Good Morning Dear Friends,
What a special time this is for our industry! This week the ‘bones’ of NOOR, a very famous racehorse, were moved to OLD FRIENDS in Kentucky for truly their final resting place.
NOOR resided at Loma Rica Ranch in Grass Valley, California…after retiring from his very successful racing career. He was a strong and magnificent thoroughbred who was famous for his racing achievements which included beating Citation. For years, he stood as the ‘Senior Senator’ in the stallion barn at Loma Rica. Upon his death, he was buried there.
Henry Freitas was the manager at Loma Rica during this time. MY JOHN later spent a great deal of time at this Ranch during the early part of his career….and adored Mr. Freitas. MY JOHN, to this day, considers HENRY to be his greatest MENTOR in the thoroughbred industry. He was an excellent and very practical horseman…and shared his knowledge, skills, and love for the horse with all who were blessed to be under his guidance and work with him closely.
NOOR was one of those horses.
As happens in today’s economic environment, this property has recently been sold. It is going to be redeveloped for commercial purposes. Enter…CHARLOTTE FARMER. She has worked endlessly during the last several months to have ‘NOOR’S REMAINS’ properly moved to a new resting place…one where his memory will live in dignity. She contacted our friend, Michael Blowen from OLD FRIENDS in Kentucky, and a plan was created.
Ms Farmer did all of her homework to be sure everything was done perfectly to protect NOOR. She contacted people who worked at the Ranch during the time NOOR was there and even called MY JOHN to see if he could help her with details. John was not there at that time…but knew Henry and how he might do certain things. The information proved to be helpful. They were able to find the exact place, size, and depth of Noor’s grave…and were able to move HIM proudly to OLD FRIENDS.
What is truly special about all of this…is that PEOPLE REALLY DO ÇARE. Without being asked, so often people step up and work with great passion to encourage and assist ‘the right thing to happen’.
For NOOR….the RIGHT THING HAPPENED!
With Love,
Hugs to All~(With great appreciation and love to Ms Farmer and all who helped her with this endeavor!)
Z
Karen Gogue
Too funny Terry Crow!
judy berube
Dear Leslie:
Thanks for the link on Noor. Hugs, J.B.
Karen Line
Very very moving. All involved proved to show compassion, character and class, like Noor himself. How honorable the endeavor.
Karen Gogue
AWWW, Zenny, you are too precious and what a giving, caring heart you have! You have given us so, so much in the last 3 years and to continue on your site is more than our hearts can hold….with admiration, respect and love for all that you and your teams are….thank you is simply not enough.
Laura
He did beat Citation. Little late, but Congrates :D
Shannon From Cool
What a wonderful story and ending for Noor. I remember him and knew Henry Freitas as well. I live not far from Grass Valley and remember when Loma Rica Ranch was in its hey-day. A touching ending. Thanks to all who made this happen.
Roberta Smith
Hello Pretty Girl!
Thanks you Ms. Farmer and God Bless Noor who is at his final resting place now! Thank you for taking care of him. I love you Zenyatta!
Margaret
@Kip thank you thank you thank you for that LOVELY clip on Noor. And I really liked the part about Charlotte Farmer and how she’s a retired executive secretary because VELMA JOHNSON was also an executive secretary and she worked and worked for the wild horses. Many here might recognize her as Wild Horse Annie.
Charlotte I may not have understood all you did before but I can say I’m trying to make up ground!
Alex Bowdoin
I just read on Bloodhorse.com that one of favorite horss, Beautiful Pleasure has been euthenized due to Laminitis. She was such a Great Mare!! May she run wild in the Great Pasture in the Sky. I truly loved this horse…
Kathy Baldwin
KIP HANNAN, THANKS FOR THE WONDERFUL LINK
ON NOOR! BY THE WAY, I LOVE HOLLYWOOD PARK!
IT IS ACTUALLY ONE OF MY FAVORITE TRACKS!
MY STEPFATHER, WHO PASSED AWAY LAST FALL AT
100 YEARS OF AGE, WAS AT HOLLYWOOD PARK (HE
WORKED THERE) ON IT’S FIRST OPENING DAY AND
SAID IT WAS MORE POPULAR THEN SANTA ANITA
FOR A BIT. HIS NAME WAS LAWRENCE “SWEDE”
JENNER AND HE WORKED AT ALL THE MAJOR
CALIFORNIA TRACKS AND WAS AT ALL OF THEIR
FIRST OPENING DAYS. :)
SENDING BLESSINGS TO HOLLYWOOD PARK, AS I
KNOW THEIR ARE SOME GREAT HORSES BURIED
THERE, AS WELL!
