Old Friends Michael Blowen...newsletter

[paisjpq]

I get an email newsletter from the people at Old Friends farm and I thought this was particularly well thought out and opined...esp since I agree with him

GEORGETOWN, KY. FEB 5, 2007
We may never know how much Barbaro meant to us. Science may learn more from his struggle, and racing is working toward constructing safer surfaces. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Barbaro’s legacy cannot be measured until we see what effect it has on the individuals who breed, sell, own, train, race, ride, groom, doctor and bet on these spectacular athletes. Will it mean that breeders will think twice before allowing a mediocre stallion to breed to a mediocre mare? At Old Friends, we have a retired stallion, Leave Seattle, a son of Seattle Slew out of a Northern Dancer mare who never earned a dime, yet he was bred to dozens of equally inferior mares for a bargain basement stud fee.
In the upcoming Fasig-Tipton sale there are several well-bred mares well past their prime that are going through the sales ring when they should be put out to pasture. What do we do with horse racing’s end product-athletes that can’t compete or breed or generate income? Even the coal industry was told it couldn’t dump sludge into the streams any more. The old horses are racing’s sludge.

At Old Friends, our retirees include 1988 Eclipse Award winner Sunshine Forever and multiple Grade One winner Ogygian, both brought back from Japan through the cooperation of the JRA, the donations of hundreds of contributors and a huge contribution from Thoroughbred owner Madeleine Paulson Pickens. 1990 Santa Anita Handicap winner, Ruhlmann, and the recently retired Kudos, are both generously supported by The Moss Foundation, run by their owners, Jerry and Ann Moss. Chuck Robinson donated Ferdinand’s greatest son, Bull Inthe Heather, and supports him with a significant grant, as do Mary and Bob Sullivan, owners of one of our most recent additions, Kiri’s Clown. Owner Jack Preston supports Special Ring and Flying Pidgeon’s syndicate sends money every month to support him. John Amerman, through The Amerman Foundation, gave us money to fix up our new farm so we could accept more retirees. John and Debbie Oxley help a lot. Jan Basson, our farrier, cares for all of our horses feet for free. Judge Paul Isaacs and his wife Anna gave us Easy Ellis, a low-level allowance horse who donated a portion of his purse every time he won. The Isaacs planned for his retirement. We’re on the cusp of getting Polish Navy from Richland Hills through the generosity and foresight of Nathan Fox. We’re enormously grateful to those farms that contribute stallion seasons to us through the Thoroughbred Charities of America. But not everyone shares the vision of these generous people.

Horse racing is the greatest sport, in part because it has survived itself.
Ironically, the same spirit that drove Barbaro also killed him. His drive to win was stronger than his body. And that’s the case with racing in general. Breeders against breeders, owners against owners, trainers against trainers, jockeys against jockeys, tracks against tracks, bettors against bettors, vets against vets, photographers against photographers and, yes, retirement groups against retirement groups, ad infinitum.
When can we all put aside our individual goals for just a few minutes and, for once, pay more than lip service to the one indispensable member of the team: the horse.

Our 24 retirees are responsible for generating about $500 million to racing.
Fortunate Prospect’s large brood has earned millions. Ogygian is Johannesburg’s broodmare sire. Bonnie’s Poker is the dam of Silver Charm. Special Ring won nearly $4 million on the track. How many people showed up at Santa Anita to watch Ruhlmann defeat Criminal Type? How about Ogygian’s domination of Groovy or Sunshine Forever winning three Grade 1s in six weeks? Fans go to the track to see great athletes. Without them, there is nothing to breed, own, train, ride or bet.

Despite their accomplishments, none of these horses retired with social security. And they should. Every financial transaction involving a Thoroughbred should be subject to a fee. The proceeds would establish The Barbaro Fund. Even 1/10 of one percent would go a long way toward providing homes for these performers. There could be Old Friends-type facilities in New York, near Saratoga where Funny Cide and, perhaps, Ballindaggin, a great New York bred currently with us in Kentucky could draw visitors. How about Florida where horses such as Fortunate Prospect of Farnsworth Farm and 1997 Florida Broodmare of the
Year, Bonnie’s Poker could greet their fans along with past winners of the Florida Derby? Or a retirement farm in California for that states great equine heroes?

These old athletes are a tremendous untapped resource. Fueled by the Barbaro Fund, many of these retirement facilities could eventually pay for themselves by syndicating souvenir shares and selling their halters. Here in Kentucky Chrisman Mills winery is planning to market wine with labels featuring photographs of Sunshine Forever and Ruhlmann. The ideas are limitless. And its fun.

Let’s start thinking beyond the next race or the next sale. These great old horses have value. In 2006, thousands of visitors from North America and others from as far away as Mongolia and Taiwan visited Old Friends to see these horses and watch replays of their races. When the retirees come here, the race is over. They are here to be cared for and admired and fed carrots. And we who care for them have the honor and privilege of falling in love with them every day.

For Barbaro, the race is mercifully over. For us, it’s just beginning.

Michael

[smuthg]

I got this e-mail also, very nice piece by Michael. Wouldn't mind seeing the Sheiks kick in a couple percent of the hundreds of millions of dollars they spend a year on horses to take care of the less fortunate horses after they are done racing...

[Kasept]

Surprised this hasn't generated more comment.. A beautifully written ode to the plight of managing the 'second careers'..

[Buffymommy]

That was very well written. I hope it makes people stop and think. Thank you for posting it.

[cal828]

I agree totally with that "every transaction" part. Just take a penny or so out of every bet. I imagine he means other transactions too like the sale of horses, breeding fees, etc. Seems like that would be pretty painless. Wonder if the tracks wouldn't demand a handling fee though for having to keep up with the money. State legislatures should probably get involved and demand that tracks do this. After all, State and local governments benefit bigtime from horseracing and will probably benefit even more so from racinos.