Old Friends

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The links below will take you to articles which have appeared recently in the following publications.

Herald Leader Editorial by Michael Blowen (3/7/04)

Midway Exchange ( July 28, 2003 - recap by Michael Blowen of the Fund Raiser)

The Washington Post (July 23, 2003)

Thoroughbred Times ( July 23, 2003 - Racing Fans get Acquainted with Old Friends)

The Blood Horse (July 7, 2003 Fundraiser Slated for Retired Stallion Facility)

Wave 3

3/7/04 - Herald Leader Editorial by Michael Blowen

As usual, John W. Gaines knows what's wrong with the Thoroughbred industry, and he knows how to fix it. His intelligent editorial ("Kentucky's Economic Engine") outlined the extensive economic impact the horse business has on the Commonwealth. He pointed out the injustice of stereotyping all owners and breeders as "dilettantes engaged in a rich man's hobby" and, quite accurately, asserted that "the stallions are the lynchpins that hold the horse economy together in Central Kentucky." Even though Mr.Gaines' long-term commitment to Thoroughbreds is unmatched and his status as the sports premiere visionary is unparalleled, this time he didn't take his bold ideas far enough.

While stereotyping the horse farm owners may be unfair, it's an image that many have brought on themselves. Visitors to the Bluegrass are often intimidated by the unwelcoming signs (“No Visitors”) that guard the imposing estates. Even the "visitors by appoinment only" declarations make tourists feel they are intruding. Each farm is a business. But if each farm would set aside just four hours per week to welcome fans, it would increase the visibility of the sport and, perhaps, attract additional business.

But Mr. Gaines' second point is even more crucial to attracting additional, untapped tourist dollars to the Thoroughbred industry. The stallions are the lynchpins. They are the celebrities. Whether its the great champions Skip Away and Tiznow, at Hopewell and WinStar, respectively, or A.P. Indy at Lane's End and Unbridled's Song these outstanding athletes are not only famous stallions, they are valuable tourist attractions.

Years ago, when I was writing about movies for The Boston Globe, the legendary director John Huston told me that you could have the greatest music, the greatest cinematography and the greatest supporting cast but if you didn't have a story and a star, you didn't have a movie. These stallions are racing's stars and they need to be more accessible to their fans.

Kentucky Derby and Breeders Cup winner Ferdinand's inconceivable death in a Japanese slaughterhouse, as first reported by Barbara Bayer in The Blood-Horse, has raised the stakes.

That's why we started Old Friends, a Midway-based, not-for-profit (501(c) 3 status pending) retirement home for stallions. The concept is simple. When a racing star leaves the track or the breeding shed, they still have great tourist appeal. John Nicholson and the wise people at the Kentucky Horse Park know how much retired stars such as John Henry and Cigar add to their attendance and bottom line. They also send another strong message with the upcoming opening of The Secretariat Center and the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation's re-training facility. The message is clear: Kentucky cares what happens to these retirees. At Old Friends, that is our job as well.

Our volunteers are working diligently on locating American Thoroughbreds overseas and opening up lines of communication with the various foreign owners. These great American Thoroughbreds should return home when their stud careers are over. We'd like to get Strike the Gold and Sea Hero back from Turkey. And we're getting a lot of help in Turkey from Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY) and Connie Harriman Whitfield, the vice-chairman of the newly established Kentucky Racing Authority. We'd like to get and Proud Truth back from Panama. We’d like to get Charismatic, Sunshine Forever and Fraise, and dozens of others back from Japan. We'd like Belmont winner Colonial Affair back from Argentina and Horse of the Year Alysheba back from Saudi Arabia. When fully operational, Old Friends will have a beautiful farm where these stallions can live out their lives in the Bluegrass. A home place where fans can re-live these stallion's careers at a living museum, and where school children can visit to learn about the rich breeding and racing history of the Bluegrass.

Right now, Betty Sue and Philip Walters are graciously leasing us land at Afton Farm, located just a few minutes from Midway on Georgetown Rd. We have our first Thoroughbred. And he's a she.

On the last day of the recent Fasig-Tipton sale hip number 539 didn't receive a bid. The industry, by not making a single offer, deemed this daughter of Exceller useless. We received several e-mails from Bonnie Mizrahi of The Exceller Fund and Lori Neagle at ReRun, asking if we could do something. Since we had an empty paddock at Afton, we decided to buy this 21 year-old barren mare for the minimum price of $1000. By the time we got over to the Fasig-Tipton offices on Ironworks Pike, Franks Farm manager Barbara Doughty and Fasig-Tipton representatives had worked out an arrangement. They presented her as a gift to Old Friends. To us, this worthless mare is priceless.

