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NEWSLETTERS 2009
Newsletter: Marcy 11, 2009 - April 2nd, 2009 Lava Man Luau is postponed.
During our tours I like to tell our visitors that there's a simple answer to horse racing's complex problems. Before making a decision involving the health and welfare of our amazing equine athletes, all parties..from grooms to vets...need to answer one question. Is the act I'm about to perform in the long-term interest of this great athlete? Jason Wood, Steve Kenly and everyone associated with their spectacular athlete, Lava Man, have made all the right choices since Lava Man's retirement last year. As part of their on-going concern for the long-term health, they have gone through a series of stem cell treatments to insure Lava Man's long and healthy retirement at Old Friends. The treatments will not be completed until mid-May, moving Lava Man's arrival at Old Friends to June.
I know this will disappoint many of his fans who made travel plans to visit him at Old Friends on April 2. And, of course, for all of us at Old Friends, we'd love to have him sooner than later. But not if it means reducing his chances for a retirement that we all hope will be as long, or longer, than that other great claimer, John Henry's 32 years. We thank everyone at STD Racing and at Magali Farm for taking such great care of Lava Man and sending us weekly pictures. We will keep you posted as we move along and apologize, once again, for any inconvenience. But it's never about us, it's about the horse.
Clever Allemont received 54 birthday cards when he turned 27 on Feb. 11. He looks great. He's put on weight, his coat is shiney and he joins The Wicked North as one of our most lovable stallions. We've added Easy Grades, Max a Million, Klassy Briefcase and Judge's Case to Old Friends and we're very excited about the imminent arrival of the great sprinter, Bonapaw.
The Richards family is not only donating the pride of the Fair Grounds (he won five stakes there) to Old Friends but also all of his scrapbooks and trophies, including his award for winning the Taylor's Special, named, of course, for the great Old Friends resident who is buried at the farm. The $6500 Keeneland purchase took the Richards and their modest entourage to a victory in the Vosburgh at Belmont and a trip to Dubai for the Golden Shheen. As Dennis Richard said at the time, "It's going to take me weeks to come down." We're just as excited that Bonapaw is going to call Old Friends home.
Last Saturday, at the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville, the folks that run the Kentucky Bourbon Trail teamed up with the hotelier's and put on one of the most amazing events in our short history. Entitled "Old Friends Along the Bourbon Trail," it featured representatives of all the great Kentucky bourbon distilleries and a fantastic dinner in the Oak Room. It was over-subscribed, raised money for our fencing and we all can't wait to do it again next year.
Thank yuou so much for your support. If we can ever be of service please don't hesitate to e-mail at michael@oldfriendsequine.org. Thanks to you, we now support 51 Thoroughbred retirees.
Michael
Update 4/21/08
We're very excited about seeing everyone on the first Sunday in May, our 2008 Homecoming at Old Friends. We can't wait to show everyone the new retirees and explain our plans for the future. First, one piece of bad news. We lost Occasion last night. She was 27 years old and spent her declining years with Mr. and Mrs. Steven Upchurch at Pleasant View Farm. She was given great care and consideration but her life prior to coming to Old Friends hadn’t been easy and old age finally caught up to her. She was a lovely mare and I know Old Friends made her last few years as pleasant as possible. We will have a necropsy performed and she will be buried at Old Friends at Dream Chase Farm.
The Homecoming looks better than ever. The Gallatin County Youth Bluegrass Band will perform a song they wrote in tribute to our recent retiree Danthebluegrassman. "The Ballad of Danthebluegrassman" is sure to top the charts. As most of you know, "Dan" was named by owner Mike Pegram after Dan Chandler, the bon vivant son of "Happy" Chandler and uncle to U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler. Dan's daughter, Erin, visited last week
and she's written a play and script based on her life and plans are afoot to shoot the film here. "Dan" is also making an appearance at the Natl. Bluegrass Festival at the Kentucky Horse Park in June. We also have Cappucino Kid, courtesy of Alex Brown Racing, SOS Equines and Linda Madsen.
Thanks to everyone at Stonewall Stallions. They stand Medaglia D’Oro, half-brother to Cappucino Kid and they care very much what happens to retired racehorses. They are donating $1100 to Old Friends to cover Dan’s transportation. They are setting up a Stonewall Stallion Fund of $10,000 upon which we can draw on for transporting any in-jeopardy Thoroughbred to Old Friends from anywhere in the country. And that’s just the beginning of this precedent setting agreement between an active breeding farm and a non-profit retirement home.
