'Hard-knocking' Hogy retires to Kentucky's Old Friends farm

Old Friends president Michael Blowen has a soft spot for “hard-knocking” older horses. And Blowen’s Thoroughbred retirement facility in Georgetown, Ky., added a racing veteran Friday who fits that description.

Hogy, a 10-year-old gelding who won three graded stakes over his 55 starts, arrived at the farm four months after his final start, a fifth-place run Feb. 16 in the Colonel Power Stakes at Fair Grounds.

“I’m always looking for the really old, hard-knocking geldings that have put in a lot of time, and obviously won’t have a breeding career, that I think would be great candidates for Old Friends because their fans can come and see them and they’ve got long careers that have built up a large fan base,” Blowen said. “I’ve always personally been a huge fan of Hogy’s for a long time.”

Founded in 2003, Old Friends allows fans to visit Thoroughbreds after their racing or stud careers have ended. In addition to its Georgetown farm, the organization has opened facilities in Greenfield Center, N.Y., and outside Kentucky Downs in Franklin, Ky.

Old Friends boasts as residents Silver Charm and War Emblem, who swept the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in 1997 and 2002, respectively. The two horses who denied Silver Charm and War Emblem Triple Crowns by winning the Belmont Stakes, Touch Gold and Sarava, are also retired to the Georgetown farm.

Those American Classic winners are the stars, but Blowen said many of Old Friends’ residents are “great old geldings” who built fan bases over long racing careers. Hogy is the latest of those to join Blowen’s fold.

“He always tried,” Blowen said of Hogy. “There are hardly any of his races where he just said, ‘I’m not interested.’ …

“He’s not a Breeders’ Cup winner or anything, but he won some really nice races at kind of middle-range tracks around the country. That’s the heart and soul of racing, as far as I’m concerned.”

Hogy was foaled in Kentucky 10 years ago by John Little. The son of Offlee Wild then started his racing career in 2011, winning his first three starts.

Over the last eight years, Hogy collected 19 victories, 13 second-place finishes and seven third-place runs, earning $1,339,782. During his latter years as a racehorse, he was trained by Mike Maker and campaigned by Michael Hui.

Hogy earned Grade 3 stakes triumphs as a 4-year-old in Arlington’s 2013 Hanshin Cup, at 8 in Kentucky Downs’ 2017 Turf Sprint and at 9 in Gulfstream Park’s 2018 Canadian Turf.

In addition to those three tracks, he also won at least one race at Canterbury Park, Churchill Downs, Fair Grounds, Hawthorne, Presque Isle Downs, Sam Houston, Saratoga and Turfway Park.

Hogy will now start what Blowen called a three-week, stall-based acclimation period at Old Friends.

“Our stalls have runouts, so he can choose whether he wants to come out or go in the stall, just to get him used to the air and used to his company and to what we do around here,” Blowen said. “Then he’ll go out to a larger round pen and go outside.

“Then after our farm manager and veterinarian assess everything, then he’ll probably go out with three or four other horses in the paddock and he gets to race around with them again – have a little fun, I hope.”