A Gathering of Old Friends
Central Kentucky farm becomes a haven for retired stallions

“C’mon, boy. Wanna race?” A fit former movie critic for the Boston Globe begins to lope as fast as his 58-year-old legs will allow through the grassy alleyway beside the sturdy fence of a Bluegrass horse farm paddock. On the other side of the black railing, Creator – a onetime European multiple graded stakes winning thoroughbred stallion – snorts and takes off. Though his racing and breeding days are over, the aged equine easily bests the laughing man, who offers carrots or peppermints as the spoils of victory.

Michael Blowen learned about the track at Suffolk Downs, home of cheap claimers near Boston, even working for a short time in its shedrows. In 1999, he and his writer wife took buyouts at the Globe and moved to Kentucky during a stint at the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, a New Jersey-based charitable organization that rescues horses and offers them for adoption. After 18 months, he quit to write an unfinished book, but his heart intervened.

In 2004, Blowen founded Georgetown-based Old Friends, the only horse retirement home in the country that takes stallions. Stallions are known to be tough animals to keep as they can be difficult at any age, can’t be retrained and require their own space.

“A few weeks after we started, it was discovered that 1986 Kentucky Derby winner Ferdinand had died in a slaughterhouse in Japan,” he explains. “All of a sudden our focus changed from just taking stallions to trying to bring back horses from overseas once their breeding careers were over.”

A number of countries, including Japan and Turkey, have significant racing operations. In an effort to improve bloodlines, agents representing foreign interests often pay vast sums for American champions. When their breeding days wane, however, these former superstars become practically worthless to their owners.

“One bad crop or one sprained ankle,” says Blowen, “and their value plummets.”

Though Japanese interests paid $20 million for 1988 Eclipse Award-winning turf specialist Sunshine Forever, Old Friends bought him back for $10,000. Overseas representatives keep him informed about the whereabouts of potential equine pensioners and ask if Blowen is interested once a stallion becomes available. If he is, another rep spends 30 days checking on the horse to make certain he can withstand the rigors of long-distance airline travel.

Horse shipments charged by the pound, so shipping is pricey: With a racehorse weighing around 1,200 pounds, the flight charges can be as much as $18,000 for a return ticket from Japan to the United States. The total ticket for the first two stallions rescued after Asian stud duty – European multiple graded stakes winner Creator and Sunshine Forever – was $68,000.

“We didn’t have that kind of money,” Blowen says with a smile. “But I used to take my 90-year-old mother-in-law to the track every Sunday, and she had a savings account…”

With her seed money to guarantee a loan, Old Friends began the work that to date has saved 11 stallions. For the first two years, the organization and its horses resided at fifth-generation horseman Alfred Nuckols Jr.’s Hurstland Farm in Midway. Since July 1, 12 other retirees – two mares and 10 geldings, including “Seabiscuit” movie star Popcorn Deelights (one of eight that played the California runner) – greet visitors at Old Friends’ new digs, Dream Chase Farm in Scott County, which the nonprofit recently purchased and will rename in a year or so.

Reading like a veritable who’s who, the farm’s resident roster includes such equine dignitaries as Hall of Famer and Breeders Cup Sprint Champion Precisionist and top runner Ogygian. Some horses are donated, like eight-time stakes winner Ruhlman, whose original owners gave the stallion to Old Friends just before their Giacomo won the 2005 Kentucky Derby.

Perhaps the most poignant story is that of million-dollar earner Taylor’s Special, Arlington Park’s six-furlongs record holder, who was found abandoned on a deserted farm in Washington State after his owner died. So far, the 25-year-old has gained 260 pounds in his Kentucky home.

Joining these former greats is Swan’s Way, a Massachusetts-bred horse that brought home only $65,000 total during 11 years racing.

“He’s the worst racehorse here by far,” Blowen says, “but he has a good story, and I’m a sucker for a good story.”

To help defray the annual $4,000 upkeep per individual, contributors can become part of a “syndicate” for each horse by purchasing a “share” for $100, which enables the buyer to attend an annual owners’ party. The prestigious Peabody Museum at Harvard owns a share in Sunshine Forever. The stallions turn artist by painting “Moneighs,” which sell at auction each May during Old Friends’ Homecoming event.

In kind donations help keep the books in the black. Triple Crown Senior Feed provides free feed; Hagyard’s Equine Institute, veterinary services; blacksmith work, farrier Jan Basson; and Glen Castle, halters. In 2005 Maya DeRosa became the full-time executive director, whose main focus is fundraising.

“What becomes of stallions has been a mysterious chapter in horse racing,” says Blowen. “It’s a great sport, and I think what we do sends the message that we have to respect these great athletes and not just think of them as money earners all the time. This is fun for me personally. I watched many of these guys run. It’s like having Michael Jordan and Larry Brown in your yard.”

Find out more at www.oldfriendsequine.org. Schedule a free tour, available seven days a week, at (859) 863-1775.

Katherine Tandy Brown is a staff writer for The Lane Report.
editorial@lanereport.com

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