Shadow Cast taking it easy at Old Friends 21 years after G1 Personal Ensign triumph

Across the rolling acres of Kentucky bluegrass at Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement are hundreds of retired racehorses, from humble claiming contenders to international Champions. Among them are a handful of pensioned broodmares, including 2005 Grade 1 Personal Ensign-winner Shadow Cast, who has happily called Old Friends her home for the past three years.

“She has some kind of an inner strength that the other horses sense,” Old Friends founder Michael Blowen said of her place in the herd. “The retirement of broodmares is really important, and we’ve ended up with more mares than I ever thought we would, so that’s very good.”

While Shadow Cast’s days in recent years are quaint and peaceful, it was 21 years ago this week that she caused a commotion over the hallowed main track of Saratoga Race Course, upsetting subsequent Hall of Famer Ashado in the 10-furlong Personal Ensign to cap her 21-race career for trainer Neil Howard.

“She was a very, very nice filly that overachieved – on any surface,” Howard said of the Kentucky homebred for William Farish, Jr.

Shadow Cast began her racing career in November of 2003, winning on debut at Churchill Downs and hitting the board in each of her first six outings, including a three-quarter-length victory in the 2004 Grade 2 Silverbulletday at Fair Grounds Race Course. The daughter of Smart Strike eventually tried turf, and found success on that surface at the end of her sophomore campaign with a graded placing and a win in the Pago Hop at Fair Grounds.

“She was a Smart Strike, and her pedigree suggested either,” Howard said of her dual-surface ability. “She did well and there was never an occasion where she didn’t give 100 percent.”

Shadow Cast got her 4-year-old season going with a win on dirt in the Truly Bound Handicap and on the grass in the Grade 3 Bayou Breeders’ Cup Handicap, both in New Orleans. She then put forth stellar efforts over the main track with a narrowly-beaten third in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap won by Dream of Summer and a win in the Grade 2 Louisville Breeders’ Cup Handicap.

“That third in the Oaklawn race, she didn’t get beat much and she ran a heck of a race,” Howard said. “You had to keep that race in the back of your mind for another try at the high-end dirt races. That was one of the reasons to try the Ensign.”

That summer, Howard tried the filly on turf again, yielding a poor showing when last-of-7 in the Grade 1 Diana at the Spa. Despite that result, the Classic-winning conditioner was not deterred, and noticed that his filly had never looked better in the weeks that followed, working as good as ever with a robust coat and appetite. Those signs led Howard to make the unexpected – and ultimately correct – decision to point Shadow Cast to one more big dance on dirt in the Personal Ensign.

“You go with what you see, and she did well up there as most horses do in Saratoga,” Howard said. “She trained well, so we talked about the Personal Ensign. You’re always taking a shot, especially in a Grade 1 at Saratoga against a deserving heavy favorite like Ashado.”

Ashado, the 2004 Champion 3-Year-Old Filly, was the heavy 1-2 favorite in the six-horse field. Despite Ashado’s towering presence, a solid group assembled to take their chances against the future Hall of Famer, including Grade 1-winner Island Sand and graded stakes-winners Two Trail Sioux, Personal Legend and Shadow Cast.

It was Two Trail Sioux who kicked clear to a large lead early while Shadow Cast, with the late jockey Robby Albarado in the saddle as he was for 17 of her 21 starts, tracked in an unhurried fifth.

She picked it up with a wide move approaching the far turn, and swept past her rivals to take a 1 1/2-length lead at the stretch call while Ashado, who tracked in second early on, came up empty when asked for her best.

Shadow Cast ran on strongly through the stretch, and posted the statement victory in a final time of 2:02.07 with 2 3/4 lengths between her and Personal Legend, who, like Shadow Cast, outran her 14-1 odds. Ashado faded to a well-beaten fifth.

Howard, 21 years later, still appreciates the weight that the victory carried for Shadow Cast and the Farish family.

“She ran a heck of a race,” Howard reflected. “You’re always trying to get black type, especially with the fillies, and we would have been thrilled to finish second or third. We were elated at the way she ran. It was as important as it could be, and to me, any race is good to win, no matter what kind.”

Unbeknownst to her connections, the Personal Ensign was the exclamation point on Shadow Cast’s solid career that saw her hit the board in 16-of-21 efforts. The lifetime-best 107 Beyer Speed Figure she earned in victory would be her final, as she sustained a tendon injury in late September that forced her retirement from racing.

In 2008, Darley acquired Shadow Cast in foal to Bernardini for

$2.3 million at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. After more than a decade as a broodmare, Shadow Cast left her mark on the breed, delivering two black type producers in Casting Director – dam of four black type foals – and Cast Call. She produced her final foal in 2019.

Following her pensioning from broodmare duties, Shadow Cast was retired to OId Friends in 2023, where she lives in a small herd of fellow mares and serves in what is a essentially a third career as an ambassador for the responsible retirement of thoroughbreds through all stages of life.

“She is doing wonderfully, and she is a very happy and contented mare,” said John Nicholson, President of Old Friends. “We are very happy to have her, and I think she’s happy to be here. She’s with a couple of other mares on our auxiliary farm just down the road from the main farm and she’s really doing well.”

Nicholson stressed the importance of proper aftercare for every retired racehorse, including older broodmares whose mothering days have concluded.

“It’s very important, and while many broodmares stay on their farms to retire, there are many who do not,” Nicholson said. “Old Friends will continue to do whatever we can to provide a safe retirement for broodmares.”

Shadow Cast, whose fierce turn-of-foot on the racetrack propelled her to the pinnacle of the sport, is a gentle retiree at the ripe age of 25. The volunteers and caretakers most familiar with her are struck by the mare’s particularly soft nature.

“Sweet is the adjective that everyone describes her with,” Nicholson said. “She’s one of the very favorites of the staff, and she loves the adoration. Like many of the good ones, she has the sense that she is special.”

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Shadow Cast is one of about 300 thoroughbreds currently cared for by Old Friends, a 501(c)3 non-profit accredited by the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA). For more information about visiting her and the other retirees, and to make a donation, visit www.oldfriendsequine.org.