Grade I winner and millionaire Afternoon Deelites arrived May 22 at Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Center near Georgetown, Ky. The 19-year-old son of Private Terms out of the Medaille d’Or mare Intimate Girl is pensioned at the farm alongside one of his sons, 12-year-old Popcorn Deelites.
Afternoon Deelites was donated to the organization by Val Murrell’s Clear Creek Stud, located near Folsom, La., where he was retired from stallion duty earlier this year.
A homebred for Burt Bacharach, Afternoon Deelites won six graded stakes, including the Hollywood Futurity (gr. I) and the Malibu Stakes (gr. I). All three of his stakes-placings came in grade I stakes, including the Santa Anita Derby. He exited the racetrack with earnings of $1,061,193. As a stallion, he sired 23 stakes winners.
Popcorn Deelites, a non-stakes-winning sprinter, is best known for playing Seabiscuit in the Oscar-nominated film starring Jeff Bridges. Popcorn Deelites was retired to Old Friends by owner David Hoffman in 2005.
“Kent Desormeaux, who rode Afternoon Deelites in every one of his starts, once told me he was the fastest horse he ever rode,” said Old Friends founder and president Michael Blowen. “We can’t thank Val Murrel and everyone at Clear Creek enough for entrusting us with this champion.”