We have an astounding collection of halters for the HALTERMANIA portion of the Homecoming. Sylvia has listed the halters...including Storm Cat, A.P. Indy and Invasor...on the website. Check it out and make your bids. We also need volunteers for the Homecoming and on a regular basis. If you can afford a few hours to act as a tour guide, gift shop helper or general volunteer we'd really appreciate it. We still need auction items. If you've got a horse racing item that's just sitting in the basement that you think might raise money for our deserving retirees we'd love to include it. Just let Sylvia know at (502) 863-1775.
Katey Barrett is spearheading the 2009 Feed For a Day calendar and we'll be accepting reservations for specific dates through June 20th. Thank you so much for participating this year and I hope that the date you'd like for next year isn't taken. The sooner you sign up the better.
The weather really has improved. The retirees are munching on the green grass and their winter coats are shedding. I can't wait to show everyone around. Thanks again for your support and generosity. Old Friends is your place.
Update 4/9/08
Danthebluegrassman and Cappucino Kid are settling in very nicely. We are very grateful
to everyone who helped get them to us and we promise to take great care of them.
We now have 40 Old Friends (29 here and 11 off-site) and we need more room. We are
hemmed in on one side by the new subdivision. We have a very good relationship with
the residents and I think they'll be great neighbors. Fortunately, there are
44 acres that adjoin the gelding field that may be available for purchase. We have
been pre-approved by the Citizens-Commerce Bank (thank you, Mr. Duckworth) and we're
working up an offer sheet. If we can acquire the additional property that obviously
will allow us to expand. There is an overwhelming demand for our services. (The
funniest thing I've heard was from a supporter who was at a party and was told
that they'd heard that "it is harder to get your horse into Old Friends
than it is to get you kid into Harvard"). The hardest part of this job is turning
horses away. Mrs. Suzanne Gottlieb has made an extremely generous contribution of
$10,000 to get us started. If you'd like to make a donation to help we'd
really appreciate it. If anyone wants to buy it and donate it to Old Friends we'll
name it anything you like. Thanks so much for all your support and I hope you'll
all get to visit sometime soon. These great athletes love to mug for the camera.
There are still a few wine bottles available at Liquor Barns here in Kentucky.
They have both the Albert Brooks and Anjelica Huston bottles. Kentucky Ale has
released the second Bourbon Barrel Ale with our own Kiri's Clown gracing the
label with jockey Jean Cruget. Jean very kindly signed each of 2600 bottles.
A percentage of sales of each bottle goes to Old Friends and The Don MacBeth Memorial
Fund for Retired Jockeys.
Another exciting event coming up is on Friday, April 18th 5:00 - 8:00pm at Whole
Foods Market 4944 Shelbyville Road, Louisville 502-899-5545 "Five After Five"
FRIDAY Benefit for Old Friends Retired Thoroughbreds Enjoy the flavors of our Derby
menu paired with your favorite local beers! Your $5 donation will help Old Friends
continue to provide dignified retirements for our thoroughbreds. Five Kentucky beer
samples with Derby meal pairings are included with admission - and you get to keep
the mug!
Our 2009 FEED FOR A DAY calendar is in full swing. World class photographer Katey
Barret is again spearheading the publication. You can help feed and care for the
horses at Old Friends with your $100 donation. Receive a free calendar as a gift
and have a loved one’s birthday, anniversary, or a memorial note on the date of
your choice. (first come, first serve) Donors who had a date on the 2008 calendar
get first dibs on their previous date. Deadline is June 20, 2009. 2009 calendars
will be shipped free to donors this fall. If you want to help, print off the calendar
donor form here: http://www.oldfriendsequine.org/pdfs/calendar2009.doc complete
the form and send along with your donation to Old Friends, 1841 Payne’s Depot Rd.,
Georgetown, KY 40324. You can also donate with paypal or call the office with
credit card info at 502-863-1775
There are still tickets available for this Sundays ball game at Louisville Slugger
Field. We'll have a silent auction of a jersey and baseball signed by the players,
and the eBay auction of the opportunity to throw out the second pitch.
As always, thank you for your support.
Update 3/14/08
Danthebluegrassman is heading home. The 9-year-old son of Pioneeering,
bred by the late Dan Mallory and named after Dan Chandler, the bon vivant uncle of U.S. Representative Ben Chandler, will be retired at Old Friends sometime with the next few weeks. After shipping is arranged with Brookledge over the next few days, Dan will go first to Alfred Nuckols Hurstland Farm where he'll settle down from his racing career under the watchful eyes of Alfred and Tim Overton. Dan last raced for owners R and J Thoroughbreds and trainer Ryan Beattie at Penn National a few weeks ago. We'll be having a big welcome home party for the big horse once he settles in. We'd like to especially thank Jim Ponte of Harris Printers in Phoenix, who kept his eye on Dan's career and pestered us to get him, and Tim Ford of Indianapolis who helped put the negotiations together and expedite Dan's return home. They both also contributed $500 and become the first two shareholders in our latest star.
