History of Old Friends by Rick Capone

Author:Rick Capone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The History Press
Published: 2014-04-14T16:00:00+00:00

BLACK TIE AFFAIR (Ire) was born in Ireland on April 1, 1986, the son of Miswaki-Hat Tab Girl, by Al Hattab, but he spent his racing career in the United States.

A big, beautiful gray stallion, who turned white as he grew older, he was trained by Ernie Poulos and raced between 1988 and 1991. In total, he raced forty-five times and had eighteen wins and $3,370,694 in earnings.109

His best season came in 1991, as a 5-year-old, when he won six graded stakes races in a row, including the Philip H. Iselin Handicap (G1) at Monmouth, the Washington Park Handicap (G2) at Aqueduct, the Commonwealth Breeders Cup Stakes (G3) at Keeneland, the Cornhusker Handicap (G3) at Ak-Sar-Ben, the Stephen Foster Handicap (G3) at Churchill Downs and the Michigan Mile & One Eighth Handicap (G2) at Detroit Race Course.

Black Tie Affair capped that season with a gate-to-wire win in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) at Churchill Down that earned him Eclipse Awards as Champion Older Horse and, most important of all, 1991 Horse of the Year.

Upon retirement from racing, Black Tie Affair stood at Ben Walden Jr.’s Vinery near Midway, Kentucky, in 1992, and then in 1997, he was sent to Japan for several years for breeding. During his stud career, Black Tie Affair sired such greats as Evening Attire (Jockey Club Gold Cup), Formal Gold (Woodward S), Washington Color ($3 million in Japan), License Fee (millionaire) and some thirty other stakes winners.110

After returning to the United States from Japan in 2004, the stallion stood at Randy Funkhouser’s O’Sullivan Farms near Charles Town, West Virginia, for a partnership managed by Donna Hayes. In 2009, thanks to owner Delores “Dee” Hopkins-Poulos, who took over training duties after her husband, trainer Ernie Poulos, passed away, Black Tie Affair was sent to Old Friends due to arthritis.

Said Poulos:

I first heard about Old Friends through reading BloodHorse magazine and other industry publications. However, I really became aware of the scope of the facility when Donna Hayes of White Post, West Virginia, the woman who was in charge of the Black Tie Affair breeding syndicate, contacted me to say that Black Tie was suffering some terrible health issues and would probably need to be retired.

I checked with some farms in the Chicago area; however, they were really not equipped to take on a retired Black Tie, even though he was a local hero. She then called, and we discussed the possibility of sending him to Old Friends, and it all seemed like a very positive move for him.

Upon Black Tie’s arrival at Old Friends, I spoke to Michael for the first time and found him to be so kind and engaging. His excitement over having Black Tie at his facility was so heart-warming. I had such a sense of it being absolutely the “right thing” when I got off the phone. Also, in addition, I was really pleased that Black Tie would be closer to our location, and we could visit him.111

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