Homecoming fundraising event, Sunday May 8, 2011 beginning at 4 pm.
The festivities will take place at Old Friends’ Dream Chase Farm, located at 1841 Paynes Depot Road in Georgetown, KY.
Tickets are $25; Old Friends members and shareholders and students with IDs are $15. Reservations are strongly suggested and can be made by calling (502) 863-1775.
Highlights of the event include:
Live music by Lexington favorite Roger BonDurant;
Guided farm tours;
Live and silent auctions of racing memorabilia, collectible stallion halters, jewelry, photographs, fine art, and more;
Sumptuous BBQ fare by Tommy Walters’ Furlongs Catering Company. The menu features pulled pork ribs, potato salad, baked beans, buttered rolls, and dessert;
A live demonstration on the making of Raku/horse hair pottery by the artists of Pottery Rowe in Louisville.
Parking on site
GEORGETOWN, KY – APRIL 25, 2011 – Old Friends retiree Danthebluegrassman, a 2002 Kentucky Derby contender, will be a special guest of Gov. Steve Beshear and First Lady Jane Beshear at the 2011 Governor’s Derby Celebration, held Saturday May 7 in the state capital city of Frankfort, KY.
The 12-year-old horse has been pensioned at Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Center in Georgetown, KY, since 2008. Many devoted fans and tourist visit him there annually.
Dan will be at the Capital City Museum at 325 Ann Street from 8am to noon, where he will meet and greet fans and be available for photos. Michael Blown, founder and president of Old Friends, will also be on hand.
Bred in Kentucky by Dan Mallory, Danthebluegrassman was campaigned by trainer Bob Baffert and owner Mike Pegram, who named the colt after his friend Dan Chandler, son of the former Kentucky governor and the bon vivant uncle of U.S. Representative Ben Chandler.
The Communication Alliance to Network Thoroughbred Ex-Racehorses (CANTER) is now offering its services to Arizona horseman with the opening of CANTER Arizona.
Volunteers will begin tracking visits immediately to offer free sales listings, including photography, to trainers and owners looking to move their ex-racehorses onto second careers. Horses listed for sale will be available to the general public on canterusa.org/arizona.
“We are thrilled to be offering our free listing services to the Arizona Thoroughbred racing industry,” Dennis Miller, executive director of CANTER Arizona, said in a release. “I’m very excited to be part of an organization that directly helps off-track-Thoroughbreds and provides owners and trainers another option for finding these horses homes once their racing careers are ending.”
CANTER volunteers across the country have worked to provide race tracks an outlet for trainers and owners looking to move their ex-race horses into second careers.
“We look forward to carrying on that success in Arizona,” added Miller.
Trainers looking to list a horse for sale in Arizona can contact Dennis Miller at millerdw51@aol.com.
Keeneland Paddock Appearance Scheduled for April 16 Featuring Special Guest Jim Bouton, Author of Ball Four
GEORGETOWN, KY – MARCH 29, 2011 – Ball Four, the multiple graded-stakes-winning son of Grand Slam, has been retired to Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement center in Georgetown, KY. He was donated to the facility by owner Bruce Golden and trainer David Jacobson, and was shipped to Kentucky on March 12.
To celebrate his arrival, the 10-year-old bay gelding will make an appearance at Keeneland racecourse in Lexington on Saturday, April 16, Blue Grass Stakes Day, as part of the track’s “Breakfast with the Works” program.
Joining Ball Four with be special guest Jim Bouton, former New York Yankee pitcher and author of the acclaimed baseball diary Ball Four.
Fans attending the event can meet both retired athletes and purchase autographed copies of Ball Four. A portion of the proceeds will go to Old Friends.
The event will take place in the Keeneland paddock area beginning at 8:45 am.
GEORGETOWN, KY – JANUARY 24, 2011 – Jade Hunter, multiple GR1 winner and sire of Horse of the Year Azeri, was humanely euthanized Sunday afternoon (January 23) at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute due to complications from colic.
The 27-year-old stallion had been pensioned at Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Facility in Georgetown, KY, since 2009.
“Jade Hunter was a very proud and confident stallion with an intelligence that matched his beauty,” said Old Friends president and founder Michael Blowen. “It’s very hard on all his caretakers to lose him and Polish Navy [who died Jan. 6] so close together.”
Bred in Kentucky, Jade Hunter (Mr. Prospector-Jadana (IRE), by Pharly) was bought for $700,000 by Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley Stud at the 1985 Keeneland yearling sale and raced in both Europe and North America.
Wellington, FL – The Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (FHBPA), with the support of Gulfstream Park, Calder Race Course, and the South Florida jockey colony, recognizing the need for a South Florida based Thoroughbred retirement program, has formed TRAC, a retirement, retraining and placement group dedicated to horses that end their racing careers at one of the two race tracks.
TRAC (Thoroughbred Retirement and Adoptive Care) also has strong support from professional jockeys who race in Florida and throughout the United States, industry professionals, businesses and horse lovers. Horses entering the TRAC program receive hands-on care, professional retraining and the chance for a second career. The program strives to find suitable adopters and homes for every horse. Many retired Thoroughbreds move on to second careers in the show world as hunters, jumpers, eventers or dressage horses. Some achieve success on the polo field, on trails, in therapeutic riding programs or simply as loving companions.
“Our efforts depend on a strong alliance between race tracks, industry officials, horsemen, owners, trainers, jockeys and fans,” said Phil Combest, TRAC Advisory Committee member, race horse owner and FHBPA official. “The racing industry is demonstrating its support through purse contributions and annual donations. But we need everyone’s to make sure all our retired horses receive basic care, retraining, and veterinary care,” continued Combest.
Louisville’s Historic Seelbach Hotel to Host 3rd Annual Old Friends Benefit Saturday, February 19, 2011
LOUISVILLE, KY – JANUARY 18, 2011 – The Historic Seelbach Hilton today announced that it will host the third annual “Old Friends along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail,” a progressive dinner and Bourbon-tasting that will benefit Old Friends, the Thoroughbred retirement facility in Central Kentucky.
The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 19, at the hotel, 500 South Fourth Street in downtown Louisville. Tickets are $100 per person, and the hotel is offering Bourbon Trail guests a special reduced room rate of $95 per night.
The benefit will be highlighted by live and silent auctions of exclusive equine artwork, autographed Bourbon items, racing memorabilia, fine jewelry, and more.
Old Friends, which has locations in Georgetown, KY and in Greenfield Center, NY, is devoted to providing a dignified retirement to horses whose racing and breeding careers have come to an end. The farm is home to such retired champions as Eclipse winner The Wicked North, Breeders’ Cup victor Gulch, and Travers stars Will’s Way and Thunder Rumble, along with many non-black type ex-racers.
GEORGETOWN, KY – JANUARY 6, 2011 – Polish Navy, the Ogden Phipps homebred and GR1 winner, was humanely euthanized this morning at Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement facility in Georgetown, KY. He was suffering from complications from a hip injury.
Michael Blowen, Old Friends President and Founder, made the announcement this afternoon.
“Polish Navy injured his hip several weeks ago and was taken to Hagyard’s where he received excellent diagnostic care,” said Blowen. “Unfortunately, he just never recovered. Dr. Doug Byars visited with this great old horse several times and, in consultation with Old Friends, advised us that Polish Navy’s time had come.”
The 27-year-old stallion had been pensioned at Old Friends since 2009.
GEORGETOWN, KY – DECEMBER 30, 2010 – Bidding opens January 1st on “The Creator,” hat number three in the six-part “Hats Off to the Horses: The Road to the Derby,” an online fashion auction benefitting Old Friends, the central Kentucky organization devoted to racehorse retirement.
Handcrafted by milliner Sally Faith Steinmann of Maggie Mae Designs, the hat will be on the block from January 1st through January 11 2011.
Steinmann, who owns the Massachusetts-based Maggie Mae Designs, is donating the six magnificent millinery creations to raise funds for Old Friends, the 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization that cares for more than 100 retired Thoroughbreds. Each hat is inspired by one of the retirees at Old Friends and will be auctioned monthly from November to April, leading up to the famed First Saturday in May. One hundred percent of the online proceeds goes to Old Friends.
To celebrate the New Year, Steinmann has created a magnificent chapeau in honor of Old Friends’ 25-year-old retiree Creator, one the first horses acquired by the organization from the breeding sheds of Japan.
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