On Sunday, April 13...the day after the Toyota Blue Grass at Keeneland...the Louisville Bats are holding Old Friends Day at Slugger Field in Louisville. It's the Bats opening season series against the Pawtucket Red Sox and tickets are only $5. Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron has been invited to toss out the first pitch. A fan of Old
Friends will also get to toss out a pitch. There'll be plenty of Bats memorabilia available, including autographed balls and shirts. Best of all, they'll be showing some of our great Thoroughbred's career highlights on the centerfield score board. How much fun can you have for just five bucks? Tickets are available through Old Friends and can be picked up at the Old Friends Will Call window on game day. It'll be great for the family and for Old Friends. We hope to make it an annual event.
Don't forget our Annual Homecoming on the first Sunday in May. We moved it back to Derby weekend due to popular demand. It's going to be better than ever. More music, more food, more memorabilia and, most importantly, more retirees. Take the opportunity to welcome home Danthebluegrassman, Williamstown, Will's Way and who knows who else?
Today is Sunshine Forever's 23rd birthday and, on Monday, Ogygian turns 25. It hardly sems possible it's been that long since they carved their legacies into racing history. Now, away from the tumult and shouting, they run for fun and it's still so thrilling to watch. After a rough winter that cost us a few run-in sheds and a couple of sleepless nights, it's great to report that all 28 of our Old Friends made it through with nary a scratch. As the new spring grass starts peeking up from the muddy paddocks, it's clear that the future looks brighter and brighter. Our main job is to find more homes for more horses. With that in mind, we
made arrangements with Dr. Doug and Susan Byars to lease some beautiful paddocks at his Cedar Spring Farm just down the Ironworks Pike (2.4 miles to be precise) from Old Friends. We plan to use Old Friends at Cedar Spring primarily for geldings and mares and expand our stallion space at Dream Chase Farm. The facilities are so close that it'll be easy for visitors to see all the retirees in short period of time. Thanks to Doug and Susan for making us feel so much at home.
Thank you all for all your support. It has been a little tough this winter with the rising costs of feed and hay but I never worried for a minute. Our only job is to provide a dignified retirement to as many of these deserving athletes as possible. And, when all is said and
done, there is no greater pleasure than watching them nibbling on grass, rolling on the warm ground or just staring off into the horizon, perhaps wondering as much about what we think as we do about them. They make the best friends in the world.
Update 2/3/08
All the retirees are doing great. Will's Way and Williamstown have settled right in. The winter cold, always a concern, has just made them friskier. In fact, Bonnie's Poker, Narrow Escape, Fortunate Prospect and Flying Pidgeon...our oldest retirees... look better than they did last year at this time.
Thanks to Ms Temperley, hay racks are starting to arrive in the fields. The geldings and mares are all set. Popcorn Deelites llikes his hay on the ground so he spent the first day just grabbing bunches of hay and tossing it around. Hey, to each his own. Will's Way loves his run-in shed and Ogygian couldn't care less. We'll be offering sponsorships on more hay racks. They help cut down on hay loss.
What a month. Between Old Friends Day at Santa Anita and Bill Mooney donating his
Eclipse Award for Commentary to Old Friends it's rarely been better for us, in particular, and thoroughbred retirement, in general. There's a real sense that more breeders, owners, trainers, jockeys, race tracks and handicappers see the value in assuring these great athletes a dignified retirement. The fans have known this for years. Roy and Gretchen Jackson, during their recent visit to Churchill Downs announcing the location for Barbaro's ashes, reiterated their support for Old Friends. They're hoping to visit the farm soon.
We're still raising money for the John Henry Memorial at the Kentucky Horse Park. If everything continues as planned, his memorial should be up by his birthday next year. Special thanks to all of our great volunteers and Amy Zimmerman at Santa Anita for making that day so special. It was great seeing so many of our California supporters, particularly Peggy Whittingham and Suzanne Gottlieb and her sister, Donna. Suzanne's generous contributions allowed us to support six more retirees and make substantial improvements at the farm (and her sister Bonnie cooked us a great meal). Angie Dickinson was wonderful. Her contribution allowed us to attend the Eclipse Awards (her donation allowed us to buy the table) and she's as funny as she is beautiful. And that's saying quite a bit.
