Silver Charm comes home to America

At 3:15 p.m. on a cold, rainy Monday, Dec. 1, 2014, Michael Blowen, president and founder of Old Friends, the Thoroughbred retirement farm in Georgetown, Ky., was walking around inside the farm's big barn greeting the visitors who had come to the farm for the day's big event.

Clutched in his hand was a halter – a very special halter – he had kept in his possession for almost 10 years. On the brass nameplate was the name Silver Charm, the champion Thoroughbred he had dreamed of bringing to Old Friends since 2005 when news came that the horse was being sent to stud in Japan.

"This is a very special halter," said Blowen. "When I first started Old Friends and I only had a couple of horses, Sandy Hatfield, the stallion manager at Three Chimneys, realized we needed to raise money. It was either a few weeks before Silver Charm left for Japan or a few weeks after he left for Japan, I'm not sure which – but, anyway, she brought this over and she said, 'Here, you can auction this off and raise some money for these horses. Good luck.' "And, this is when we first started and I could never bring myself to auction it off. So, I put it on the mantle piece over the fireplace and I saved it. So, now today we get to put it back on him. It's going back to its rightful owner."

You see, on this day, Silver Charm, who had stood at stud in Japan since 2005 was coming home to America. And, not just America, but to Old Friends, where he will enjoy his retirement.

With Silver Charm's coming to Old Friends, the farm, which has had Horse's of the Year, Breeders' Cup winners, multiple graded stakes winners, and, in Sarava, a Belmont Stakes winner, would finally have its first Kentucky Derby, and Preakness Stakes, winner.

More importantly, it would also be the culmination of a long-held dream by Blowen.

"Well, I've been dreaming about it since he left 10 years ago," said Blowen. "But, we've been in contact with the JBBA (Japanese Bloodhorse Breeders Association) and the Japanese Breeders for about six years. Every six months I'd send them a message; how's (Silver Charm) doing? (And they' say,) 'Well, he's going to breed a few more mares, he's going to breed a few more mares.' And, then, after a long time, he's finally coming home."

While Blowen had been in contact with the JBBA about Silver Charm for a very long time, when he finally got the call it was still a big surprise.

"I knew his breeding career was winding down because he wasn't getting that many mares anymore, and he wasn't getting them in foal," explained Blowen. "So, I knew it was close.

"(Then), right out of the blue, Sandy Hatfield, (the stallion manager at Three Chimney's Farm, where Silver Charm had once stood), called me. She goes, 'Michael, it's Sandy Hatfield. How would you like an old gray stallion at your farm?'"

Blowen knew immediately which horse she was talking about and, "I freaked out. I totally freaked out," he said.

How freaked out you might ask?

"Well, I couldn't tell anybody," said Blowen. "So, I got in the golf cart and drove to the back of the farm and started screaming and running around like a complete idiot. But, I had to do something because it was so exciting. Of all the horses in the world, this is the one horse I've always loved the most, and to have him here at the farm is just overwhelming."

Of course, returning a stallion like Silver Charm from Japan to America was a bit of an undertaking, as a number of groups had things to work out. But, thanks to a lot of team work and cooperation by everyone involved, everything fell into place and soon Silver Charm was on a plane and heading home to America and Old Friends.

For Blowen, having Silver Charm come to Old Friends means a lot of things in so many different ways.

"It means a lot to his fans," said Blowen. "It means to racing. I mean, look, this is a totally cooperative effort. The JBBA arranged for everything. Jeff Lewis, and his mother, Beverly Lewis, who campaigned Silver Charm, paid for everything. Three Chimneys and Sandy Hatfield made the recommendation that he comes here. So, there's just this tremendous amount of team work that all went into getting him back here. So, I think it's a great story about racing and people working together for the betterment of the sport."

About 15 minutes after Blowen spoke those words, a Three Chimney's horse van pulled up alongside the small barn at Old Friends. Hatfield got out of the truck, moved to the side of the van and a few seconds later, out walked Silver Charm, happy as could be.

Beautiful, alert, and looking almost majestic with his gray coat shining in the gloomy weather, he seemed calm and took everything in stride. It was as if he knew he was safe and at his home.

After all of the folks took his photo – he seemed to enjoy posing, too – he was walked into the barn where he will stay in quarantine for 21 days before being let out into a big paddock right in front of Blowen's home.

