Old Friends News

A fixture at Del Mar for the past two decades is missing this fall. Lava Man has been retired for a second time, leaving behind an illustrious career and a giant sentimental void in the Doug O’Neill barn. Read more at Horse Racing Nation.

You probably know Laura Battles as the photographer whose knowledge of Old Friends’ horses as individuals, as much as her camera skills, make her photos so extraordinary. Read more here.

GEORGETOWN, Ky. (LEX 18) — The oldest living Kentucky Derby winner has many fans around the world, and it’s Silver Charm’s reputation as one of the great American race horses that’s helping give back to other retired thoroughbreds that need it most. The horse is living out his retirement at Old Friends in Georgetown, but that doesn’t mean […]

GEORGETOWN, KY – OCT. 13, 2022 – Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Facility in Georgetown, KY., has welcomed a new retiree, Get Western. The winner of the final running of the Old Friends Stakes, the son of Get Stormy out of Marquetessa—a daughter of Old Friends retiree Marquetry—broke his maiden as a 3-year-old at Churchill Downs for […]

Albertus Maximus won the 2008 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. In 2009 he prevailed in the prestigious Donn Handicap, and he also won the Windy Sands Handicap in 2008. Read more here.

GEORGETOWN, KY – OCT. 8, 2022 – Breeders’ Cup Champion Albertus Maximus has died. Recently pensioned to Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement from Shadwell’s Nashwan Stud, the 18-year-old stallion suffered a paddock accident that proved fatal, though a full necropsy is still pending. The son of Old Friends retiree Albert the Great, out of the Forty Niner mare Chasethewildwind, […]

One of the questions I get asked the most these days, whether in person or on social media, is how Special Ring is doing after the passing of his best friend, Popcorn Deelites. Read more here.

Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Center in Georgetown, KY., initiated construction on a distinct equine sculpture by renowned artist Kiptoo Tarus. The sculpture, sponsored by the Baffert family, will be crafted from the dying stump of the nearly 100-year Sycamore tree on the farm’s property, and will pay tribute to graded stakes winner Medina Spirt, […]

GEORGETOWN, KY – SEPT. 13, 2022 – Multiple graded stakes winner Jonesboro has been retired to Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement facility in Georgetown, KY. The now 20-year-old stallion arrived September 11 from Lake Hamilton Equine in Royal, Arkansas, where he had stood since 2011. A millionaire Kentucky-bred son of Sefapiano out of the Filly Triple Crown winner and Eclipse Champion Mom’s Command, Jonesboro was […]