While it was great fun in California, I couldn't wait to get home. It's like I'm addicted to these horses. They are so much fun to be around. I hope to see you all this year at the farm where we can share the fun with all of our supporters. If early signs are any indication, 2008 will be a great year in our continuing search to find more and better homes for these wonderful Thoroughbreds.
We have the opportunity to expand Old Friends to a nearby farm...It would allow us to expand our population by 15 additional retirees...While the details have yet to be worked out we could run tours from Old Friends to the additional farm...If we can raise enough additional funds this would be ideal...We'll keep you posted on our progress...We have a waiting list for retirees and I know we have to work doubly hard on their behalf...Thanks again for everything.
Update 1/4/08
It's hard to imagine how 2007 could have turned out any better for Old Friends. First, we didn't lose one retiree and we gained a bunch. Thanks to all of you we returned Wallenda home from Japan. We really appreciate the Japanese racing interests and Cot Campbell at Dogwood for all their help in bringing this Super Derby winner home. We also added a mare from Hopewell Farm, Charming Dreamer, and one from Laura DeSeroux, Cozy Miss. We were lucky to acquire Williamstown, who held the track record for one mile at Belmont Park for ten years and, most recently, Will's Way, who won the Travers and Whitney Stakes at Saratoga. Will's Way arrived in great condition from Brookdale Farm along with a sizeable donation. We're very grateful to have them join our growing population of great athletes. Tours were way up and, of course, Sylvia, our Director of Everything, has built up the gift shop. We wouldn't be anywhere without all of our great volunteers...particularly,
Ruthann, Val, Beth, Barbara, Rachel, Tom, Charlie, Martin and everyone else.
Stan Grossfeld of The Boston Globe wrote and photographed an astounding piece on
the farm and Bill Nack, who was commissioned by LIFE magazine to do an article did
a terrific job but it never ran. Bill gave us permission to publish it. Bill Mooney, our official eulogist, wrote a beautifully restrained, emotionally potent story of the last days of Precisionist for Post Time USA. It won the Eclipse Award and Bill is donating the trophy to Old Friends. The presentation is on Jan. 21 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel and it will be televised on TVG. We wouldn't spend Old Friends money to attend the event but the great actress, Angie Dickinson, donated enough money so we could go with her to the dinner. She's one of our most vocal and generous supporters.
The day before, as luck would have it, is Old Friends Day at Santa Anita. That's
January 20 and we really appreciate Amy Zimmerman, her staff and all of our California
supporters for helping with this great event. We have some great silent auction items and it'll be a lot of fun. The day includes seeing some of our Thoroughbred's great races, a buffet lunch, valet parking, programs and admissions. We are not charging for the event but we'll gladly accept donations.... especially if someone hits the Pick 6. We're extremely grateful to our California supporters, particularly Jerry and Ann Moss, John and Jerry Amerman and Madeleine Pickens. Also, Suzanne Gottlieb. When we needed more space for more horses Suzanne made our largest donation (by far) to create more paddocks for these deserving athletes. Without her, 2007 would not have been nearly as successful and we would have turned down many deserving horses out of financial necessity. Plus, she's a warm, sympathetic and loyal friend. Diane and I had the indescribable pleasure of feeding all the horses on their collective birthdays, New Year's Day. While a bit nippy, watching the moon go down on the back of the farm while the sun was coming up on the front was
one of the great moments of my life. Surrounded by these amazing animals who've come to represent so much more than a pile of statistics (no matter how impressive)... it became obvious that I am the luckiest person on earth.
Michael
p.s. Go to our website to read and see Bill Mooney's Eclipse Award winning story, Stan Grossfeld's lovely story & slideshow from the Boston Globe, and Bill Nack's featured piece.
p.s.s. Thanks to Tom Beatty for updating the horses ages for us with the New Year....