The nationally syndicated George Michael Sports Machine is coming to our free Open House at Afton on April 17. Our guests include trainer Charlie Whittingham's widow, Peggy Whittingham, their daughter Charlene, writer Barbara Bayer, as well as other trainers, owners and jockeys.

The Thoroughbred industry needs to realize that the overwhelming popularity of both the book and movie "Seabiscuit" wasn't because of stud fees. It wasn't about casinos or slot machines or cheerleaders or rock bands at racetracks. It was about the John Huston daily double - a horse with a great story told in a magnificent manner. Every Thoroughbred has a tale to tell. Some, like Ferdinand and Exceller's, are tragedies. Others, like Cigar and John Henry's are much happier.

Old Friends has a star and a story. Her name, appropriately enough, is Narrow Escape, and we're still writing her story.

THE MIDWAY EXCHANGE August 1, 2003

"Charm comes in all colors."

Charm comes in all colors. On July 23 at Hopewell Farm, it was silver. An anonymous donor contributed a halter from the 1997 Derby winner who now stands proudly at Three Chimneys Farm. After spirited bidding between myself and Ryan Sigley, Sissy’s son, he won the coveted halter. I was crushed. It was, in large part, my party and I really wanted that halter more than I would have admitted. But the kid paid $400 and that would go along way to support “Old Friends,” a Midway facility for retired stallions. And, after all, it wasn’t about me. It was about building a suitable home for these retired champions. Nevertheless, I really wanted it because I have a miniature horse named Silver Charm, and I thought it’d make a great match with his tiny halter. And it’s a very hard item to come by.

On a brighter note, we grossed nearly $14,000. It was a sell-out. The Green River roast beef and baby lamb chops and shrimp and everything else served by Holly Hill Inn was exceptional. The Graham Beck wine, the Kentucky Ale and Buffalo Trace bourbon (all donated) was terrific. The magnificent cake given by Deb Howard of Cakes By Deb was a masterpiece of chocolate topped by a beautiful horse with a cascade of sugar roses. Comedian Frank Santorelli was hysterical and Charlie Black, the great polo announcer, coaxed every last dime from the crowd.

While it was fun, the goal of the evening was much larger. Tony Moreno, vice-president of “Old Friends,” explained the major objectives. “We want to create a tourist destination and showplace for these retired champions,” said Moreno. “And, while we’re asking for contributions this evening, we have received more than 2000 e-mails and just as many hits on our website (www.oldfriendsequine.com). This is a grass roots effort that benefits these wonderful athletes, Midway, breeders, farms, tracks and racing fans.” Old Friends is creating collectible certificates for Derby winners Strike the Gold and Sea Hero (both in Turkey) and Charismatic and War Emblem (both in Japan) that fans can purchase for $50. All the money will go into a fund to bring back these champions.

Old Friends hopes to make the fundraiser an annual event but, if everything falls into place, we won’t need to go begging. We firmly believe that the grass roots support for these great stallions will not only aid the horses, it’ll also be a big boost to the local economy. In fact, Old Friends has tapped into the broad-based support of racing fans worldwide. We’ve received e-mails from New Zealand, Ecuador, Croatia and a hundred other countries around the world. We are really only caretakers riding a wave of public support for these athletes. It’ll also be a big help to the racing industry. Race tracks don’t need rock and roll bands to bring in the fans. They need the stars. The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation placed Phantom on Tour, a retiree who finished sixth in Silver Charm’s Derby, at Churchill Downs and dozens of racing fans visit him daily. Imagine if you had four or five past Derby winners on display in large open paddocks? I’m betting that the impact would be nothing less than phenomenal.

It was the inconceivable and intolerable death of 1986 Kentucky Derby winner Ferdinand in a foreign slaughterhouse that crystallized support for Old Friends and expanded its vision. The immediate task is to prevent this from ever happening again. Old Friends is creating a database to track these retired champions so ignorance will never be an excuse. The money generated from Old Friends will help create a social security system for these stallions, particularly the ones outside our borders, so we can purchase them and bring them back to America once their stud careers are over. Old Friends is currently drawing up legal documents that would give the organization first crack at buying back these retirees once their usefulness in the breeding shed has diminished.

Back to Silver Charm. As Shea Gold and his band packed up and the marvelous staff of Holly Hill Inn picked up the last speck of litter and Dana Ross diligently organized the auction sales and Rick Trontz and Richard Vimont shared a few last laughs with Frank Santorelli, Ryan Sigley, gently presented me with Silver Charm’s halter. The great Thoroughbreds who race so hard for our pleasure will be the beneficiaries of the selflessness and generosity that Ryan Sigley so elegantly displayed that evening. But they’ll never get that halter back. It’ll hang proudly at the Old Friends facility so everyone can see a totem from that great racehorse. But only the residents of Midway will appreciate its full significance.