KATHY from SoCal :)
Irene Caty
Hi Zenny, I’m so happy that the Noor Story turned out so well and that a Great Horse is in a proper resting place. Thank you Zen for all the information on this story and It is good to know that Noor’s story ended up with a happy ending. I hope all is going good for you and Wink Wink baby. We love your daily posts and thank you Dottie!
DJ
To TC: Oh no! (smile) That is so funny! Great joke for the day.. again! Thank you.
sherry drish
HOPE MARTY HAD A GREAT BIRTHDAY ON WED. THANK YOU ABIGAIL FROM MONTREAL FOR THE POST. THIS IS THE WAY I LIKE TO REMEMBER HORSES, RUNNING AND BEING PLAYFUL. NOOR LOOKED TO BE DANCING. THANK YOU MS. FARMER FOR YOUR VERY KIND ACT ON BEHALF A WONDERFUL HORSE,NOOR. DENISE, HOPE ALL IS WELL FOR YOU AND YOUR HUSBAND, I KEEP PRAYING FOR BOTH OF YOU. HI TO ZENNIE AND THE FANS EVERYWHERE. LOVE SHERRY D. WV.
Lisa B
Thank You Precious Zenny for this update on Noor. Thank Heaven for angels like Ms Charlotte Farmer!! Life is Good… Love YOU OOOXXX
Dawn Conrad
@Abigail – Thank you for the wonderful Noor photos.
@Kimberly Potter – So glad to hear that mom and baby are doing well.
@Shari – Madame Mistletoe, how cute is that. What great fun for you and your students!! Isn’t it amazing how being a part of Zenyatta’s world just keeps opening up addition wonderful opportunities for us all!!! Love you!
@Margie – Here, Here!
@Trina – Your poems are such a gift.
@Brenda S – Hello lady. Hope everything is going great for you.
@Susan in TN – I sure have been enjoying all of your posts. Too fun!! Thinking of you often, please give your sweethearts hugs and kisses from me.
@Margaret – Thank you for sharing some good news concerning the wild ones. I will never understand how some humans can be so cruel to one of God’s most beautiful creations.
@Kari, Sharon in Seattle and Lou Ann Cingel – My thoughts and prayers continue to be with all. May you be blessed with many smiles and special moments each day!
@Kim S – Sounds like you are very busy at the horse rescue, but what an amazing experience it must be. All for the welfare of those beautiful horses.
@Linda in NJ – Another Dumpling enjoys Saratoga, how great is that!!!!
@Peggy and JAG – GO HAVRE DE GRACE GO. She is amazing and it is so special to see Larry Jones with such a beautiful and talented mare back in his life.
@Terry Crow – Had to let you know that I have been sharing your jokes with my fantastic staff. They certainly bring laughter to our days and isn’t that a wonderful thing.
@Alex Bowdoin – So sorry to hear about Beautiful Pleasure, laminitis is such a terrible problem, I keep hoping for a cure soon.
@Kip Hannan – Thank you so much for the Noor link! Amazing!!
@Peppermint – Love the name! The name of the B&B is 1823 Rose Hill Inn in Versailles. I have stayed there three times and always enjoy it very much!
Shari Voltz
Dear Zenyatta what a beautiful post. Thank you Charlotte for all your hard work. Noor now will have his proper resting place and a beautiful one at Old Friends. I hope I can see it next summer. In this Zenyatta world we have such wonderful. caring people. I love you Zenyatta. Hugs and Kisses, Shari XXXOOO
@Abigail I wanted to tell you that I read the book today to my gifted class and my Homeroom. Both classes enjoyed it and asked many quetions. I told them I will show the movie(which many had not seen) for Thanksgiving or a Christmas treat. My Homeroom and I will be sending you a proper thank you note. I am also including pictures of the children :)
Nancy
Wonderful to know how people care and that Noor can rest in peace with a beautiful site that he well deserves.
Shari Voltz
@ Dawn love you back. Now we will have to visit Illinois. GO MISTLETOE GO!!!
@ DJ Thank you so much :)
@ Kimberly thank you too :) I love my Z family :)
Brenda S..
To Dottie and Zenny – Thank you for the wonderful words and pictures today, and for the recognition of Charlotte and her team of dedicated supporters. Yes, many of us made donations to Old Friends for Noor’s cause but without Charlotte’s guidance and YOUR support I wonder if the end result would have been so magnificent. I, like Dawn, saw the site when I visited OF and was so pleased to see the prominent place selected to honor our champions.
