Bonapaw moves to Old Friends

Bonapaw, a Grade 1-winning sprinter, has joined the roster at the Old Friends equine retirement facility.

Owner James Richards Jr. donated Bonapaw, a 13-year-old Sabona-Pawlova gelding, to the Georgetown, Ky., farm.

Bonapaw had several trainers but had most of his success with Norman Miller. He won 18 of 49 starts and earned more than $1.1 million in an eight-year career. A $6,500 Keeneland September yearling, he won 12 stakes. The 2002 Vosburgh gave him his only Grade 1 victory, but he also won the Grade 3 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap in 2001 and the Hanshin Cup Handicap in 2002, as well as back-to-back editions of the Thanksgiving Handicap at Fair Grounds in 2000 and 2001.

He retired in 2002 after showing signs of breathing trouble and had been at a farm in Folsom, La.

Richards, the son of original Bonapaw co-owner James Richards, also has arranged to send the gelding's trophies and a collection of photographs to Old Friends. The farm's president, Michael Blowen, said he hoped the memorabilia would form the centerpiece of a planned museum at Old Friends, which Blowen hopes will be open within the next 18 months.