It’s a busy day of birthdays around Old Friends! Mikethespike, who made 126 starts(!) is 26 today while a trifecta of 24YOs is right behind him in Jack the Hack, Quiet Honor, & Reflect the Queen. Two of our G1W round out the group with El Brujo 20 and @Godolphin’s Alpha 17!
It’s a quartet of Old Friends birthdays! Dream Chase’s party is for 17YO MSW Tricky Hat and 16YO Draxhall Woods (who is eying the golfcarts now). The MHG Annex is the place to be if you want to celebrate 14YO Downwiththedevil & at Hillcrest G3W Adventist is a teenager at 13.
Oklahoma legend Welder is being honored today with the Welder S. at Will Rogers Downs! He loved the track, with 10 wins there including winning the TRAO Classic Sprint five straight years!
Please join us as we celebrate the life of Rick Capone on Wednesday, March 18 at 5:30 pm.
Old Friends Farm
The Josephine Abercrombie Center
1841 Payne’s Depot Rd
Georgetown, KY 40324
You are invited to share your favorite memory or story.
Kindly RSVP to Barbara@oldfriendsequine.org.
We have one birthday to celebrate today – multiple graded stakes winner and millionaire Sharp Samurai turns 12! The winner of eight races arrived in 2021 from our good friends at Red Baron’s Barn.
Our gates are open for the 2026 tour season!
We look forward to welcoming you to Old Friends and introducing you to the horses who make this place so special. And don’t miss out on being among the first to meet and greet Little Brown!
Book your tour online here: oldfriendsequine.org/visit/.
Joining Cozmic One on the birthday list are four others … 25-year-old Bon Marie is the elder of the group. Sean Avery is convinced the NHL has 7 games to celebrate his and Magic Tiger on their 20th birthdays! G1W Silver Max is the youngster of the group at 17.
Rumor has it Zenyatta has something to celebrate today … her first-born son Cozmic One is turning 14! The Pizza Man has been brainstorming this day for weeks so we’re looking forward to seeing what he has planned.
On this National Woman’s Day, we’re honoring the second oldest horse and oldest girl on the farm – Miss Du Bois! Living with us since 2015, she is best known as the dam of G1 winner Film Maker and granddam of G2W/G1P Focus Group.
We started the week’s throwbacks with Ring Weekend so why don’t we end it with him too? After starting his stakes career on the dirt, he switched over to turf and earned his Grade 1 victory in the 2015 edition of the Frank E. Kilroe Mile by a length!
March 7 was a busy day in the foaling barns! Bank of Dad leads the charge with the MHG Annex resident turning 21 today. Samantha Siegel is celebrating the 16th birthday of her El Oh El and her 10YO Hair of the Cat as well. And we’d be remiss to miss our duo of 17YOd– Big Blue Nation and Kharafa!
In the 2022 G1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile, Count Again went off as the favorite but made his fans sweat it out when he waited until the last possible second to get in front, winning by a head!
In the early 2010s, the Santa Anita Handicap was all about Game On Dude with the gelding winning the race all three times he ran in it from 2011 to 2014. His 2014 victory was his last race win with ‘Dude’ retiring a few months later.
Are you wondering what to wear to your Kentucky Derby party in two months? We have your hat covered – this month’s Hats off to the Horses auction offers a @Maggie Mae Designs hat inspired by I’ll Have Another!
If you're coming to visit us when our tours open this coming week (or even if you're just driving by the farm), feel free to drop off items for our Supply Drive!
You can visit oldfriendsequine.org/how-to-help to find our Amazon Wish List or drop off supplies at our Gift Shop!
Entering his 14th year with us, Racketeer is celebrating his 23rd birthday today with paddockmate Kharafa making sure it’s a memorable one over at Hillcrest. Also at Hillcrest, 2015 Old Friends S. winner Kalamos will be blowing out 17 candles on his cake.
📸 Laura Battles
Before he was known as the Coach of Doug O’Neill’s barn, Lava Man was building his reputation as a California legend. The Old Friends resident won the Santa Anita Handicap in both 2006 and 2007 as two of his 17 victories.
📸Laura Battles
Arson Squad is extra busy today planning the birthday party for his BFF Fighting City Hall, who turns 23! Free as a Bird is also entering the double digits today with his 10th birthday being celebrated by the crew over at Hillcrest.
In 2002 2x Santa Anita Handicap winner Milwaukee Brew took down the Big Cap easy by four lengths. The 2023 renewal was a reversal of that easy win with the race called “a thrilling Big Cap” as he nipped Congaree by a nose with OF resident Kudos a bang-up third!
We’re headed into a busy weekend of racing, which means we have plenty of fond racing memories to share. First up is Ring Weekend, who made it clear his connections made the right decision entering him in the G2 Tampa Bay Derby for his stakes debut!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1ug...
The countdown is on. Tours begin in one week!
Book your unforgettable experience here 👉oldfriendsequine.org/tours/
Our latest Maggie Mae Designs hat auction is now open! This month’s hat celebrates dual classic winner I Have Another and ends on March 11. Be sure to check it out and bid at our eBay store!
Find it here 👉https://www.ebay.com/str/oldfriendsfarmgiftshop
This week’s Reels in Time spends time with the late Little Silver Charm, who is gone but never forgotten!
Today is Soldat Day … or at least that’s what he told us. What he really means is that we’re celebrating the 15th anniversary (nearly to the day) of his 2 length G2 Fountain of Youth victory against a field that included that year’s Preakness winner Shackleford.
Shadwell’s G1 Cigar Mile winner Daaher is one of 2 two birthday boys when he celebrates his 22nd birthday with us! He was afraid he’d have to share his birthday cake with Massone, but that gelding gets his own at Ashton Grove. A 42-start runner who placed in multiple graded stakes, Massone turns 20.
Did you know 2006 G3 Gotham S. winner Like Now resides at Old Friends at Cabin Creek? Arriving at the farm in 2020, NYRA published a lovely story about his path to Old Friends in 2022 that you can read below!
Bold and Bossy has told us she has quite the bash planned for her pasture mate Moriah, who is celebrating her 24th birthday. Meanwhile Paddock 1 over at the MHG Annex is going to be rocking for 15-year resident Ball Four’s 25th birthday!
Did you hear? Our own Game On Dude was named a National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame finalist today! We'll learn on April 23 if he joins the newest class of inductees.
Game On Dude ears 📸Laura Battles
It’s @myracehorse’s G2 winner Lane Way’s ninth birthday! Retiring in May of 2024, Lane Way finished in the top three in 19 of 23 starts to retire with $528,560 in earnings before joining us.
We're excited to introduce you to our newest resident, Little Brown! Coming from Reinbow Miniature Horses, he's already captured everyone's heart - even Big Brown's - and can't wait to meet everyone. Thank you to Brenda Awad for giving us the honor of being his new home!
