Andie Biancone modeling January’s Cozmic One hat with Keith Asmussen and Cozmic One (Photo by Carson Blevins).
GEORGETOWN, KY – December 23, 2025 – Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement facility in Georgetown, Kentucky is pleased to announce the return of “Hats Off to the Horses: The Road to the Derby” in 2026, a four-month Derby hat auction series sponsored by couture milliner, Sally Faith Steinmann of MAGGIE MAE DESIGNS® with the first auction opening on January 1, 2026.
This will be the fourteenth year that MAGGIE MAE DESIGNS® and Old Friends have teamed up for this unique online auction with all proceeds from the sale of the hats donated to Old Friends by Sally Faith Steinmann. At the close of the last “Hats Off” auction, 68 one-of-a-kind Derby hats had been auctioned off with over $46,000 raised for the retired racehorses of Old Friends.
“We are excited that this great Derby season tradition is about to enter its fourteenth year. Everyone at Old Friends remains grateful to Sally Faith Steinmann and Maggie Mae Designs for sharing these extraordinarily creative and stylishly elegant hats for the benefit of our nearly 300 retired Thoroughbred athletes,” said John Nicholson, President and CEO of Old Friends.
This four-month Derby hat auction, which runs from January 1st right up to Derby Day, features a new Derby hat design each month created by couture milliner Sally Faith Steinmann to honor the beauty and spirit of one of the retired racehorses at Old Friends.
MAGGIE MAE DESIGNS® is bringing back this exclusive online hat auction series with a real bang! The four horses featured in the 2026 auctions are 2008 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown, $3.4-million earning New York-bred A Shin Forward, 2012 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner I’ll Have Another, and Hall of Fame mare Zenyatta’s first born foal Cozmic One.
“It is an honor to be able to bring back the Hats Off to the Horses auction series in 2026 for all our beloved retirees who live in safe retirement at Dream Chase Farm and Cabin Creek,” said Sally Faith Steinmann.
ABOUT THE AUCTION
Each month, from January through April, the featured auction hat will be posted on both the MAGGIE MAE DESIGNS® and Old Friends websites with bidding open through eBay for 10 days.
For further information about the eBay bidding process, please contact Old Friends at 502-863-1775 or MAGGIE MAE DESIGNS® at 774-316-4977.
MAGGIE MAE DESIGNS® Custom Millinery specializes in women’s couture millinery hats and headpieces for weddings, the Kentucky Derby, Royal Ascot, fancy tea parties and beyond. Every hat is carefully handcrafted by milliner Sally Faith Steinmann in her Orleans, Massachusetts studio on Cape Cod. Sally’s designs can be seen at www.maggiemae.com.
