Old Friends

“Tom Riddle stood for all that was good, all that was moral, and all that was ethical within our horse industry. He was visionary leader in so many respects. I was proud to have worked with him at the Kentucky Horse Park and have greatly appreciated the extraordinary support Rood and Riddle gives to Old Friends.” - John Nicholson, President and CEO of Old Friends on the passing of Dr. Tom Riddle.

We extend our condolences to everyone at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital and all of Dr. Riddle's friends and family for his loss.

𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 20 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔, 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑹𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝑪𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑶𝒍𝒅 𝑭𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔. 𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕, 𝒘𝒆’𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑹𝒊𝒄𝒌’𝒔 𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒉𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒓𝒎 𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅.

𝗦𝗲𝗮 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲
- Foaled: April 2, 1999 – Florida; Chestnut horse
- Bred by: Edee Rose
- Pedigree: Line in the Sand x Miss Big Pie
- Race Record: 23 2-3-5 $64,760
- After Racing: Gelded to pursue a second career; subsequent infirmities necessitated retirement.
- Retired to Old Friends: 2009
- In Memoriam: 2016

𝙄𝙣 𝙍𝙞𝙘𝙠’𝙨 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨 (𝘾𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙊𝙡𝙙 𝙁𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨):
Upon retirement from racing, Sea Native became a pleasure horse/hunter/jumper for his owner, Angela Black of Georgia, until injury prevented him from being ridden, so Angela looked for a place to retire him. She did some research and learned about Old Friends. She liked what she read and sent a letter to Michael Blowen, “one of the most beautiful letters” he ever read, to ask if he would take Sea Native. Michael agreed and “Rhett”, as she called him, was pensioned at Old Friends in 2009.
Sea Native seem to really enjoy his time at Old Friends, and Angela visited him often. One of the most enjoyable times the two of them got to share together while he was living at Old Friends was when Angela took him to the 2009 Secretariat Festival in Paris, Kentucky, for a Secretariat look-alike contest. The winner of the contest was to get a small part in the upcoming Disney movie about “Big Red”. Rhett walked happily around the ring, game as ever, Angela said. He finished second that day, but a photo taken at the time shows a happy and relaxed horse, just glad to be there.

Sadly, as he got older, he suffered from a number of maladies, including cancer, and on Saturday, June 25, 2016 he was euthanized. Angela had a chance to visit with him shortly before he died. She shared memories of her longtime horse friend:

“I loved him the moment I laid eyes on him; he had my heart. When I was with him, I was that 10-year-old little girl who always dreamed of a tall handsome chestnut with white socks. I called him Rhett because I related it to the word retro meaning reminiscent of early times or relating to the past much like the love the 10-year-old girl had for horses.

Anyone who knows the spirit of the thoroughbred understands that champions aren’t always made by the number of trophies on a shelf. And that the size of a great horse’s heart isn’t always measured by the victories in a win column. As Rhett’s life drew to a close, the friend he never forgot came to say goodbye. And to the last, he remained kind and gentle, grateful, and honest, with the heart of a true champion”

Today’s Catlaunch S. run at Thistledown is named for our late 4-year Old Friends resident. A three-time Ohio-bred Horse of the Year (2008-10-11) and millionaire, Catlaunch won 22 of his 107 career starts! Good luck to everyone running in his race!

Calling all I Am Lava Man fans! This week's eBay auction features Lava Man horsehair earrings that are highlighted with his racing colors!

This is just one of 15 items we have in this week's auction ending on Sunday. You can find all the items at https://www.ebay.com/str/oldfriendsfarmgiftshop.

Because of your support, the hay deliveries are rolling in! We have one week left in our 2026 HayRaiser and we’re hoping to make it our best week yet with Baoma Corp matching dollar-for-dollar up to $30,000 to end the campaign.

If you haven’t donated yet or would like to donate again, you can visit our website’s homepage where the donation link is front and center!

In 2018, Stormy Liberal was the defending G1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner. Making his final start before defending his title, he refused to lose in the G3 Eddie D. for a third straight victory.

Five years later, it was MyRacehorse’s Lane Way’s time to win the Eddie D. He was looking to avenge a second place finish in the race and avenge he did with a half-length victory!

We’ve reached our final HayRaiser Leadership Match of this year … Baoma Corp is helping us go out on a big high when matching donations up to $30,000! There are four Baoma Corp Old Friends at our farms - Chitu, Better, Dre Dan, and Mwari!

Help Baoma Corp reach their $30,000 goal by donating here 👉 https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/oldfriends?code=Donate%20Now%20NFG