@ Abigail – Did you know about the disgraceful circumstances surrounding Northern Dancer and Windfields Farm? I’m ashamed to say that I had no clue, probably because I do not take a newspaper and used to rely on TV news to keep me up to date. Since becoming a Dumpling and using my computer on a daily basis I am becoming more informed. My instinctive reaction is to say that we need a “Horse Park”, probably located in Ontario, but I think we need to clean up our act in some other respects before we lobby for funding
to memorialize E.P Taylor and his horses. Recent articles seem to indicate that the grave sites have been tidied up and I am thinking that maybe I should plan a trip to Oshawa for Vic and I to pay our respects and demonstrate that people have not forgotten our Dancer.
Linda/Maryland
Thanks for letting us know Zenny~!
Love you ~!!!!
Abigail from Montreal
@ Judy Berube and all of those interested in the state of Northern Dancer’s grave and of other champions buried there. After the stinging criticism of a Northern Dancer fan, Durham University has “cleaned up its act.” I am a friend of the Taylor family and would add that the family intends to have the site set up as a proper memorial to Windfields Farm and our little Dancer, but can do nothing until the property is transferred by Durham to the Ontario Institute for Technology. Here’s the most recent on this story:
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1047009
@ Shari: WOW! This is SO exciting! A letter with photos — I don’t know what to say!!!
I also wanted to let you know that I wrote my own personal story about Secretariat’s Belmont & posted it, with a video that I made myself explaining why I so love him, on THE VAULT. I think that your little ones might enjoy it…but am not certain. You need to have a look (if you haven’t seen it already) to see what you think. Here’s the link:
http://thevaulthorseracing.wordpress.com/2011/05/23/224-secretariat-at-the-belmont/
judy berube
Dear Alex Bowdoin:
For you. RIP Beautiful Pleasure. Hugs, J.B.
http://www.billtheobaldphotography.com/Sports/Horse-Racing/Champions-Gallery/2255529_ZcE2V#77441415_6NbuX-A-LB
Abigail from Montreal
@ Alex: I just read about Beautiful Pleasure too and feel so sad about losing her to this dreadful, dreadful disease. I send you a hug….
Ricka Smith
I am so touched by the dedication and devotion demonstrated in the effort to give a wonderful Thoroughbred the honor he so richly deserved … I hope that in future times all of these greats who are being displaced by the “march of progress” will be able to be honored in this way; they are so honest in their devotion and so few people seem to understand or appreciate that.
Mary
Noor, Rest In Peace. You will be remembered well, at Old Friends. You are truly among the best of friends.
I hope to visit your final resting place on my next trip to KY.
Prayers for all
JAG from California :-)
ATTENTION ALL “JUDYS” OUT THERE (wink wink including ME);-)
Undefeated Judy the Beauty Tops Spinaway Cast:
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/64824/undefeated-judy-the-beauty-tops-spinaway-cast
janet tedford
he was a great racehorse in his time welcome home noor RIP BIG GUY HOPE YOU MAKE OVER THAT BEAUIEFUL RAINBOW BRIGDE
Jeanie Martin
Thank you Zenyatta and Dottie for the story and pictures of Noor’s final resting place. I made a donation to Old Friends on behalf of Noor to help with the expenses of getting him moved to a place where he belongs. I truly thank all who worked tirelessly to get this accomplished. Many thanks and much love to you Zenyatta and Dottie for giving us all a place to go to and get away from the hectic real world. First place I go to when I get home from work is Zenyatta.com!!!! Love the stories, love the pics and love to read what the Zen fans have to say.
judy berube
Dear Z Fans:
A slideshow from Bloodhorse. Hugs, J.B.
http://gallery.bloodhorse.com/SlideShow/default.aspx?gallery=082911&photo=1
Jeanie
Dear Great One,
How special that you pay tribute to a Great One of the past — Noor. He was one of Seabiscuit’s stable mates and carried the Charles Howard colors after Seabiscuit retired. How fitting that he was moved from an obscure grave to one befitting his status as a champion and racing legend at a time when his blood flows through champions of today such as Royal Delta and Uncle Mo who will be the legends of tomorrow, just as you are a legend now and forever. I so admire the passion and inspiration that kept Charlotte Farmer to her task until it was completed, not letting anything stand in her way of bringing the legend Noor to his rightful place — one where legends inhabit the earth above and beneath. Thank you.
Your humble J