Oldest living Kentucky Derby winner Silver Charm lives a happy, quiet life at retirement farm
GEORGETOWN, Ky. (WAVE/Gray News) – The oldest living Kentucky Derby winner is enjoying his golden years at a farm in Georgetown, Kentucky.
Aptly named for his gray and white coat and gentle personality, Silver Charm is happy and healthy while living out his retirement at Old Friends Farm.
Silver Charm was born in 1994. At age 30, he has likely outlived almost all the 35,000 North American thoroughbreds born that year.
Silver Charm won the 1997 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, just falling short of the Triple Crown when he placed second at the Belmont Stakes that year. He lost by just three quarters of a length.
In addition to being the oldest living Kentucky Derby winner, he is also the oldest living winner of the Dubai World Cup, which he won in 1998.
When Silver Charm came to Old Friends Farm in 2012, he became a beloved attraction and elevated public awareness about the need to take care of racehorses when their racing days are over.
“The great message that Silver Charm is delivering on behalf of Old Friends and thoroughbred aftercare is that it’s an important issue,” Old Friends President John Nicholson said. “And he is a representative of a movement that’s happened in the last generation within thoroughbred racing.”
Farm founder Michael Blowen launched Old Friends in 2003. It has since grown into more than 200 acres, caring for more than 200 retired thoroughbreds, with Silver Charm as the resident star.
“He’s a great, great ambassador for the sport,” Blowen said. “And he’s a great example of how much fun you can have if you have a horse in your backyard.”
Since the creation of Old Friends farm, organizations like the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance have formed, collecting millions of dollars to help care for retired racehorses and keep them away from slaughterhouses.
Since 2012, Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance has granted more than $31 million to accredited aftercare organizations and 16,500 thoroughbreds have been retrained, rehomed, or retired by accredited organizations, according to its website.
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