Awesome Again died suddenly yesterday at Old Friends in Georgetown at the age of 26.
Cause of death is currently unknown.
Both a performer on and off the track.
Run free Awesome Again.
Condolences to all of his connections on his sudden loss.
PS- Via email from Old Friends.
Old stallions don’t seem to handle relocation very well. Awesome Again had been at Old Friends less than 60 days.
Old Friends offers very good care. But it’s a big life change for some of these guys, especially those who were the marquee stallions of these incredible farms. You go from having your own person dedicated to your every need to having a good, but pedestrian quality of life by comparison. Not to mention the fact they are just old. 26 is a very standard age at which to lose these guys, regardless of where they live.
Some deaths are sad, some are tragic.
I think AA’s death is sad. He had a long, good life, and 26 is a considerable age to have reached.
On the other hand I think Tapizar’s death at 12 because of a stall accident is tragic.
I was thinking the same thing. He isn’t the first (seemingly healthy?) stallion to die rather suddenly at Old Friends. Charismatic also comes to mind, but wasn’t there another one?
Charismatic was very much a freak accident. A pelvic fracture of unknown age and origin gave out and severed an artery.
Einstein recently died within the year of arriving. I think it was cancer?
Many other horses have been living happily for years.
Old Friends has many deaths. Chiefly because the horses are, well, old. I also think they recognize how much they can spend on medical bills and remain viable, and aren’t afraid to make the hard decision in expensive situations with questionable outcomes.
This, yes. Most horses retired to Old Friends are, as @Texarkana said, old (a few aren’t). It’s heartbreaking when I read of another one of the retirees being euthanized as each one has to be a hard decision but also ‘this it be right’ decision.
They do so much good (yes, not for all horses but many of the big names). They’re helped repatriate 8 horses from Japan.
I can’t find the info now but they have a retired broodmare paddock, I believe in Georgetown.
They have also started a new program in partnership with assisted living complex; Old Friends at Ashton Grove. Both human and horse residents give so much to each other.
From Michael Blowen’s Fall 2020 newsletter…
Old Friends at Ashton Grove, a beautiful assisted-living complex for both our Thoroughbreds and their human friends. One human resident told me that his wife had died 11 months ago. Since then, he had not had one minute of joy. But now, coming to the paddock fence feeding carrots to Porfido and Daytona, he had his life restored. And he was in tears.
The picture of Awesome Again at Old Friends is stunning. He really looked a lot like his sire, Deputy Minister.
How long was Sunday Silence there?
I hope that I have the right one- The stallion came back from Japan and had to be gelded. Black horse.
I believe you mean War Emblem. Sunday Silence was a Japanese treasure.
War Emblem was there for at least 3 years.
Sunday Silence was in Japan from 1991 until his passing in 2002 of heart failure brought on by an infection in his leg and the debilitating effects of laminitis… He covered over 2,000 mares whose offspring have won 143 graded races.
Yes, War Emblem was repatriated back to the US in 2015 and resided at Old Friends in Georgetown. IIRC he was gelded to avoid stallion quarantine rules. Residing in Japan since 2002 but produced less than 200 foals being a difficult stallion.
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