Old Friends

Old Friends will host this year's finalists for the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award for a book signing held Wednesday, Nov. 20 from 12:30-2:30 p.m. at the Josephine Abercrombie Center located at 1841 Paynes Depot Road, Georgetown, KY. The finalists include: Katherine Mooney (Isaac Murphy: The Rise and Fall of a Black Jockey), Kim Wickens (Lexington: The Extraordinary Life and Turbulent Times of America's Legendary Racehorse) and Curtis Stock (The Turcottes: The Remarkable Story of a Horse Racing Dynasty). One semi-finalist will also be available for signing: John Paul Miller...

The 2025 Secretariat's Legacy calendar, the eighth and final edition of the series that has already raised almost $39,000 for equine charities, is available for $25 online, the Secretariat Center said via a Wednesday press release. For the second straight year, calendar profits are shared by the Secretariat Center and Old Friends. An additional share will benefit the Maryland Horse Foundation. The calendar series began with the Living Legends theme in 2018, which honored Secretariat's offspring that were still alive, then transitioned to descendants of his broodmares in 2022. "It...

Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Farm in Georgetown, Kentucky, has welcomed Oct. 30 MSW Noble Drama (Gone Astray), according to a press release early Friday. The 9-year old dark bay gelding arrived at the farm courtesy of his owner and trainer, David Fawkes. Noble Drama earned his ticket to Old Friends when he won the 2018 FTBOA Silver Charm Florida Sire Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, which had been designated as a "retirement for life" at Old Friends race. "From the day we presented Noble Drama with his Old Friends for...

Old Friends will host a week-long celebration of GI Kentucky Derby Big Brown from Oct. 14-18. The event begins with an online silent auction which opened Monday and concludes Friday with a party at the farm with the silent auction closing and a live auction. Visitors will be able to meet the 2008 Kentucky Derby winners, as well as two other new arrivals to the farm: Cozmic One, first-born foal of Zenyatta; and multiple grade winner Mission Impazible. The silent auction ends Friday at 5:15 p.m. EST. All bidders, whether...

Multiple graded stakes winner Mission Impazible (Unbridled's Song--La Paz, by Hold Your Peace) has been retired from stud duties at Sequel Stallions New York and will be sent to Old Friends Equine retirement facility in Georgetown, Kentucky, Sequel announced Tuesday. Winner of the 2010 GII Louisiana Derby and 2011 GII New Orleans Handicap, Mission Impazible sired 2016 Tremont Stakes winner Silver Mission in his first crop and 2017 GII Adirondack Stakes winner Pure Silver in his second crop. He is also the sire of multiple stakes winners Espresso Shot and...

Old Friends will host a Family Day: Meet & Read to Old Friends Retirees event Saturday, Oct. 12 from 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. The event will highlight the book 'Jockey & Her Horse' by Cheryl White, the first black woman jockey to ride and win a professional race in the United States. The Family Day is part of The Heart of the Turf: Racing's Black Pioneers, a traveling exhibit sponsored by the Keeneland Association and developed and shared by the Keeneland Library, which is open to the public in the Josephine...

Big Brown (Boundary), impressive winner of the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness Stakes, has arrived at Old Friends in Kentucky where he will live out his days. Bred in Kentucky by Monticule LLC, Big Brown was a $60,000 Fasig-Tipton October yearling and was purchased by the late Paul Pompa, Jr. for $190,000 at the Keeneland April Sale in 2007. Winner of a two-turn turf maiden by better than 11 lengths for trainer Patrick Reynolds, Big Brown made his next start for Rick Dutrow, Jr. after IEAH Stable joined the...

Old Friends will host The Heart of the Turf: Racing's Black Pioneers, a traveling exhibit sponsored by the Keeneland Association and developed and shared by the Keeneland Library, from Oct. 2 to 31, seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily, the retirement organization announced Tuesday. The exhibit, which highlights the lives and careers of 100 African American horsemen and horsewomen from the mid-1800s to the present, will be held in the Josephine Abercrombie Center at Old Friends at Dream Chase Farm in Georgetown, Ky. It will...

Multiple graded stakes-winner Ide (Forty Niner--Maytide, by Naskra), a 31-year-old pensioner at Old Friends retirement facility in Georgetown, was euthanized at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital Friday due to colic. The chestnut stallion had been at Old Friends since Aug. 29, 2016 thanks to the Ide Group, which consists of three cousins, Allen Peltier, Bryan Harang, and Harvey "Drew" Peltier. In addition, Peter Willmott retained a share in the horse. "Although we are sad that Ide has left us, we are also filled with gratitude that Harvey Peltier and the...

by Suzi Pritchard-Jones In recent weeks. this publication has printed two articles by Dan Ross about Thoroughbred racehorses who are falling through the aftercare net, ending up in kill pens for export to either Mexico or Canada for slaughter. Owner Jack Wolf responded with a possible solution in a letter to the editor in last Friday's TDN. Mr. Wolf is not a lone owner.  There are many people who are heavily invested in this industry. In today's world when racing's social license to operate is wafer- thin, our industry is...

Old Friends, which will host its 19th Annual Homecoming Event on Sunday, May 5, has opened absentee bidding for a number of halters featured in a live and silent auction. Halters previously worn by Afleet Alex, Candy Ride (Arg), Channel Maker, Feathered, Gun Runner, I'll Have Another, Lava Man, Sea Hero, Serena's Song, Silver Charm, Silver State, Sky Mesa, and Tapit are available, with most accompanied by a certificate of authenticity. To bid, email your name, address, and phone number along with your highest bid to: horses@oldfriendsequine.org. The final deadline...

Even the Score (Unbridled's Song--Ashtabula, by Rahy), a resident of Old Friends for the past year, has died at the age of 26 after colicking. He was euthanized at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital on Saturday, Apr. 13. A MSGW & GISP during his four-year racing career, Even the Score stood at Rosendo "Ro" Parra's Millennium Farms before he was pensioned in 2020. Among the 17 career black-type winners he sired from his 15 crops are multiple Grade I winners Dullahan and Take the Points. "Even the Score was a...