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Ten years ago, I was standing by Lone Star's paddock the day before the Breeders' Cup when my phone buzzed. A friend was calling to let me know that Silver Charm had been sold to Japan to stand at JBBA's stallion stations. During this year's Breeders' Cup, it was announced the 1997 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes champion would be coming home. On Monday, he stepped off of a van at Old Friends in Kentucky, and on Tuesday, I set eyes on my favorite racehorse of all time for the first time in a decade.  Needless to say, I am far from the only one who has missed him. Sandy Hatfield, the stallion manager at Three Chimneys, cared for Silver Charm when he stood at the farm during the beginning of his stud career. It couldn't be more appropriate that she was the one who led him off the van when he arrived and then showed him to an appreciative crowd during the open house the next day.
Looking at him now, it is amazing how much Silver Charm's story has gently weaved in and out of my own. I started following racing because of Cigar's final race in the 1996 Breeders' Cup Classic, and I fell completely, irreversibly in love with the sport during Silver Charm's bid for the 1997 Triple Crown. I was so proud when "my" gray horse won the Kentucky Derby; I cheered myself hoarse when he won an epic edition of the Preakness Stakes against Free House; and I cried when he lost the Belmont Stakes to Touch Gold. To this day, I can't quite shake the adolescent in me. If I like two horses in a race and one has Touch Gold in his or her pedigree, I automatically opt for the other horse. In 1998, the internet wasn't quite the thing it is today. When Silver Charm contested the Dubai World Cup half a world away, I had to set my alarm for 4:30 a.m. to catch a replay of the race on ESPN's Racehorse Digest TV program. To my incredible delight, he won, and in Silver Charm-style, he did it in dramatic fashion. I bit my tongue until it bled to keep from waking up my family with enthusiastic cheers. When I decided I was interested in possibly attending the University of Kentucky, my parents brought me to Lexington to check out the college. While on that trip, we also toured Three Chimneys, and I got to "meet" Silver Charm. Everyone at Three Chimneys realized how much I loved him, and they invited my family to come back the next day to watch him get his morning exercise. As we drove away, my parents joked that I was allowed to move to Kentucky if everyone there was that nice. I did move to Lexington, and I visited Silver Charm here and there throughout the years after that, until he started his new life in Japan. It was announced at the time that when he was pensioned, he would return home, but until I saw him with my own eyes, I am not quite sure I believed the day would ever come.  After flying to Alaska then doing a stint in quarantine in Chicago, Silver Charm is now back in Kentucky. The Lewis family, which campaigned the champion during his racing days, paid for his trip and has given him an annual endowment to make sure he will never cost Old Friends a dime.
Something that must be pointed out in all of this is that Silver Charm looks amazing, especially for a 20-year-old stallion. This is not a rescue story; it is simply a sweet homecoming. It is clear that Silver Charm has received nothing but the best of care while in Japan. He also hasn't lost an ounce of his personality, which leads one to believe he was given plenty of affection along with his hay, oats and water. After the tragic circumstances surrounding Ferdinand's death, there is a knee-jerk reaction amongst some that any horse sent away from American soil is doomed. That simply isn't true. As an added bonus, technology has made communication much easier than it was back then, updates on how our horses are doing are much more plentiful, and now it is no secret that we want them back should they need a home when they are pensioned. The thing is, Silver Charm is a charismatic horse. There is a reason Sandy took time out of her busy schedule to be there to greet him when he returned and why so many people gathered on a gloomy Tuesday in December to see him. There is not a doubt in my mind that during his decade stint in Japan, people there fell in love with him, too. I've read that his nickname was Shiro, which means white, and JBBA has already been in touch with Old Friends to see how Silver Charm handled his journey. They had to say goodbye to a friend, too, and for them, there isn't a chance he is coming back. Silver Charm will spend the rest of his days -- and let's hope they are many -- in Kentucky. Every part of me is thrilled he is home, but I am equally happy that he didn't have to come back to have a happy ending. He has lived every single day as a loved, pampered horse. Just because we loved Silver Charm first doesn't mean we loved him better. To everyone who treated him like a king while he was so far from home, thank you.
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