Old Friends welcomes recently retired 'great champ' Soi Phet

Old Friends on Monday welcomed new retiree Soi Phet, the 11-year-old son of Tizbud who was pensioned following his 64th and final start June 29 at Los Alamitos.

The dark bay gelding arrived at Lexington Bluegrass Airport via H E Tex Sutton Forwarding Co., and was vanned to Old Friends’ Georgetown, Ky., farm by Sallee Horse Vans.

Bred in California by ARCHA Racing, Soi Phet was claimed by conditioner Leonard Powell for $16,000 in May 2013 at Hollywood Park for the partnership of Mathilde Powell, the Benowitz Family Trust, and Paul Viskovich. He went on to earn nearly $1 million for his new owners.

He scored his first stakes win in the 2014 Bertrando Stakes at Los Alamitos (a race he captured again in 2018), and later that year he returned to the one-mile oval to register a 7 1/4-length romp in the inaugural $200,000 Los Alamitos Mile.

In 2018, Soi Phet became the oldest stakes winner in Santa Anita history when, at 10, he captured The Crystal Water.

Soi Phet finished his career with 15 wins, including eight stakes, and a Grade 1 placing in the 2013 Awesome Again Stakes, when he finished behind Mucho Macho Man and Paynter. His lifetime earnings total $1,023, 917.

"I'm such a fan of Soi Phet, and I'm so excited to welcome him to Old Friends," said Michael Blowen, the organization's founder and president. "We hope all of his fans will visit him here, and we thank Leonard and his owners for sharing this great champ with us."