Old Friends Farm

Little Mike wins the Turf at Santa Anita on November 3, 2012. 2012 Breeders' Cup Turf

Did You Know? Three Breeders' Cup Turf winners have called Old Friends home.

🐎In 1989, Prized took home the prize.
🐎In 1992 Fraise was the winner.
🐎And in 2012, current Old Friends star Little Mike visited the winner's circle.

Did You Know?

If it seems like we’re collecting winners of the @BreedersCup Sprint, well, we are. Five have become Old Friends retirees!
🐴Precisionist
🐴Gulch
🐴 Cajun Beat
🐴Amazombie
🐴Work All Week

📸Laura Battles

Stormy Liberal made it back-to-back victories in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1) as he wore down the pace-setting World of Trouble to register a neck victory in the second of Saturday’s… 2018 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint - Stormy Liberal

Did You Know?
Stormy Liberal is one of 26 horses that have won multiple Breeders’ Cup races. Stormy Liberal sprinted to victory in 2017 before this gutsy win in the 2018 edition held at Churchill Downs.

Albertus Maximus ($14.60) wins the TVG Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Santa Anita on Oct. 25, 2008. 2008 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile

Did You Know?
One year after the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile joined the Championship lineup, late Old Friends resident ALBERTUS MAXIMUS was part of a cavalry charge and swept to victory at Oak Tree at Santa Anita.

Eldaafer and jockey John Velazquez score in the $500,000, Grade 3 Breeders' Cup Marathon at Churchill Downs on November 5. 2010 Breeders' Cup Marathon

Did You Know?

The Breeders’ Cup Marathon saw ELDAAFER run in four straight editions, winning in 2010 at Churchill Downs in a race that also featured future OF resident Awesome Gem. Take a look and tell us this horse can’t run all day!

The Official Aftercare Partner of the Breeders’ Cup is the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. Old Friends has proudly been an original accredited TAA organization since its inception in 2013.

Thank you, Breeders’ Cup for supporting aftercare and Old Friends!

Keeneland’s closing day means we’re down to one week left of our regular season tour schedule! We have limited tours available in November and will close from December to February. You can book your tour today at oldfriendsequine.org/visit/

📸 @PyroisMedia

Bred by one of our best friends, Samantha Siegel and her dad Mace, El Oh El has been here since 2017. His paddock-mates V.E. Day, Forte Dei Marmi, and Own Agenda say he absolutely does laugh out loud at everything & it’s borderline annoying.

📸 Laura Battles

🐎Can You Help?🐎

This month we’re asking our amazing supporters for donations of two items we use a lot: Elastikon tape, & EasyBoots (sizes 4 and 5)

If you’d like to help, you can donate both items through our Amazon Wish List at
www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/...

Hey everyone, it's Lava Man here with a Fall FundRacing update!

You can help the boys catch Bold and Bossy or help her pull farther ahead by donating to your chosen team at oldfriendsequine.org/wp-content/u...!

Today we proudly celebrate National Kentucky Day and our place in KY’s equine heritage. Our $2.1 billion state industry is home to 31,000 operations with 209,500 horses, 48,500 of which are Thoroughbreds. There are 12,500 employees & 25 of them work tirelessly on our four farms!

We are sad to share the loss of Quindici Man, who was a 3 year resident of Old Friends.

Quindici Man won the Pomona & Zia Park Derbies among his 47 career starts& earning $536,666. We’ll all miss the Man, especially paddock-mate Shackleson. Our condolences to all who loved him.

A 2020 arrival at Old Friends, graded stakes winner Poshsky raced from ages 3-10 with 76 starts and 16 wins for $823,383 in earnings. This small, valiant horse is an Old Friends favorite because he’s a great-grandson of one of earliest retirees, Ruhlmann.

📸 Laura Battles

Oklahoma’s two-time Horse of the Year, Welder, won the $130,000 Oklahoma Classics Sprint for the third year in a row Friday night at Remington Park. The lightning fast gray gelding could well be… WELDER EXTENDS HIS STAKES RECORD AT REMINGTON TO 10 IN ROW, WINNING OKLAHOMA CLASSICS SPRINT

In 2023 Welder moved in and brought his Oklahoma Racing Hall of Fame credentials with him! Today Welder celebrates Oklahoma Classics Day at Remington Park by remembering his Sprint scores in 2018-19-20. He’s easy to find. Just look for the gray streak!

Have you ever wanted to spend an evening at with us? Now is your opportunity.
To celebrate a new partnership with MyRacehorse, we're having an event on 10/24 that will be filled with music, legends & unforgettable moments!
Tickets 👉https://experiences.myracehorse.com/products/old-friends-farm-event

We have some very exciting news - the total amount raised for our HayRaiser is in! Because of your help, we raised $53,740.52 to feed our horses this winter!

