Old Friends to open satellite farm in New York
Posted by Alicia Wincze on 18th November 2009
Michael Blowen, founder and president of Old Friends in Georgetown, has announced the opening of his organization’s first satellite facility for retired Thoroughbreds. Cabin Creek, a 40-acre farm just outside Saratoga in Greenfield Center, NY, will begin receiving horses immediately. An official opening and celebration is planned for July 22, 2010.
This premiere auxiliary space will be named in honor of trainer Bobby Frankel, who passed away earlier this week after a battle with cancer. A native New Yorker, Frankel was a long supporter of the Old Friends mission and earned many of his greatest victories at New York racetracks. The farm will formally be known as “Old Friends at Cabin Creek: The Bobby Frankel Division.”
Owned by Joann and Mark Pepper, Cabin Creek features 12 stalls, two round pens, five finished paddocks, and has raw space available for development and growth. The first resident, Moonshadow Gold–a 10-year-old New York-bred gelding acquired through the efforts of several equine-welfare advocates–will arrive later this week.
The property will be leased by Old Friends, which will continue to control all acquisitions and financials.
The Peppers, who built Cabin Creek from scratch 15 years ago, will handle day-to-day operations.
“When we built the farm my goal was to do Thoroughbred retirement,” said Joann, who began her life with horses as a groom for Nick Zito. “Initially we did boarding and foaling as a way to establish ourselves, but I always came back to the idea of retirement. I had read about Old Friends, and this summer an article in the “Saratogian” prompted me to call Michael. I explained that my farm was empty and I wanted to emulate what he was doing. It just clicked that we would do it together.”
Since its inception, Old Friends has grown to more than 92-acres and is home to 70-plus ex-race horses. It is open to the public daily and attracts thousand of tourists and fans to central Kentucky annually.
“This was just an amazing opportunity,” said Blowen, who finalized arrangements with the Peppers just last week. “I have always felt there was a need for Old Friends all over the country.”
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Alicia Wincze is the turf writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader. She started riding at age 8 and was a four-year member of the Pace University equestrian team.