10/22/2026
𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 20 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔, 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑹𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝑪𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑶𝒍𝒅 𝑭𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔. 𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕, 𝒘𝒆’𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑹𝒊𝒄𝒌’𝒔 𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒉𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒓𝒎 𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅.
SnapShot: The Wicked North
- Chestnut horse
- Foaled: May 25, 1989 - Kentucky
- Bred by: Edward Zurek
- Pedigree: Far North x Wicked Witchcraft
- Race Record: 17 Starts 1991-1994; 8 wins and $1,180,750 earned.
- At Stud: Mira Loma Thoroughbred Farm, CA 1995-2000; Silvernails Farm, NY 2001; The Stallion
Park, NY 2002-2004; True North Farm, KY 2005-2007.
- Claim to Fame: 1994 Eclipse Champion Older Horse
- Retired to Old Friends: 2008
- In Memoriam: 2011
𝙄𝙣 𝙍𝙞𝙘𝙠’𝙨 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨 (𝙃𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙊𝙡𝙙 𝙁𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨):
The Wicked North came to Old Friends in October 2008 and became a favorite of longtime Old Friends volunteer Tim Ford. Tim enjoyed spending time with the big beautiful chestnut stallion, and even spent hours learning how to groom him. The two could be seen in a stall on many Sundays with Tim, brushing and grooming and making The Wicked North look as beautiful as ever. What was funny, even to Tim after a while, is that after he did all that work, he would let Wicked out in his paddock. Wicked would then find the dirtiest spot in the paddock get down and roll to his heart‘s content. He’d then get up, shake off all the dirt he just got on him, and go out and graze the rest of the day away.
In a controversial finish to this day, The Wicked North, with jockey Kent Desormeaux riding, crossed the finish line 1st in the Santa Anita Handicap (G1), yet received a disqualification for drifting into the path of another horse.
“I was disqualified from one of the easiest ones I’ve ever ridden”, said Desormeaux, a longtime supporter of Old Friends, who visits the farm from time to time. “That horse had awesome confirmation. His character was to love his racing”.
𝙈𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙚𝙡 𝙍𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙨 (2017)
Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux loved The Wicked North. At least once during every Keeneland meet, Kent would drive to the farm, get The Wicked North out of his stall give him a bath and, sometimes, ride him ba****ck around the yard. He loved this horse. And a lot of other people did, too. Especially, one of our great volunteers, Tim Ford. The Wicked North is probably best known for his unfortunate disqualification in the 1994 Santa Anita Handicap. Kurt Hoover has called it the worst disqualification in history, and trainer David Bernstein concurs. There’s no doubt that this multiple stakes winning son of Far North was a tremendous athlete but he didn't really hit his stride until he retired to Old Friends. His big brown eyes exuded kindness and grace. Even though a stallion, he'd allow tiny children to feed him carrots. He loved our volunteers, Tim and Val, in particular. He certainly did more for us than we ever did for him.
