Former movie critic Michael Blowen founded the well-known equine retirement facility 20 years ago just outside Lexington, Kentucky. Old Friends is now home to more than 250 horses in various locations, including a new offshoot in Japan – as he tells Amanda Duckworth Read more at Thoroughbred Racing Commentary.
[ Read More ]“We heard through the grapevine that Old Friends was interested in Rated R Superstar when we got ready to retire him. They didn’t put any pressure on us or anything like that. They just said when we’re ready, so when we made that decision, my wife contacted them. And I think it’s a great place […]
[ Read More ]“The Scott County community is continuing its work to support the family of fallen Deputy Caleb Conley. Silver Charm, the 1997 Kentucky Derby champion and oldest living winner, had his halter auctioned off for $1,000 by Old Friends Farm in support of the memorial fund to assist Conley’s family.” Read more at Lex18 here.
[ Read More ]Old Friends, which has expanded to 236 acres over its 20-year history doubles as a relaxing retirement home for ex-racehorses and a tourist destination for racing fans. Read more in The Horsemen’s Journal here.
[ Read More ]Michael Blowen glanced at the 1977 Sports Illustrated cover of Triple Crown champion Seattle Slew when it arrived in the mail and immediately discarded it. A horse on the cover of such a prominent magazine? “I thought thinking of them as athletes was absurd,” he said. Blowen, then a writer for the Boston Globe, accompanied Bob Taylor, one of his […]
[ Read More ]A home for life. That’s what the winner of Race 2 Saturday at Pimlico Race Course will earn. Saturday’s program, highlighted by the 148th running of the Preakness (G1), will give the winner of the 1 1/16-mile event an automatic retirement to Old Friends in Georgetown, Ky., should it ever be needed. Read more on the […]
[ Read More ]President of Old Friends Farm talks about spreading aftercare knowledge at Pimlico. Watch it here.
[ Read More ]At Old Friends, a retirement farm for Thoroughbreds whose careers have ended, Michael Blowen gives racehorses the best kind of Kentucky retirement. Read more on Southern Living.
[ Read More ]Catch up with the Hall-of-Fame inducted winner of the 123rd Kentucky Derby (G1) on Blood-Horse here.
[ Read More ]Anne Eberhardt visits Old Friends in Georgetown, KY and talks with Michael Blowen about the multiple graded stakes winner Green Mask, in the next episode of our new BH+ series. Watch the Blood-Horse video here.
[ Read More ]