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By BRUCE SCHREINER
It’s Updated 12:30PM EST, February 28, 2022
GEORGETOWN, Ky. (AP) — Michael Blowen’s adoration for horses extended far beyond the racetrack. This inspired him to embark on a mid-life career as the founder of a retirement farm in Kentucky. His mission: To provide older thoroughbreds with a dignified and secure resting place, long after their earning days were over.
For two decades, his Old Friends farm outside Georgetown has been home to hundreds of horses — from former Kentucky Derby winners like Silver Charm and Charismatic to many also-rans. Thousands of thoroughbred fans flock to the farm each year to get an up-close look at the retirees, with Blowen often leading the tours.
Blowen, 76, announced Wednesday that he is stepping down as president of the more than 240-acre farm nestled in Kentucky’s picturesque bluegrass region. John Nicholson, a former executive director of the Kentucky Horse Park in nearby Lexington, will take over the role starting Feb. 1.
“I started looking a couple of years ago for someone to take over as president,” Blowen said. “The most important thing I was looking for was someone that really, really, put the horses first.”
Nicholson checked all the boxes, Blowen said, pointing to his successor’s own love for horses, his administrative skills and his deep connections in the thoroughbred racing world. In taking the reins, Nicholson said his goal is to continue and enhance Blowen’s vision and values for the retirement farm.
“Old Friends has been at the vanguard of the thoroughbred aftercare movement and I feel privileged to be a part of such an important cause,” he said.
The farm relies on donations to finance expenses to care for the nearly 300 horses now living there — including feed for the horses and staff to operate the farm.
“Today it’s like a multi-million dollar corporation, and it needs somebody that can handle that kind of operation,” Blowen said. “It needs a really good CEO that has managed a much bigger facility than we have. And the only way that we can improve is to get more space for more horses, which means more money, more donations, and an executive CEO that knows how to handle big business.”
While he’ll no longer run the farm on a daily basis, Blowen said he will still be there as goodwill ambassador for his creation — greeting visitors, leading some tours and handling other duties as needed.
Blowen and his wife, Diane White, moved to Kentucky more than 20 years ago after careers at the Boston Globe, where Michael was the newspaper’s movie critic and his wife was a columnist. After the move, he started out working as operations director at the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation.
It was then that he came up with the idea — if people become star struck when meeting their favorite movie stars, they might have the same reaction when seeing their favorite racehorses.