GEORGETOWN, KY. – May 6, 2025 – Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Farm in Georgetown, Ky., held its 20th Annual Homecoming event on Sunday, May 4, 2025, and would like to say thank you to all who attended and made it a tremendous success.
Over 300 people attended the event, which is held each year on the day after the Kentucky Derby, and enjoyed meeting some old friends like Silver Charm, Touch Gold, Game on Dude, Little Mike, and Lava Man; some new ones like I’ll Have Another, and Big Brown, and, of course, Little Silver Charm.
Attendees also got to greet some old acquaintances and meet some new ones, while enjoying good food, listening to great music, seeing some lovely equine artwork, getting horse racing books signed by some of the sport’s most talented authors, and bidding for equine memorabilia in both the silent and live auctions, with all proceeds going to the care and feeding of the farm’s horses.
“All of the Old Friends’ Homecomings have been special, but last weekend’s 20th Homecoming had a particularly good feeling,” said John Nicholson, President and CEO of Old Friends. “It’s clear that our Homecomings truly have become family reunions. There is all the joy of being with horses and people we deeply care about, and having great pride for what Old Friends has become and also having an unabashed excitement about its promising future.”
Old Friends would like to thank everyone that attended the event for supporting the farm’s mission of providing a peaceful and dignified retirement to some of the sport’s beautiful Thoroughbreds.
The farm would also like to thank Country Boy Brewing and Proud Mary for once again serving their delicious food at this year’s Homecoming event.
Three other people to thank for the event’s success are Curt Sharff, who was the engaging auctioneer who handled the live auction; Robert Clark, the very talented artist who created another masterpiece of this year’s Kentucky Derby winner, Sovereignty, during the event that was then auctioned off in the live auction to raise money for the farm; and Steve Norman and Friends for their enjoyable music. All three have donated their time and talents to the farm’s Homecoming event for many years.
Old Friends would also like to thank all of the authors who came out to sign their books and greet their readers; artist Lisa Palombo, for autographing her beautiful painting of Silver Charm; and Jocelyn Russell who displayed early models of Silver Charm and Little Silver Charm for a project she is working on for the farm. Russell is the bronze sculptor that, among her wonderful accomplished works, created the monument of Secretariat located at the circle of Old Frankfort Pike and Alexandria Drive, and the one that is in Paris, Ky.
Finally, a big thank you to all of the Old Friends’ staff, and hardworking and dedicated volunteers, that helped set up and run the event. It could not have been done without them.
