FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
SIDELINES AUGUST 2014 69
Precisionist – a favorite at Old Friends,
gone but not forgotten.
Photo by Lauren R Giannini
$3.5 million, and possibly the last American race horse with the
stamina, speed and versatility to win Grade 1 stakes races at 6
furlongs, 7 furlongs, 1 mile, 1 1/16 mile and 1 1/4 mile.
“That’s what Steve Haskin, who writes for
The
Blood-Horse
,
told me,” said Michael. “If Precisionist did it, nobody did it after
him. He came to us in 2006 with sinus tumors and could only
be turned out for short spells — we try to keep the horses out
as much as possible because it’s healthier. When he came in at
night, I’d go and clean out his nose and give him some carrots. We
really developed a relationship and it got so he’d tell me what to
do. If I wasn’t there at the right time, he’d get mad at me.”
Chris McCarron, Hall of Fame jockey, often showed up at
Old Friends to visit his former racing partner, Precisionist, and
the two redheads would hang out together. “Chris said that the
horse taught him how to be a jockey — as a rider you have to
figure out what a horse wants to do and then get out of his way,”
recalled Michael. “Precisionist taught me things, too. The really
great racehorses we have here — the stakes winners, Breeders’
Cup winners — are all shapes,
all sizes and all different kinds
of breeding, but the common
key is that they were all really,
really intelligent. Precisionist
was top of the class. When we
knew it was his time and we
had to euthanize him, it was
heartbreaking. He was our only
Hall of Fame horse. He was
gorgeous, he was smart.”
At Old Friends, the retired
horses rush to the board fences
of their paddocks, eager for the
admiration of visitors enjoying
a guided tour with Michael or
another member of the staff,
who talk about the horses,
where they came from, their
careers and answer a gazillion
questions. The hour or so of the
tour is happy for both humans
and Thoroughbreds.
In early April, Old Friends
and New Vocations Racehorse
Adoption
Program,
both
accredited by the Thoroughbred
Aftercare
Alliance
(an
organization that also raises
funds for grants to help support
approved facilities), formed a
partnership. New Vocations
is an adoption program that
rehabilitates, re-trains and re-
homes ex-racehorses at its
farms in Ohio, Michigan and
Lexington, Kentucky. According
to the terms of the partnership
agreement, a Thoroughbred
donated to Old Friends who
receives the vets’ approval for
being sound, healthy
and suitable for a new
career can be sent
to New Vocations for
re-homing. This is a
win-win for the horse
and for both aftercare
organizations.
“The first horse
to benefit from our
partnership with New
Vocations is Gameday
News, who suffered an
injury and was retired
to us,” said Michael.
“I think they had paid
$350,000 for him. He
was owned by football
coach Bill Parcells and trained by Wayne Lucas. Gameday News
spent a little over a year with us. He was young — only 5, I think.
With the help of our vets and acupuncture, he was treated and all
of his injuries healed. He’s gorgeous, very intelligent and a good
candidate to be the first horse for the New Vocations program.”
Gameday News moved to New Vocations in April and has
There are many reasons to visit
Old Friends and they all have
four legs and a tail.
Continued on page 70
