Old Friends resident Delay of Game dies at 23

Delay of Game, a Grade 3 winner and resident of Old Friends Equine Retirement in Georgetown, Ky., was euthanized Monday evening due to the infirmities of old age. He was 23.

The gelded son of Summer Squall had also suffered from equine protozoal myeloencephalitis, known as EPM, a neurological disease.

Bred in Kentucky by Marcia Gumberg, Delay of Game was purchased by owner John Peace for $80,000 out of the 1994 Keeneland September yearling sale an put into training with Patrick Enright, for whom the gelding won his debut start at Delaware Park by 8 ½ lengths.

Delay of Game was then moved to the barn of Rusty Arnold, who trained him for the remainder of his six-year career. In that time, he won the Grade 3 Stuyvesant Handicap and two editions of the Tampa Bay Breeders’ Cup Stakes, while placing in four additional graded stakes.

Delay of Game retired with 16 wins in 48 starts for earnings of $809,023.

The gelding remained a part of the Arnold barn after his racing days had come to an end, spending the next nine years as a stable pony and riding horse. However, the onset of EPM led Arnold and his wife, Sarah, to seek a permanent retirement solution. He was pensioned to Old Friends in 2010.

"Delay of Game was not only terrific racehorse, he was just a total 'people' horse,” said Michael Blowen, founder and president of Old Friends. "He was a favorite with many of our tour guides and visitors, and he loved the attention. We were proud to care for him these last years, and we can't thank the Arnolds enough for all they did for him."