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Silver Charm, who is by Silver Buck-Bonnie’s Poker, by Poker was foaled in Florida on Feb. 22, 1994. He was bred by Mary Lou Wooton, raced for Robert and Beverly Lewis and was trained by Bob Baffert.

In a side note, Silver Charm’s dam, Bonnie’s Poker, was also a retiree at Old Friends. She was pensioned at Old Friends in 2003, and passed away in 2010.

In his career, Silver Charm won 12, races, finished second seven times, third two times and collected $6,944,369 in earnings in 24 races.

Silver Charm won his first stakes race – the Del Mar Futurity (G2) – in 1996 as a 2-year-old.

Then in 1997, as a 3-year-old, he took the racing world by storm, winning the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1), before losing his bid for a Triple Crown by three-quarters of a length to Touch Gold in the Belmont Stakes (G1).

In addition to a win in the San Vicente Stakes (G3), he also finished second in the Santa Anita Derby (G1), San Felipe Stakes (G2) and Malibu Stakes (G1) that same year.

For his efforts, Silver Charm was named champion 3-year old.

The big gray Thoroughbred came back to race in 1998 as a 4-year-old and scored a huge win in the Dubai World Cup (G1-UAE).

That year, he also had wins in the Strub Stakes (G2), Clark Handicap (G2), Goodwood Breeders’ Cup Handicap (G2), Kentucky Cup Classic Handicap (G3), and San Fernando Breeders’ Cup Stakes.

He also finished second in the Stephen Foster Handicap (G2) and ended the year with a second place finish to Awesome Again in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1).

In 1999, as a 5-year-old, he scored his final win in the San Pasqual Handicap (G2), while also getting third-place finishes in the Donn Handicap (G1) and Santa Anita Handicap (G1).

Silver Charm, who would later be inducted into the Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame in 2007, was retired and stood at stud at Three Chimney’s Farm in Versailles, before being sent to Japan in 2005 for the remainder of his stud career.

However, in an important move before he was sent to Japan, a “buy back” clause was added to the contract that stated that when his stud career was over, he could be purchased back and brought back to the United States. This clause was added to many such contracts following the death, by slaughter, to 1996 Kentucky Derby winner, Ferdinand.

Which brings this story full circle to the arrival of Silver Charm to Old Friends, where he will now get to spend the rest of his days grazing on sweet Kentucky Bluegrass and racing his fellow Thoroughbred retirees along their adjoining paddock fence lines.

Photo by Rick Capone 

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It was the end of a long Monday for Blowen, who had worked hard with everyone at the farm, Tim Wilson the farm manager, Carole Oates, the assistant farm manager, Sylvia, the office manager, and all of the volunteers, to make sure everything went perfect for the arrival of Silver Charm.

Later that night, after everyone had gone and everything had quieted down, Blowen put on his jacket, pulled on his muck boots, grabbed a handful of carrots, and walked out of his house and over to the barn where Silver Charm was resting. The two stood there looking at each other, enjoying each other's company. It is moments like this that Blowen cherishes the most.

"Around 8 o'clock, when everybody had left, I had to go out and see him and just have a real egotistical moment because (having Silver Charm here) was just spectacular," said Blowen. "So, I got a couple of the carrots that he really likes, and I went (to the barn) and I gave him the carrots."

As he quietly stood outside of the stall looking at Silver Charm, Blowen still had many thoughts running through his mind.

"I'm thinking all kinds of things," he said. "I'm thinking how much he symbolizes the change since what happened to Ferdinand till now. The tremendous change in the way these horses are (now) considered once their money-making days are over. I think that's (what) Silver Charm represents and he symbolizes that in a huge way.

"There are all the negative stories about horse racing all the time, but when you think about the Japanese Breeders letting (him come home), the Lewis's paying for everything, Three Chimney's cooperating and then all (of them) agreeing to send him here (to Old Friends), it's like a fabulous fairy tale."

Soon, after seeing that Silver Charm "was standing up and he was alert … and he was doing great," Blowen thought to himself, "Okay, fine, now I can go to sleep."

Quietly, Blowen turned off the light in Silver Charm's stall, then turned out the lights in the barn and headed into the darkness towards his house where he would finally get a good night's sleep before another busy day at the farm.