Del Mar Welcomes Fans

Del Mar will be welcoming fans back to the facility this summer after a year without them due to the pandemic. For a racetrack that revels in boisterous fans packing the grandstand, 2020 was eerily quiet.

But with vaccinations in California doing well and the state reopened, Del Mar is set for a hugely popular summer meet, which begins July 16 and runs through Sept. 6. Trevor Denman will return as Del Mar’s longtime announcer, after taking a break during the pandemic. Stakes purses have increased over last year’s COVID-restricted levels, and California-breds have a full complement of rich stakes opportunities.

“Tis is one of the strongest stakes schedules in Del Mar’s history,” said David Jerkens, a Del Mar vice president and the racing secretary. “We have increased purses virtually across the board, and it will be exciting to see the level of quality we attract, especially as we are the home to the Breeders’ Cup this year.”

Del Mar hosted the Breeders’ Cup for the frst time in 2017. It was such a rousing success that Breeders’ Cup is returning to the track for 2021. Te rich series will be held Nov. 5-6 at the beginning of the track’s fall meeting.

Cal-breds, of course, make up a large part of the felds at Del Mar, and California owners and breeders are looking forward to being able to bring friends and relatives with them this summer. Several of the Golden State stakes will have increased purses. (For details, see page 3.)

Tanks to a partnership arrangement with the Toroughbred Owners of California, FanDuel Group’s TVG, and Te Stronach Group’s 1/ST Racing, Del Mar will be part of a purse enhancement program that is expected to inject up to $15 million into California Toroughbred purses and programs over the next two years. Further, Del Mar’s successful wagering numbers at its 2020 meet, despite the pandemic restrictions, added to the infux of monies going toward the upcoming racing stand.

Del Mar has announced a 30% increase to its average daily overnight purses. Also, there will be an overall raise of 33% in its stakes schedule. Del Mar management believes the track will ofer more than $700,000 a day in purses over the course of the summer. Additionally, its popular “Ship and Win” program will double its oferings to horses brought in from out of state.

“We’ve got all optimistic signs at Del Mar for our horsemen this year,” said Tom Robbins, executive vice president for racing. “We went through a rough stretch last year because of the virus and the restrictions it required. But we nonetheless managed to do unbelievably well despite it, and now—with help from our racing partners—we’re on track to have one of the most lucrative seasons in Del Mar history.”

While the track has announced plans to open at 100% seating capacity, fans wishing to attend must obtain a seating package in advance of their arrival. Admission tickets and parking passes will be included in the package. Tickets can be found at www.dmtc.com/tickets.

Long a popular venue for fun in the sun, Del Mar looks forward to returning crowds following the pandemic-related restrictions of 2020

PHOTOS COURTESY OF OLD FRIENDS FARM/LAURA BATTLES

Soi Phet, a fan favorite in California, relishes the lush surroundings in his paddock at Old Friends

OF COURTESY PHOTOS

BY LENNY SHULMAN

It’s a cool spring morning following several days of rain, and Soi Phet and Hogy look like twins as they stand at their paddock fence, a pair of bay geldings dappled with the fun remains of the mud in which they’ve recently rolled. Tey are on high alert as Michael Blowen, the proprietor of the Old Friends Toroughbred Retirement Farm, tools up in a golf cart and proceeds to grab a handful of carrots out of a sack. Te two grizzled racetrack veterans are soon munching contentedly, a pair of relaxed retirees letting go of the stress of their professional careers.

Soi Phet, who raced through eight seasons and ran as an 11-year-old, certainly earned his way to these cushy environs for his golden years, having run 64 times and earning better than a million dollars. He, along with champion Amazombie, are the two California-breds who currently reside at Old Friends, just north of Lexington, Ky., in the heart of Bluegrass country. But among the 126 horses at the facility are several others with close ties to California.

