Winning Ponies

Michael Blowen, founder of Old Friends Equine Retirement Farm in Gorgetown KY, will talk about Old Friends as a retirement and rescue facility for pensioned Thoroughbreds. He said when news broke of the inconceivable death of Kentucky Derby winner Ferdinand in a slaughterhouse in Japan in 2002, the discovery gave even more impetus to our organization. We went from getting five emails a day to hundreds, noted President and founder Michael Blowen. We knew such a death must never happen again. And so the plan became to bring at risk racehorses--those whose racing and breeding careers had come to an end--to Old Friends, provide them with the dignified retirement they deserve, and open the space to the public. By promoting these one-time celebrated horses through a campaign of education and tourism, we realized we could draw attention to all retired Thoroughbreds and all equines in need. Richard Eng, author of Handicapping for Dummies and writer for Las Vegas Review Jounal and Daily Racing Form, will handicap the