Old Friends, the Thoroughbred retirement farm in Georgetown, Ky., is extremely pleased to announce the arrival of 2008 Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Big Brown for his retirement.
The 19-year old bay stallion arrived at the farm Sept. 27. courtesy of Andy Cohen, managing partner of the Big Brown Syndicate.
Big Brown is the fifth Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner to be retired to Old Friends. The others (and their arrival year) are: Silver Charm (2014), War Emblem (2015), Charismatic (2016), and I’ll Have Another (2024).
“We are excited beyond measure to welcome Big Brown as an honored member of the Old Friends family,” said John Nicholson, President and CEO of Old Friends. “We are deeply grateful to Andy Cohen and all of Big Brown’s connections for choosing to share this great horse with racing fans everywhere. I know his legions of fans will love having the chance to visit him throughout the year. Big Brown will be an awesome ambassador, not only for Old Friends, but for the sport of Thoroughbred Racing.”
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“It doesn’t seem that long ago when we would visit Big Brown in the middle of the night and just hang out with him,” said Andy Cohen, Managing Partner of the Big Brown Syndicate. “He was like a puppy and especially loved it when the young children would come over to pet him.
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“As sweet as he was, when he got on the racetrack he knew it was time to go to work. I remember after his race at Gulfstream Park, Kent Desormeaux said he is the fastest horse I’ve ever ridden and the rest is history.
“After visiting Old Friends and getting to know John Nicholson and Michael Blowen I couldn’t be more comfortable knowing Big Brown will get the love and care he deserves at Old Friends where the horse is the boss.”
Old Friends will be hosting Big Brown’s Barn Bash on Friday, Oct. 18. There will be a lot of fun activities and a chance to meet the guest of honor, Big Brown. More information will be coming soon.
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This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
Kentucky is getting set to face the Valparaiso Beacons on Friday night inside Rupp Arena, but their next opponent has shifted their full attention on them. Louisville just wrapped up their blowout 104-70 win over Jackson State, and now, are already starting to take shots at the Wildcats. After the game, one of their players, Kasean Pryor, who made his debut for the Cardinals on Thursday, took a shot at Kentucky in the postgame press conference, but the fans also had something to say during the game.
As the clock winded down in Louisville’s blowout win in the Yum! Center, Cardinal fans began chanting “Beat UK! Beat UK! Beat UK!” as the time ran out and all eyes shifted towards their big game against Kentucky on Tuesday. The players are hungry, but their fanbase is starving for a win over the Wildcats, as Louisville has beaten Kentucky just three times since John Calipari’s first season at Kentucky in 2009-10.
When new coaches took over at both programs, Louisville fans were very confident once again last season, but Mark Pope was victorious in his first game as a coach in the rivalry. Heading into year two of the new eras, Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey has the Cards ranked #11 in the country with an explosive offense, ranked top 3 on KenPom. Mark Pope has his Wildcats #9 in the country as they work towards #9, and his squad is a top 3 defense in the country right now, also according to KenPom. As Kentucky gets Jaland Lowe back in the rotation and acclimated with getting the offensive flow back, Friday will be important to see a good showing on that side of the ball before facing Louisville.
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Anyway, it’s like clockwork with Louisville fans, as every year when this game gets closer and closer, they become very desperate for a win, and based on history, things have not gone well for the Cardinals in this rivalry. Pat Kelsey has a really good squad this season at Louisville, but Mark Pope’s is as good, if not better, and we’ll see how Kentucky’s offensive flow looks on Friday before facing Louisville, because that will be important in the fringe top-10 matchup on the road.
Louisville fans are eager to see their team take down the WIldcats, something that has been a rare feat for them to see over the years in the in-state rivalry. They’re wasting no time talking smack with how little they’ve had to gloat about in this rivalry, but Kelsey’s #11 ranked squad has them excited. Kentucky will be looking for yet another win in the rivalry column on Tuesday in the Yum! Center.
The moment of a catastrophic UPS cargo plane crash was captured on a nearby security camera in Louisville, Kentucky.
The death toll for the UPS cargo plane crash, as of the evening on Nov. 6, has reached 13 people, one of whom was a pilot who lived in Northern Kentucky.
Richard Wartenberg had been living in Independence since 2005, public records indicated. According to UPS, he was the captain of Flight 2976, which was bound for Honolulu but crashed shortly past the runway of Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport on Nov. 4. This made it the deadliest plane crash in the history of UPS Airlines.