In a neighboring paddock several graduates of Samantha Siegel’s racing stable—Arson Squad, Rail Trip, and El Oh El—romp

Cal-bred U.S. sprint champion Amazombie gives his Eclipse Award the once over at Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Farm near Georgetown, Ky.

around together. Dual classic winner Silver Charm, the farm’s most famous resident, and three-time Santa Anita Handicap (G1) winner Game On Dude, both trained out of California by Bob Bafert, are here. Trainer David Hofmans is represented by Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Touch Gold and Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) victor Alphabet Soup. Jerry Moss’ Ruhlmann spent his retirement here.

California horsemen have in no small part made Old Friends what it is today—a must-see attraction for tourists looking for a great equine experience in the horse capital of the United States.

Here, horses can get away from the confnes of racetrack life. Some have not been able to run around a paddock since they were yearlings. Tey can also daily greet their fans and bathe in attention while enjoying treats. Blowen, along with his wife, Diane, both writers for the Boston Globe, left the newspaper world to start a retirement haven for racehorses in the wake of Ferdinand’s death in Japan, which led to the current aftercare movement gaining traction in the U.S. Teir equine boarders are quite grateful.

Amazombie at age 15, still looks good enough to sprint six furlongs in stakes company. He shares an Old Friends’ paddock with another 15-year-old, Rapid Redux, who won 22 races in a row in the Mid-Atlantic region.

However, when they race around their paddock, it is no contest. After all, Amazombie was named champion sprinter in North America in 2011, when he won the Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1), Ancient Title Stakes (G1), and Potrero Grande Stakes (G2). He returned the following season to take the Bing Cros-

ANNE M. EBERHARDT

Amazombie in full fight to victory in the grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint

© BENOIT PHOTOS

Amazombie also landed the grade 1 Ancient Title Stakes

by Stakes (G1) and repeat in the Potrero Grande. Following that season, trainer and co-owner Bill Spawr, along with co-owner Tomas Sanford, decided to retire Amazombie while he was still in good physical condition. Owner Jon Lindo helped broker the move to Old Friends.

Amazombie was originally an afterthought, having injured a leg early on that delayed the start of his racing career. After his breeder, Gregg Anderson, died, his horses were dispersed by Judd Morse, who had broken Amazombie at his ranch in San Jacinto. When Spawr came to the ranch to look at another horse, Morse convinced him to take a look at Amazombie as Soi Phet, left, with paddock pal Hogy, whose East Coast career well. And the rest is history. mirrors that of his West Coast mate

Amazombie won 12 of 29 races, placed in an additional 11 others, and retired with $1.9 million in earnings.

“He still loves to run,” Blowen said. “A few weeks ago ‘CBS Sunday Morning,’ a national news show hosted by Jane Pauley, came out to do a story on Old Friends, and Amazombie seemed to know it. He looked at the cameras and his eyes perked up, and he started to run like the wind. I hope they use that footage. It was dusk and he was kicking up the dust as he went and his feet were barely touching the ground. Watching him run was unbelievable. Rapid Redux tried to go with him, but it was no contest.” “It was an easy decision (to send him to Old Friends) because it was the right place for him,” Spawr said. “He’s having a good time.” Earlier this year, during a party at Old Friends to celebrate Alphabet Soup’s 30th birthday, Blowen was surprised when a woman from California approached him carrying a box. “Bill Spawr sent you this; I want to watch you open it,” said the woman. When Blowen looked inside, he found Amazombie’s Eclipse Award trophy. “I felt like a kid who got the BB gun for Christmas,” Blowen said. “Are you kidding me? It is so great. She explained that Bill thought the award belonged to Amazombie, and that he should have it here with him. How does it get better than that? We need more people like Bill Spawr in horse racing.” “He deserves to have the Eclipse Award with him,” said Spawr. “Te way I look at it, he did the running and all the work, so he can brag to all his buddies. Michael sent me a picture with Amazombie and the trophy. Te horse is a character.” Te farm is currently raising funds to refurbish one of its barns, turning it into a museum and an event center, where it will display items such as that Eclipse statue, the Vox Populi Award won by COURTESY OF OLD FRIENDS FARM/LAURA BATTLES Rapid Redux, the array of trophies that Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel left Old Friends upon his death, and various other items that have been donated through the years. Soi Phet brought his 15 victories to Old Friends after his 2019 retirement from the racetrack. Now 13, he was named by his breeder, Sataporn Tongchantra, in Tai words that mean “diamond necklace.” Trainer Leonard Powell claimed the Tizbud gelding out of his 16th career start for $16,000 in 2013 for a partnership that included Powell’s wife, Mathilde; Paul Viskovich; and members of the Benowitz family. It was a bargain, and the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Powell always gave Soi Phet a vacation over the winter, making sure he had time to graze and be a horse. Soi Phet paid him