If you are a procrastinator we have good news. You can still donate at oldfriendsequine.org/old-friends-...!

Before Bellamy Road joined Old Friends 4 years ago, he was a successful G1 winner who went off as the favorite in the 2005 Kentucky Derby before becoming a stallion. Owner Jessica Steinbrenner faithfully supports him and still visits him in Kentucky regularly.

📸 Laura Battles

Nine years ago Timothy James was one of 40+ horses found in a neglect case in Mercer County, KY and came to Old Friends. After suffering an injury this summer, TJ is recuperating, thanks to loads of TLC from Rood and Riddle, and waiting for the day he can return to his buddies in Paddock 32.

With today’s running of the Maryland Million, we celebrate early Old Friends retirees Awad, a major graded stakes winner who found success early in his career in the 1993 Turf, and Richard’s Lass who claimed victory in the 1992 Oaks.

FundRacing update from Lava Man:

Bold And Bossy is showing off the speed that made her famous for running down the freeway as she pulls away from I'll Have Another& Game On Dude to put the mares in front!

Picks sides and donate to the FundRacer here👉 oldfriendsequine.org/wp-content/u...

Eight-year resident Bent On Bourbon is one of a trio of retirees from Bourbon Lane Stables and enjoys life with his eight BFFs in Paddock 32. Back before he joined us, he was a stakes winning racehorse as the winner of the G3 Iowa Derby in 2015.

📸 Laura Battles

We had a fun visitor at Ashton Grove recently when former resident Winston stopped by to say hi to everyone!

You can read all about it and see a video of his return in this recent Old Friends' blog 👉https://oldfriendsblog.wordpress.com/2025/10/

Happy @NHL Opening Day! We have an NHL-inspired name on the farm in 12-year resident Sean Avery. The gelding won the G1 Alfred Vanderbilt as a racehorse and today shares Paddock 32 with nine retirees.

📸 Laura Battles

We’re closing in on the end of the year, but that hasn’t stopped visitors from coming to the farm. In September, we had 998 people come feed our horses carrots with the group hailing from 29 states and Canada!

Book a tour here👉 oldfriendsequine.org/visit/

It's time for our weekly FundRacing update from Lava Man!

Want to help Game On Dude overtake the top two for the lead or Bold and Bossy run away from the boys?

Donate here👉https://oldfriendsequine.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Fall-FundRacing2.pdf

Big Blue Kitten sets a new course record winning the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont Park on September 26, 2015. The Hirsch is the second Win and You're In event in won by Big Blue Kitten… 2015 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic - Big Blue Kitten

This year’s edition is over, but we’re celebrating Big Blue Kitten with one final race throwback of the week to relive his glory days. At one point trailing by 17 lengths, Big Blue Kitten rushed up on the outside to win the 2015 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic.

Little Mike secures a return trip to the Breeders' Cup and guaranteed entry into the 2013 Turf with a gutsy win in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont on September 28, 2013. 2013 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic - Little Mike

The 2013 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic was full of future Old Friends residents. Little Mike gamely outfinished a charging Big Blue Kitten to win the photo (today they live only a few paddocks from each other). Also in the field – future Old Friends resident King Kreesa.

Proving he can thrive on firm turf, too, Channel Maker kicked off the Grade 1 turf action on Saturday at #BelmontPark with a wire-to-wire score in the $250,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, which gave the… Channel Maker - 2020 - The Joe Hirsch Turf Classic

He did It! In 2020, Channel Maker won the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic for the second time in a front-running, 12-furlong tour-de-force.

Next Shares wins the $1M Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland on October 6, 2018, gaining free berth into next month's Breeders' Cup Mile. For more information on the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series, or… 2018 Shadwell Turf Mile - Next Shares

It was an Old Friends exacta in the 2018 G1 Shadwell Turf Mile (now the Coolmore Turf Mile). Next Shares, coming off his victory in the Old Friends Stakes, charged up the inside to score a 23-1 upset victory over fellow Old Friends resident Analyze It.

Birdstone is one of two horses to win the Champagne, Belmont Stakes, and Travers, with the other being Easy Goer. Here he is shown winning the Champagne under Jerry Bailey. Nick Zito trained the… Birdstone rises to prominence with 2003 Champagne victory at Belmont

The year before his G1 Belmont victory, Birdstone made his presence known in the G1 Champagne as he hit the gas when Jerry Bailey said go to score by 2 ½ lengths.