Thunder Rumble and Old Friends

First,Thanks to those of you that I have heard from thus far on your thoughts on the blog.
I appreciate all your kind words and ideas and I am listening!
Thanks again...

Today was another day with my shoulder to the wheel at work (In the middle of day 5 of 11 straight) and as I watched the end of the Texans-Bears game in a rainstorm,a name from the past jumped to my mind.

Thunder Rumble was a humble New York bred that loved historic Saratoga race course and was a Grade 1 winner with his win in the 1992 Travers.
Gosh,can it be 20 years already,it seems like about five,but Thunder Rumble was one of the horses I was a huge fan of when I was a passionate fan of horse racing that when I think of them now,I usually smile.

Thunder Rumble also was my biggest ever winner of a simulcasted big race with a bet as his wins in the aforementioned Travers and its prep race,the Jim Dandy stakes,so that gave him a special place with my memory.
So thinking of big Thunder and the days of my love affair with racing that lasted quite a long time made me want to think about how "my" Thunder turned out since he is currently 23.
To my surprise,Thunder Rumble is still around and lives with Old Friends satellite station in New York.

What is Old Friends?
Well,Old Friends is an organization that takes care of equine stars of the past to give them the pension time that they deserve after a racing and then breeding career.
Old Friends was created after the horrible death of 1986 Kentucky Derby winner Ferdinand to give  stars of the past a place to live out their years.
What surprised me most (and it shouldn't) was the amount of horses that I recognized from the time that I watched the game.
I knew almost every horse involved with Old Friends and I spent a few hours looking at all of these stars that I remembered on their web site.
It brought back such terrific memories that I smiled all the while,which is a pretty tough thing considering that I was at the road office.

Old Friends does such terrific work and it is not cheap work either.
When you consider the cost of feeding and bedding a horse and the numbers of horses in the program,the cost can be prohibitive.
Compassion towards animals that can often give their lives for our entertainment is very well placed and a great charity to be involved with.

Good memories of a time that a younger me enjoyed very much and it speaks well of people that has given a lot to give animals a good life after an often brutal career.
I wouldn't mind making a trip to see Thunder sometime,but even if I don't-I know his after racing life was a pretty good one...

Not a bad way to pass a work night,huh?



Photo Credits
Thunder with handler:Connie Bush
Winning the Travers:Joel Silva