Soi Phet is a two-time winner of the Bertrando Stakes Soi Phet, center, scratches out a victory in the Crystal Water Stakes

back by winning the Bertrando Stakes and Los Alamitos Mile Stakes in 2014, the Harry F. Brubaker Stakes, McCann’s Mojave Handicap, and E.B. Johnston Stakes in 2016, repeating in the Johnston in 2017, and taking the Bertrando again and the Crystal Water Stakes in 2018.

Powell determined to fnd Soi Phet, who acquired a legion of “Phet Phans” during his popular race career, a retirement home with plenty of grass that he could enjoy.

“I received a call from Leonard Powell, and I got so excited because I loved watching the horse run,” said Blowen. “He’s such a cool, nice, gentle horse that I think it was hard for Leonard to part with him. He wanted to be around the horse all the time. In the fnal analysis he did what was best for the horse and sent him where his fans could come see him and where he can run around.

“It was an easy decision because Old Friends has a great reputation and he was already 11 years old, so I wasn’t going to keep him going,” said Powell. “He had a great campaign at 10 that we tried to replicate, but he had lost a step. He is the oldest stakes winner in Santa Anita history. First time a 10-year-old won a stakes. John Henry and Kona Gold did it at 9. He is such a classy horse.”

Soi Phet and Hogy arrived at Old Friends within months of one another, and their careers are almost mirror images. Racing on the East Coast, Hogy, now 14, won 19 of 55 starts and $1,339,782. He is a nine-time stakes winner who took a trio of grade 3 events: the 2013 Hanshin Cup Stakes at Arlington Park, the 2017 Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint Stakes, and the 2018 Canadian Turf Stakes at Gulfstream Park. Te Ofee Wild gelding was claimed in 2017 for $80,000 by Michael Hui, who raced him into the gelding’s 10-year-old season before retiring him to Old Friends.

“I thought it would be so cool if they got along, because of their parallel careers,” Blowen said. “Hogy is the East Coast version of Soi Phet. And they look similar to one another. Sure enough, we put them together and now they eat together, drink together, and run together. It’s like me and my shadow.”

Some horses make the adjustment from racetrack to retirement faster than others. Blowen pointed out that Arson Squad, after calling California home, arrived to fnd snow on the ground at Old Friends and was “a little skeptical.” Rail Trip, on the other hand, “took 20 seconds. ‘Tere’s the grass, there’s the run-in shed, there’s the bald guy (Blowen) who’s going to give me carrots.’ No muss, no fuss. Let’s go.”

Blowen expressed great gratitude for the California horsemen who have helped get Old Friends up and going and have helped sustain its growth and ability to care for an ever-increasing number of horses. He cited Moss sending Ruhlmann, whom Blowen called “one of our frst important horses.” Frankel left a large sum to the farm. Dottie Ingordo, Madeline Auerbach, and Peter Miller (who sent champion and two-time Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, G1T, winner Stormy Liberal to Old Friends) have been supporters.

Blowen relates that on a “miserable winter morning,” he looked out the window of his home “and there was Bob Baffert talking to Silver Charm. I thought I was hallucinating. He and (wife) Jill come all the time.

As they run their paddocks, eat carrots, and bask in the admiration of fans, Soi Phet and Amazombie, too, after having given so much to their connections, have had their lives changed for the better with their retirement to this horse haven.

— Michael Blowen