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Wartenberg, 58, appeared to be a car enthusiast, A 2022 article from the Bent Pylon, a publication of the Porsche Club of America, noted that he was a member of the Ohio Valley Region chapter. At the time the article was published, Wartenberg had been a member of the club for 20 years, which had nearly 2,000 members.
The Courier-Journal reported that the death toll includes two other pilots. Lee Truitt served as first officer, or second-in-command of the flight. Dana Diamond was the flight’s international relief officer.
In addition to the 13 deaths, nine others remain missing and unaccounted for.
The ATC tower is seen while smoke rises from the crash site of UPS Flight 2796 near Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025, in Louisville, Ky.
Jon Cherry/AP
Plumes of smoke rise from the area of a UPS cargo plane crash at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, in Louisville, Ky.
Jon Cherry/AP
Mayor Craig Greenberg speaks at Louisville Regional Airport Authority about the crash of UPS Flight 2796 at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, in Louisville, Ky.
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Jon Cherry/AP
This photo provided by Brad Harvey shows thick, black smoke rising after reports of a plane crash near Louisville International Airport, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (Brad Harvey via AP)
Brad Harvey/AP
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The grim task of finding victims from the firestorm that followed the crash of a UPS cargo plane in Louisville, Kentucky, entered a third day Thursday as investigators gather information to determine why the aircraft caught fire and lost an engine on takeoff.
The inferno consumed the enormous plane and spread to nearby businesses, killing at least 12 people, including a child, and leaving little hope of finding survivors in the charred area of the crash at UPS Worldport, the company’s global aviation hub.
The plane with three people aboard had been cleared for takeoff Tuesday when a large fire developed in the left wing, said Todd Inman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation. But determining why it caught fire and the engine fell off could take investigators more than a year.
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The plane gained enough altitude to clear the fence at the end of the runway before crashing just outside Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, Inman said. The cockpit voice recorder and data recorder have since been recovered, and the engine was discovered on the airfield, he said.
The crash and explosion had a devastating ripple effect, striking and causing smaller blasts at Kentucky Petroleum Recycling and hitting an auto salvage yard. The child who was killed was with a parent at the salvage yard, according to Gov. Andy Beshear.
Some people who heard the boom, saw the smoke and smelled burning fuel were still stunned a day later.
Stooges Bar and Grill bartender Kyla Kenady said lights suddenly flickered as she took a beer to a customer on the patio.
“I saw a plane in the sky coming down over top of our volleyball courts in flames,” she said. “In that moment, I panicked. I turned around, ran through the bar screaming, telling everyone that a plane was crashing.”
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The governor predicted that that death toll would rise, saying authorities were looking for a “handful of other people” but “we do not expect to find anyone else alive.”
University of Louisville Hospital said two people were in critical condition in the burn unit. Eighteen people were treated and discharged at that hospital or other health care centers.
The airport is 7 miles (11 kilometers) from downtown Louisville, close to the Indiana state line, residential areas, a water park and museums. The airport resumed operations on Wednesday, with at least one runway open.
The status of the three UPS crew members aboard the McDonnell Douglas MD-11, made in 1991, was still unknown, according to Beshear. It was not clear if they were being counted among the dead.
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UPS said it was “terribly saddened.”
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The Louisville package handling facility is the company’s largest. The hub employs more than 20,000 people in the region, handles 300 flights daily and sorts more than 400,000 packages an hour.
Jeff Guzzetti, a former federal crash investigator, said a number of things could have caused the fire as the UPS plane was rolling down the runway.
“It could have been the engine partially coming off and ripping out fuel lines. Or it could have been a fuel leak igniting and then burning the engine off,” Guzzetti said.
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The crash bears a lot of similarities to one in 1979 when the left engine fell off an American Airlines jet as it was departing Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, killing 273 people, he said.
Guzzetti said that jet and the UPS plane were equipped with the same General Electric engines and both planes underwent heavy maintenance in the month before they crashed. The NTSB blamed the Chicago crash on improper maintenance. The 1979 crash involved a DC-10, but the MD-11 UPS plane is based on the DC-10.
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Flight records show the UPS plane was on the ground in San Antonio from Sept. 3 to Oct. 18, but it was unclear what maintenance was performed and if it had any impact on the crash.
Golden reported from Seattle. Associated Press reporters Ed White in Detroit; Rebecca Reynolds in Louisville, Kentucky; Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska; Jonathan Mattise and Travis Loller in Nashville, Tennessee; and Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed.
