Proceeds to Benefit Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement
GEORGETOWN, KY – NOVEMBER 30, 2011 – “Hats Off to the Horses: The Road to the Derby,” a charity auction of fashionable Kentucky Derby Hats, continues December 1st as bidding opens on “The Prized.”
“The Prized” hat is the second chapeau to go on the virtual block in this six-month-long auction, which kicked off November 1st.
Proceeds from this exclusive event benefit Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Facility in central Kentucky, and features beautiful hats handcrafted by milliner Sally Faith Steinmann of Maggie Mae Designs.
Each of the six unique designs are inspired by one of the pensioned racehorses at Old Friends, and a new hat will be offered for bid each month leading up to the most exciting two minutes in sports, the Kentucky Derby, held in 2012 on May 5th at Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY.
GEORGETOWN, KY – NOVEMBER 23, 2011 – Fabulous Strike, winner of the 2007 Vosburgh Stakes, has been permanently pensioned at Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Center in Georgetown, KY.
The 8-year-old Pennsylvania bred was retired from racing in September and was donated to Old Friends by his owner and breeder, Walter Downey and his Tea Party Stable.
Fabulous Strike (Smart Strike – Fabulous Find by Lost Code) is a five-time graded stakes winner and was one of the nation’s top sprinters between 2007 and 2009. In addition to the Vosburgh, his victories include the GR1 Aristides Breeders’ Cup Sprint in 2007 and the GR2 Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. in 2009. In all, the gelding captured 15 of his 28 starts and had total career earnings of $1, 448, 399.
Proceeds to Benefit Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement
GEORGETOWN, KY – OCTOBER 31, 2011 – Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Facility in Georgetown, KY, is happy to announce the launch of the third annual “Hats Off to the Horses: The Road to the Derby,” an online auction of exclusive Kentucky Derby hats.
The first of six hats exclusive Derby chapeaus will go on the virtual block November 1st and bidding will be open for 10 days. The first hat will commemorate Hall of Fame Champion Noor.
In the past two years this the six-month-long charity auction, featuring beautiful hats handcrafted by milliner Sally Faith Steinman, has raised nearly $9,000 for the more than 100 retired racehorses cared for by Old Friends.
GEORGETOWN, KY — OCTOBER 31, 2011 — Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Facility in Georgetown, KY, and its 30 retired Breeders’ Cup stars, invite fans to join them for a special celebration of the 2011 Breeders’ Cup on Sunday, November, 6 at 12 noon.
The festivities will take place at Old Friends’s Dream Chase Farm, located at 1841 Paynes Depot Road in Georgetown. Tickets are $25. Members or students tickets are available for $15, and reservations can be made by calling (502) 863-1775.
Guests will enjoy a full BBQ buffet by Tommy Walters of Furlong’s Catering, farm tours, live and silent auctions, a demonstration on the making of Raku/horse hair pottery by the artists of Pottery Rowe, and music by Lexington favorite Roger BonDurant.
And this year guests can also look forward to a special appearance and performance by singer/songwriter Liza G Fly, best known for her song “Zenyatta.”
GEORGETOWN, KY — OCTOBER 28, 2011 — On Wednesday October 27 Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Center in Georgetown, KY, happily welcomed GR1-winner and top sire You and I. The stallion arrived from Washington state and will now be permanently pensioned at the farm.
Woodstead Farm in Chehalis, WA, where he most recently stood stud, donated the 20-year-old son of Kris S to Old Friends.
Campaigned by prominent owner Edmund A. Gann and legendary trainer Bobby Frankel, You and I (Kris S – La Chaposa, by Ups) won 6 of 16 starts including the GR2 Cowdin stakes as a 2-year-old. The following year he set a track record in the GR3 Riva Ridge Stakes, running the 7 furlongs in 1:20.33. At 4 You and I finally earned his GR 1 capturing the 1995 Metropolitan Handicap and later that year the GR 2 Brooklyn H. His career earnings totaled $701, 235.
During his stallion career You and I sired 15 stakes winners, most notably the five-time GR1-winning filly You.
GEORGETOWN, KY — OCTOBER 20, 2011 — Personalized, one of only four foals produced by Hall of Fame champion Precisionist, has died.
The 21-year-old mare was humanely euthanized at Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Facility in Georgetown, KY, where she had been pensioned since 2008. The mare was discovered in her paddock having suffered a fractured hip.
“We welcomed Personalized to Old Friends because of our great love for her sire but it wasn’t long before her kind eyes and gentle disposition made her special regardless of her lineage,” said Old Friends president and founder, Michael Blowen.
Owned and bred by Florida-based Fred Hooper, who also bred her sire, Personalized (Precisionist – Ski Title, by Baldski) only had eight starts in her career and no wins, earning only $1,050. She was discovered in a feedlot Yakima, WA in 2008 by the Columbia Basin Equine Rescue and then found a permanent home at Old Friends.
GEORGETOWN, KY – OCTOBER 6, 2011 – Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Farm in Georgetown, KY, has partnered with the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame and Lexington’s Nick Ryan’s Saloon to proudly present “Hall of Fame Day at Old Friends” on Monday October 17, 2011.
The event will kick off at 3pm at Old Friends, 1841 Paynes Depot Road in Georgetown, with an observance for the three great Thoroughbred Champions who have been laid to rest at the farm’s official Hall of Fame Cemetery: Skip Away, Noor, and Precisionist.
The afternoon will be highlighted by tours of the farm and visits with many of the stars of the turf now retired at Old Friends.
Hall of Fame Day continues with an evening soiree (6pm) at Nick Ryan’s Saloon, located at 157 West Jefferson Street in Lexington.
Tickets to Nick Ryan’s are $50 and include a BBQ buffet, drinks, live music, and many special guests; reservations can be made by calling (502) 863-1775.
“We’re flattered that the National Racing Hall of Fame has honored Old Friends by designated us as the official cemetery for Hall of Famer’s whose final resting spots may be in jeopardy,” said Old Friends founder, Michael Blowen. “We’re grateful to Nick Ryan’s for their participation and support and we welcome everyone to the event, especially members of the Hall of Fame.”
GEORGETOWN, KY – AUGUST 30, 2011 – Monday, Sept. 5 is Old Friends Day at River Downs racetrack in Cincinnati, OH.
Join us for an exciting day of racing as River Downs celebrates the careers of Ohio millionaire Catlaunch and recently retired fan favorite Eagle Time. The benefit will raise money for Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Facility in Georgetown, KY.
In addition to the second running of the “Old Friends” race, the event, held from 11 AM – 5 PM, will feature a silent auction of select racing memorabilia. Featured items include a Moneigh by Old Friends retiree Danthebluegrassman and other unique collectibles. All proceeds will benefit Old Friends.
While at the track fans are invited to stop by the Old Friends booth and learn more about the organization and its many retired equine athletes.
The Old Friends benefit at River Downs began last year as a tribute to Appygolucky, an Old Friends retiree who was once considered the King of the Claimers at the River Downs. He also set the track record for a mile at Beulah Park, which still stands.
Appy passed away in 2009, but his legacy of helping fellow claiming horses lives on.
For additional information contact Vivien Morrison at val226@aol.com.
About Old Friends Old Friends is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization that cares for more than 100 retired racehorses. Its Dream Chase Farm, located in Georgetown, KY, is open to tourists daily by appointment. Old Friends also has a satellite facility in Greenfield Center, New York, Old Friends at Cabin Creek: The Bobby Frankel Division, which is also open to visitors. For more information on tours, reservations at the Old Friends B&B, or to make a donation, contact the main farm at (502) 863-1775 or see their website at www.oldfriendsequine.org.
