Superstar Geldings Arrive at Old Friends

Amazombie in his paddock at Old Friends two days after arriving. (Photos by Melissa Bauer-Herzog)
On Oct. 7, Old Friends Equine in Lexington, Ky. welcomed two new high profile residents when multiple Grade 1 winner Game On Dude and 2011 Eclipse champion Amazombie arrived from California.
The farm, which is already the home of notable horses such as leading racehorse and sire Gulch and 2002 Belmont Stakes winner Sarava among many others, soon heard from fans who want to meet its newcomers.
“We’ve had at least 200-250 calls already for tours and I know [fans] are just coming here [to see the geldings]. I said ‘He’s in quarantine; you may not be able to even see him. He may be in his round pen but you can’t feed him carrots. If you wait a few weeks, you can do that stuff,” said Old Friends Founder Michael Blowen.
Game On Dude and Amazombie arrived hours before a storm that brought tornadoes and hail to the central Kentucky area and Blowen was worried that the storms may disrupt the geldings from settling in. However, after braving the hail to walk from his house to the quarantine barn, he found he had nothing to worry about.
AMAZOMBIE IS EAGER TO MEET HIS FANS AFTER HE IS RELEASED FROM QUARANTINE

“I leave the house and go to the barn because I’m terrified. When those hailstones hit that roof it sounds like you are in the middle of a kettle drum and it is just really loud,” Blowen said. “I thought ‘these horses are new to this so they are going to be freaking out. I’m going to go out, I’ll give them some carrots and maybe settle them down a little bit.’ I go out there and I’m getting pelted by the hail and they are just eating their hay, cool, cool, cool.”
Neither horse has had any problems settling in, a fact that Blowen credits to their intelligence. In addition to Tuesday night’s storms, the geldings were also greeted by a large crowd of people when they stepped off the van at Old Friends after flying to Kentucky from California. But they quickly settled into their stalls and haven’t turned a hair.
Deciding to send the geldings to Old Friends wasn’t an easy decision for either gelding’s connections, but especially for Game On Dude’s trainer Bob Baffert. Blowen said that both Bob and his wife Jill Baffert asked him many questions before entrusting Game On Dude to Old Friends to make sure it was a right fit for their superstar gelding.
GAME ON DUDE LOOKS OUT AT HIS NEW HOME

"It feels like we are sending our child off to camp for five years," said Baffert in a press release. “Jill and I have been supporters of Old Friends and we really felt Game on Dude needed to be somewhere where he would be loved on. He is such a sweet horse, such a good soul, and we know there will be a lot of interaction there."
While Game On Dude and Amazombie’s connections were impressed enough with Old Friends to send them to the farm, Blowen is impressed with how the horses were treated before coming to Kentucky.
“I can tell when horses come here how they have been handled and whether they have been bossed around and told what to do all the time or whether it’s a mutual admiration society and both of these horses, it’s mutual admiration. It’s just unbelievable,” he said.
Both geldings will be in quarantine for a few more weeks before they can interact with fans but Old Friends is working on a public event with the geldings and their connections after they are out of quarantine. The event will be announced at a later date.
For more information about Old Friends, you can visit www.oldfriendsequine.org. The farm is a 501 (c)(3) organization and is accredited by the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance.