michael blowen | Horse Racing Free Tips

Sun King Dies at 21

Multiple graded stakes winner Sun King (Charismatic–Clever But Costly, by Clever Trick), a retiree at Old Friends since 2017, was euthanized Saturday at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital due to inoperable cancer, the Georgetown retirement facility reported Sunday. He was 21.

Campaigned by Tracy Farmer and trained by Nick Zito, Sun King won the GII Pennsylvania Derby, GIII Tampa Bay Derby and GIII Leonard Richards S. in 2005 and added the GII Commonwealth Breeders' Cup S. in 2006.

He hit the board in eight Grade I events, including third-place finishes in the 2004 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile and GI Champagne S. and runner-up efforts in the 2005 GI Haskell S., 2006 GI Whitney S. and GI Metropolitan H., as well as the 2007 GI Woodward S.

On the board in 18 of 28 starts, Sun King won six races and earned $2,240,008.

Sun King began his stud career at Darby Dan Farm in Kentucky in 2008, and moved to Elite Thoroughbreds in Louisiana in 2013. He was pensioned in 2016 due to declining fertility and, in 2017, Farmer donated Sun King to Old Friends. He arrived at the farm on Feb. 25, 2017.

“Sun King was one of our best retirees,” said Michael Blowen, President and founder of Old Friends. “A great son of Charismatic, he attracted many fans, including Nick and Kim Zito who came by often to see him. All of our retirees are missed when they die, but no one will be missed more than the King.”

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Old Friends Resident Tom’s Ready Dead at Age 10

MGSW Tom's Ready (More Than Ready) was euthanized on Monday, Oct. 30 at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky, due to complications following colic surgery, Old Friends Farm announced on Tuesday. The 10-year old dark bay stallion was donated to Old Friends by owner Gayle Benson in November of 2020.

The $145,000 Saratoga Select Yearling amassed a career line of 21-5-4-3, $1,036,357 over three seasons and captured the 2016 GII Woody Stephens S. and GIII Ack Ack S., and the 2017 GIII Bold Ruler S. He also placed in six other graded stakes in the care of trainer Dallas Stewart.

“Tom's Ready helped Old Friends a lot,” said Michael Blowen, President and founder of Old Friends. “He was donated by Gayle Benson of GMB Racing, sending a message that a first rate breeding and racing operation trusted us to provide superior retirement and health care for their horse.”

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Catching Up with 2017-18 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint Winner Stormy Liberal

Stormy Liberal is one of a select number of Breeders' Cup winners to repeat the feat. Always dead game, the former claimer's final half-dozen career victories had connections and fans regularly holding their collective breaths as his biggest margin was just a neck. The tough and classy veteran raced on three continents, earned an Eclipse as champion turf male in 2018, and retired to Old Friends after his 2019 season.

“When owner David Bernsen retired Stormy to us, I was thrilled,” said Michael Blowen, president of Old Friends. “The two-time Breeders' Cup winner arrived with a fan following and his owner's love. And earned the respect of everyone at Old Friends who adore him and his best friend, Patch.”

Stormy Liberal (2012 bay gelding, Stormy Atlantic–Vassar, by Royal Academy)

Lifetime record: Ch. turf male, MGISW-U.S., MG1SP-UAE, 37-12-10-4, $2,212,580

Breeders' Cup connections: B-Dapple Bloodstock & Gryphon Investments LLC (KY); O-Rockingham Ranch (2017)/Rockingham Ranch & David A. Bernsen LLC (2018); T-Peter Miller; J-Joel Rosario (2017)/Drayden Van Dyke (2018).

Current location: Old Friends, Georgetown, Ky.

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Brereton Jones: Longtime Supporter of Old Friends

Anyone who ever knew Brereton C. Jones can stop reading now. I won't be telling you anything new. He was smart, kind and compassionate. And that is a rare trifecta. But he was so much more than that.

Nearly two decades ago, when I first started Old Friends, I made an appointment to see him at Airdrie Stud, a farm as modest and forthright as he was. “Let me get this straight,” he said. “You're going to get these horses, including stallions from Japan, and you're not going to race them or breed them or sell them. What exactly are you going to do with them?”

“I'm going to put them in my yard and hope people come to visit.”

He tried his hardest to disguise his incredulity, reached into the lap drawer of his antique desk, pulled out a scraggly checkbook, and wrote a check to Old Friends for $5,000.

“Good luck,” he said, as he shook one hand, and handed me the check with the other. That, to paraphrase my favorite movie, “Casablanca,” was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Without him, Old Friends might have never existed. And it wasn't just the money. That was the least of it.

Over the years, we retired several Airdrie stallions, including You and I, Patton, and Afternoon Deelites. And, he made several trips to the farm to check on how things were going. Years later, his filly, Lovely Maria was running in the Ashland Stakes at Keeneland. I ran into him a few days before the race and he told me that if she won the race, he'd write Old Friends a check for $25,000. She did. And he did. And it wasn't because of me, it was for the horses and horse racing.

I have two wonderful, hand-written notes – one from our late veterinarian, Doug Byars, and one from Brereton C. Jones. If we ever have a fire, I'm going to grab those notes first and come back for the rest of the stuff.

It's very unlikely that anyone like Governor Jones will ever come around again. I'm just grateful he was here once, and I was fortunate enough to stumble across his path.

Michael Blowen, President and founder of Old Friends

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