Numerous racing publications highlighted Silver Charm turning 30 on February 22, a milestone age for any horse. He is also currently the oldest living Derby winner.

I recall watching his race career on TV in the late ’90s, through his Derby and Preakness wins, and near-victory in the Belmont, and annexing another top race in the 1998 Dubai World Cup. As a racehorse, he captivated the imagination. In retirement, I got to meet him in 2002 at Three Chimneys in his pasture. He was young and feisty, and I had to keep a respectful distance.

When he returned to the United States in 2014 after standing at stud in Japan, I and many others were grateful for the chance to get to visit him again. This current chapter of his life as a resident there may well be my favorite part of his story, for it is when I got to know him best. He is a wonderful ambassador, and has mellowed from the feisty horse he was at Three Chimneys when I first saw him. If it didn’t sound like anthropomorphizing, I would even call him gentlemanly and in my mind I do.

Reflecting on his thirty years, and all the people that have known him through the various chapters of his life, I thought about how some of what each of those people know of Silver Charm is unique to each individual, whoever we may be and in the way we got to know the champion. What is also amazing about his longevity is how many people have been part of his story along the way, and how that gave them their own memories of meaningful, one-on-one moments here and there.

It was wonderful to be among the people who saw him in his welcome party at Old Friends, and every moment seeing him there has been a joy. Yet my favorite moment was one day when the University of Kentucky’s Horse Racing Club had a service day and went to Old Friends to groom horses. Silver Charm was one we got to groom and it felt like a privilege to get to be that close to the champion and have a more personal moment than I ever thought I would have, and never could have foreseen watching him race on TV all those years ago, when I didn’t live in Kentucky and didn’t have a plan that I would.

I am grateful he has had all these years at Old Friends, and that I also got to be there for his twenty-fifth birthday celebration.

I no longer live in Kentucky, where Old Friends will host a party for him and fellow resident Touch Gold, as both reached their thirtieth birthdays this year. But I did send a card I made, with several photos of time spent with him over the years.

It has been a gift to get to know Silver Charm better, and I am grateful for everyone who helped bring him back to the United States. A toast to thirty years!