The enduring phenomenon of silver charms, equivalent to at least 90 years old, represents a renewed interest in aftercare in the thoroughbred world.
How old is the Kentucky Derby winner spending his retirement
Silver Charm, who won the 1997 Kentucky Derby and Preakness, is thriving at the age of 31 as he enjoys his retirement at Old Friends Farm.
Sports Pulse
Georgetown, Ky. — Michael Bren emerges from his home’s garage in a red solo cup full of treats he sets up specially for the 31-year-old horse, whom he’s calling his favourite creature in the world.
That’s quite a statement. The 78-year-old Broen had a wife and family and became friends with all sorts of famous people of his year as a Boston Globe film critic. But as he walks towards the grassy field hundreds of feet away from his home, he gets energized, almost completely white horse – who happens to be the oldest living Kentucky Derby winner.
Bowen smiles and opens the gate. The horse knows the routine. They begin jogging side by side, as quickly and energetically as the two old men can move. After 10 or 15 seconds, they give up both.
“I have a lot of kids, lots of grandchildren, there are so many everything, right?” Bloen says he explains why the man in his life has to take the back seat on a horse. “Silver has only one charm and he’s in my backyard.”
It’s a big week for the horse that captured the American imagination in 1997, and for the horse that thwarted a narrow victory in Derby and Preakness. Derby Week, the famous thoroughbred retirement farm that began in 2003, is another animal.
Tours are well booked. Bob Buffate, who won his first derby with Silver Charm, always stops by. And while his upper-age frailty sacrificed him a bit of mobility, he sacrificed everything except four of his teeth, he realizes that Silver Charm is Showtime.
Every few hours, he’ll approach the fence, stick his tongue out, waiting for visitors to feed him his custom-made snacks, or fine carrots that don’t require him to bite too much.
“He still thrives just by being around people,” said John Nicholson, who took over as executive director and CEO of an old friend last year. “Every day is a treasure and he is there every day. We are blessed.”
The enduring phenomenon of silver charms, equivalent to at least 90 years old, represents a renewed interest in aftercare in the thoroughbred world.
Nearby Kentucky Horse Park has long been a tourist attraction where past champions spent their last days, but Broughen started an old friend at the same time that reports that Ferdinand was the 1986 Derby winner and the 1987 horse appeared.
The news has surprised American racing fans, opening the eyes of people in the industry about how easy it would have been for even famous and beloved racehorses to meet a cruel and tragic end if they no longer benefited as stallions.
After Silver Charm returned from his own disappointing stud career in Japan and arrived at an old friend in 2014, he quickly tested Bren’s theory that people pay to pay for intimate and personal opportunities with the stars he saw at the racetrack. As a result, in addition to 230 acres in Kentucky, there are two other Derby winners – Big Brown (2008), along with satellite farms in Japan and New York, and there are two more Derby winners.
“It costs $3.5 million a year to run all of our farms with old friends. I’ll list Silver Charm as a Chief’s fundraiser,” Nicholson said. “He’s part of every message we send. He’s often a messenger. He excites people when they’re here and tells them he’s always a good public figure. He’s very aware when there’s cameras.
Old friends, as Nicholson points out, are not rescue operations. Other organizations prioritize the job, and older friends don’t just ride anyone’s horses. The waiting list to fill the food stalls here is long.
However, it has helped to spotlight the concept of aftercare and the responsibility of horse owners, and to care for the animals from the racetrack to the final resting spot.
“We’re now a pillar of the industry,” Nicholson said. “It’s not about fringes. You just have to do it.”
There is no moment when Broen is around the silver charm that he doesn’t have a big smile on his face. Although the horse lived here for ten years, Bren still calls the arrival of Silver Charm the best day of his life, and wears a baseball cap actually made for Buffalo in 1997.
Like so many horse racing fans, Bren became obsessed with Silver Charm in the spring of 1997, stopping Captain Bodette with the neck of the Derby, then decided to stop the Free House outdoors with his nose as Preakness.
Silver Charm led Belmont by an eighth mile and looked poised to become the first Triple Crown winner in 19 years, but Touchgold passed him in the final 75 yards to win half the length.
Now touch Gold Life to one paddock. Here we can imagine two old rivals where romantic fans, at least, continue to debate decades over who is actually superior.
Surprisingly, they still look robust and healthy. This is not at all thanks to the detailed healthcare and nutritional support that horses receive with their old friends. For a long time, the silver charm exceeds his athletic glory, his coat is much whiter than people remember from his racing days, but he still makes a good impression and looks like a horse that leaves him with enough life.
“He’s losing weight and getting a little riboo,” says Bren, who says the silver charm walks under the shed and gives some relief from the afternoon sun.
It’s a subtle but poignant realization that he will not be here forever.
But the gift of Silver Charm is that he still wakes up every day and connects someone to one of their best memories. Whether they’ve cashed out that race, whether they’re the spouse they met on that Derby day, or whether he’ll win a triple crown with a loved one who’s no longer alive, old friends hear different reasons every day about why fans make a pilgrimage to meet him in person.
And for a long time, they cherish it.
“A little handsome!” says Broen, the silver charm, the tongue hanging from his mouth, approaching a red cup filled with snacks in his hands. “He’s incredible.”