GEORGETOWN, KY — AUGUST 29, 2011 — Having traveled cross-country from the Loma Rica Ranch in Grass Valley, CA, the body of deceased Hall of Fame champion Noor will be re-interred in Kentucky at Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Facility in Georgetown, on Wednesday August 31.
Members of the press and fans are invited to attend the ceremony, which will be held at 10 am at Old Friends’s Dream Chase Farm, 1841 Paynes Depot Road in Georgetown.
In attendance will be Michael Blowen, president and founder of Old Friends, and Charlotte Farmer, the woman who led the effort to exhume Noor and bring his remains to Kentucky.
Noor died in Grass Valley in 1974 at age 29 and was buried in the infield of the old Loma Rica Ranch Racetrack, but the property is now in development for residential and commercial use. He will be re-interred in a new cemetery for Hall of Fame inductees near the entrance of Old Friends.
Noor, son of the superstar stallion Nasrullah, was campaigned by owner-breeder Charles S. Howard (also the owner of Seabiscuit) after the colt’s 3-year-old season in 1948.
Trained by Burley Parke and ridden by Johnny Longden, Noor was voted 1950 handicap champion after winning four out of five head-to-head sprints with Citation and defeating the then 7-year-old Assault. The victories made Noor the first horse to beat two Triple Crown winners.
Three of the top four ranked 2-year-olds in the latest AQHARacing.com-Horseplayernow.com National Top 10 polls are entered in Thursday’s trials for the All American Futurity (G1) at Ruidoso Downs. Among the 26 jam-packed trials will be appearances by No. 2-ranked High Rate Of Return (Trial 21), No. 3 Feature Mr Bojangles (Trial 19) and No. 4 Mighty B Valiant (Trial 1). The All American Futurity hopefuls also include this week’s No. 10-ranked runner, The Long Knife (Trial 16).
There was little change to the 2-year-old rankings this week, as West Coast-based Separate Fire remained on top and awaits lucrative challenges at Los Alamitos this fall. Pollsters shuffled the positions this week for No. 6 Osbaldo and No. 7 Adolph Tres Knockout in the only minor shift among the juveniles.
The older-horse rankings remained unchanged at the top, as Rylees Boy continues his hold on the top spot once again this week. Noconi edged back into the poll at No. 10, nosing out last week’s No. 10 Prospect To The Top, for the final spot in this week’s rankings. Among the top-rated older horses competing in Friday’s trials to the All American Derby (G1) at Ruidoso will be No. 3-ranked Cold Cash 123 and No. 6 Llano Teller.
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GEORGETOWN, KY – NOVEMBER 23, 2011 – Fabulous Strike, winner of the 2007 Vosburgh Stakes, has been permanently pensioned at Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Center in Georgetown, KY.
GEORGETOWN, KY — OCTOBER 31, 2011 — Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Facility in Georgetown, KY, and its 30 retired Breeders’ Cup stars, invite fans to join them for a special celebration of the 2011 Breeders’ Cup on Sunday, November, 6 at 12 noon.
GEORGETOWN, KY — OCTOBER 28, 2011 — On Wednesday October 27 Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Center in Georgetown, KY, happily welcomed GR1-winner and top sire You and I. The stallion arrived from Washington state and will now be permanently pensioned at the farm.
GEORGETOWN, KY – OCTOBER 6, 2011 – Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Farm in Georgetown, KY, has partnered with the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame and Lexington’s Nick Ryan’s Saloon to proudly present “Hall of Fame Day at Old Friends” on Monday October 17, 2011.
GEORGETOWN, KY – AUGUST 30, 2011 – Monday, Sept. 5 is Old Friends Day at River Downs racetrack in Cincinnati, OH.
GEORGETOWN, KY — AUGUST 29, 2011 — Having traveled cross-country from the Loma Rica Ranch in Grass Valley, CA, the body of deceased Hall of Fame champion Noor will be re-interred in Kentucky at Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Facility in Georgetown, on Wednesday August 31.