Awad, 18
Ballindaggin, 23
Bull InThe Heather, 18
Creator, 22
Flying Pidgeon, 27
Fortunate Prospect, 27
Kiri's Clown, 19
Leave Seattle, 20
Ogygian, 25
Ruhlmann, 23
Sunshine Forever, 23
Swan's Way, 19 (the best-looking horse on the farm)
Wallenda, 18
Williamstown, 18
Will's Way, 15
Bonnie's Poker, 26
Cozy Miss, 20
Narrow Escape, 25
Affirmed Success, 14
Bingo, 20
Easy Ellis, 7
Futural, 12
Invigorate, 16
Kudos, 11
Popcorn Deelites, 10
Remmington, 17
Riva Way, 10
Special Ring, 11
Little Silver Charm, 18
NEWSLETTERS 2007
February 21, 2007
The cold snap has finally thawed into the dawn of spring. The only ones happier than us are the horses…especially, Kiri’s Clown who bounced and pranced like a yearling this morning. Awad spent a lot of time this winter in his run-in shed as did Ruhlmann. Flying Pidgeon is doing great. He’s put on weight and really asserts himself. Creator still runs the place and Fortunate Prospect (Grampa) keeps his own gentle counsel. Bull Inthe Heather was a great model last week when Peggy Maness photographed him with his favorite person, Diane, my wife. Ballindaggin, the dignified chestnut, keeps an eye on his neighbor’s, Special Ring and Popcorn Deelites who, in turn, have an eye for our two great mares, Narrow Escape and Bonnie’s Poker. Old Friends (the gelding) and Futural (one of our newest additions) have been nicknamed Butch and Sundance because they are devilishly inseparable. Ogygian, who’ll turn 24 on St. Patrick’s Day, is doted over by Charlene Brown and Swan’s Way, despite hi!s, shall we say, inconsistent racing career, continues to be Janet’s pet and a real hit with visitors. I guess cuteness really does count. Leave Seattle loves to rear up and dance at feeding time. Sunshine Forever looks better at 22 than he did at 20. And, I have to say, he’s my favorite. We’ve been through a lot together. Kudos and Invigorate lead the gang of six geldings with Bingo, Riva Way, Remmington and Easy Ellis all following along. The latter quartet are just too laid back to worry about any pecking order. We are very lucky that we don’t have to breed, sell or race these great athletes. Thanks to your generosity we have the luxury of falling in love with them and knowing that they’ll never leave until their final time is up.
There are too many people to thank for all their contributions over the past few months but I’d especially like to thank the Friends of Barbaro and everyone else who sponsored a waterer or a run-in shed. I only wish you all could see what a difference you’ve made in each of these horses’ lives.
But, as always, there’s more to be done. Wallenda, named in honor of the great Flying Wallendas circus act, is ready to come home from Japan. The Frank Alexander-trained, Dogwood Stable winner of the 1993 Super Derby and lifetime earnings of $1,205,929, has completed his stud study. Megumi Igarashi of Narvick International-Japan, is making all the arrangements. Naturally, we’ve got to raise the money. Here’s the idea _ Help Fly Wallenda Home. It’s just under 7,000 miles from Hokkaido, Japan to Georgetown, Kentucky. We’re asking Wallenda’s fans to sponsor a mile or two at $10 per mile. We can follow his progress as if he was Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. If we get him home with this campaign we’ll even have funds left over that’ll go in a separate account for a future returnee. Our relationship with the Japanese owners and breeders is excellent thanks to the great work done by Megumi. If everything works out, we can have Wallenda leaving Japan and arriving at Old Friends in early April. If you want to help just send the tax deductible donation to Old Friends, 1841 Payne’s Depot Rd., Georgetown, KY 40324 and write Wallenda on the check.
We’re also planning a calendar for 2008. Great equine photographers such as Katey Barrett, Barbara Livingston and Robbi Meisel are all contributing photos and Katey is spearheading the publication. We aim to make it the best of all racing calendars with excellent detail and printed on heavy stock. It costs about $100 per day to feed our retirees. So we’re offering every day of the year for individual sponsorship. For a $100 donation you can have a name printed on the calendar for the day of your choice, on a first-come, first-served basis. You also get a free calendar. Well, I guess it's really not free if you’re forking over $100.
More great news. Chrisman Mill Vineyards is planning a series of Old Friends wines featuring every one of our retirees. Yes, even Swan’s Way. The first bottle will be available in mid-March at the winery and at many local establishments, including Liquor Barn. The plan is to roll out a bottle every sixty days or so. Our first bottle, so as to not cause consternation among the Thoroughbreds, is my miniature horse, Silver Charm. We got him off the killer truck about six years ago and he’s been our pet ever since. As luck would have it, Jack Nicholson drew a mischievous sketch of him and he’s allowing us to use it on the label. Thanks, Jack. This should mean a lot of revenue for Old Friends as Chrisman Mill believes these bottles will be a big success. We’re still working out the financial details but it’s going to be a big help and a lot of fun. We’ve contacted Albert Brooks, the great comic filmmaker for many of us and the voice of Nemo’s father for others, and it looks like! he'll be drawing our second label. He has yet to select which horse. Also, it is now legal to ship wine outside the Commonwealth of Kentucky so you can order bottles by contacting www.chrismanmill.com.
I hope many of you will be able to visit Old Friends at Dream Chase Farm in the coming months to see how much these great athletes appreciate what you’ve done for them. We give tours seven days a week and we love company. We’re holding our Homecoming on July 14th this year and you’re all invited.
Michael
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