Come On Flip euthanized at 26

Grade 2 winner Come On Flip was euthanized Thursday morning after battling chronic laminitis. He was 26.

The gelded son of Commemorate resided at Old Friends Equine Retirement in Georgetown, Ky., since 2014. Prior to arriving at Old Friends, he spent most of his retirement on the farm of Teresa and Bud Stahler, who adopted him out of ReRun Thoroughbred Adoption.

"It was a privilege having Come On Flip with us these last years," said Old Friends founder and president Michael Blowen. "He was a warrior horse who gave his all on the racetrack, and showed us his lively spirit until the end."

Bred in Florida by Jacarie Farm, Come On Flip won 8 of 54 starts over eight seasons of racing for earnings of $535,547.

Best known for his exploits in the Chicago area around two turns, Come On Flip won or placed in stakes races in each of his first five seasons of racing.

His biggest win came in 1996 when he won the Grade 2 Hawthorne Gold Cup in a wide, driving charge at odds of 13-1. A year earlier, Come On Flip took the Cicero Mile Handicap at Sportsman’s Park.

Come On Flip also placed in seven additional stakes races, including the Grade 3 National Jockey Club Stakes at Sportsman’s Park, the Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap, the Razorback Handicap at Oaklawn Park, and the Equipoise Mile Handicap at Arlington Park. He also finished fifth against Cigar in a 1995 Gulfstream Park allowance, which would be the third stop on the Hall of Famer’s legendary 16-race winning streak.

Come On Flip raced his entire career for owners Robert Ackerman and Sommer Stables. He spent time with several trainers, but his biggest wins came with Stanley Hough and Louis Goldfine.

During his time at Old Friends, Come On Flip was often cared for by supporter Dr. Val Nicholson and her husband Brent.

"Come On Flip taught us so much about patience and love," Val Nicholson said. "He was a perpetual 5-year-old boy; sometimes stubborn, always loving, who enjoyed his clover until the very end."