WASHINGTON POST July 23, 2003
Retired Stallions Focus of New Effort

By MURRAY EVANS
The Associated Press
Wednesday, July 23, 2003; 6:13 PM

LEXINGTON, Ky. - When a thoroughbred stallion abroad has outlived his breeding usefulness, anything can happen to him, even if he's a Kentucky Derby winner.

That, in a nutshell, is the sad story of Ferdinand.

A report in The Blood-Horse, an industry publication based in Lexington, recounts the final years in the life of Ferdinand, the 1986 Kentucky Derby winner. Sold to breeders in Japan in 1994, Ferdinand's life ended sometime last year.

The manner of Ferdinand's death remains a mystery, although The Blood-Horse report said there are indications the horse may have met his death in a slaughterhouse.

"Ferdinand was disposed of during the last year," said his former owner, Yoshikazu Watanabe. "He was getting old and was in some discomfort."

Watanabe, who said he gave the aging horse to a friend two years ago after Ferdinand was no longer effective as a stud, declined to give details about the horse's death. He used the Japanese word "shobun," which means to "get rid of" or "dispose of."

Telephone calls Wednesday to Watanabe went unanswered.

"This is a horrible story," said Dell Hancock, whose family owns Claiborne Farm where Ferdinand was born and stood at stud from 1989 to 1994. "It sickens me to think about it."

Ferdinand's case highlights the differences in the treatment of champion thoroughbreds after death. At the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, where two Derby champions - Triple Crown winner War Admiral (1937) and Bold Forbes (1976) - are interred, it's common to bury the whole horse, executive director John Nicholson said.

It's tradition elsewhere to bury the head, heart and hooves of the horse. Whichever way a horse is interred, it is considered an honor, Nicholson said.

Contrast that treatment with that of Exceller, a champion horse that died in a slaughterhouse in Sweden in 1997. Exceller's fate caused Staci Hancock, wife of horse breeder Arthur Hancock, to ask about buying back Gato Del Sol, the 1982 Kentucky Derby winner they sold in 1992 to a German breeding operation.

"Gato hadn't done it as a stud over there," said Arthur Hancock, who owns Stone Farm in Paris, Ky. "We were able to buy him back and fly him over here. Thank God we did. He is retired and living a good life, with a lot of good bluegrass and shade."

That's the life all thoroughbreds should have in retirement, said Michael Blowen of Midway, who founded an organization called Old Friends that wants to bring back to the United States champion thoroughbred stallions that were sold overseas and are nearing retirement.

"These horses are very famous and could do a lot to help the industry in their retirement," Blowen said. "One of my theories has always been that famous racehorses are tremendous tourist attractions. In retirement, they could generate a lot of income that could benefit their less-fortunate brother and sister horses."

The goal of Blowen's group is to establish a farm for retired stallions, open it to tourists, and use any money generated to care for lesser-known, less-successful horses and help them avoid the slaughterhouse.

Blowen had three former Derby winners on his short list to start the farm. Ferdinand was one. The others are 1991 Derby winner Strike the Gold and 1993 winner Sea Hero, both of which stand at stud in Turkey. Kim Zito, the wife of Strike the Gold's trainer, Nick Zito, is assisting Blowen's efforts.

The goal is to buy the horses through private donations of $50 from people wanting to own a small stake in a retired Derby winner.

Old Friends is one of several organizations working to promote the cause of retired thoroughbreds. The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation based in Shrewsbury, N.J., has participating farms in New York, Maryland, Kentucky, Florida, Virginia and Missouri.

Five former Derby winners are outside the U.S. Besides Strike the Gold and Sea Hero, Alysheba (1987) is in Saudi Arabia and Charismatic (1999) and War Emblem (2002) are in Japan.

Nicholson said it would have taken "one phone call" to the Horse Park - where retired champions Cigar and John Henry are stabled - for Ferdinand to have found a home in the United States.

"We would have loved for Ferdinand to be here," Nicholson said. "I don't understand why no one called us. A Kentucky Derby winner belongs to all of the people of Kentucky. People would have come from everywhere to give this horse adoration."

Blowen wants to create an "informational clearing house" so that other horses can avoid Ferdinand's fate.

"The idea that Ferdinand died in 2002 and we didn't know is outrageous," he said.

Hancock knows where Gato Del Sol is, and he gives him a little pat each day.

"He may have been fine over there in Germany, but who knows?" Arthur Hancock said. "He just didn't do any good as a stud, either here or in Germany, but regardless of that, after what he'd done for us, we knew he'd have a great home here."