Welcome to “Hats Off to the Horses”!
It’s 2026 and MAGGIE MAE DESIGNS® and Old Friends were back this Spring with their exclusive Derby hat fundraising collaboration, “Hats Off to the Horses”: The Road to the Derby”!
What is Old Friends?
Old Friends was founded by former Boston Globe film critic, Michael Blowen in 2003. Michael had a dream of providing a place of safe retirement for Thoroughbred racehorses after their racing/breeding careers are over.
And Michael’s dream came true! Today Old Friends is now a “living-history museum of horse racing” – a 236-acre farm with three satellite locations and a herd of over 255 retired former racehorses and breeding stallions. To read the whole story of how Old Friends came about, please visit the Who We Are page from the Old Friends website. There is also a wonderful 2023 article written by Tom Pedulla for America’s Best Racing, Old Friends Farm a Decades-Long Journey for Michael Blowen.”
At the close of 2023, the 20th anniversary of Old Friends, Founder Michael Blowen stepped down as president of the organization. John Nicholson, a long time friend of Michael’s is now the president and CEO of Old Friends.
MAGGIE MAE DESIGNS® Sponsors “Hats Off to the Horses” of Old Friends
In 2009 Sally asked Michael Blowen if he would be interested in a Derby hat auction to help raise funds for his retirees. Sally had seen a 2007 CBS interview with Michael. When he was asked why he wanted to help Thoroughbred racehorses and not some other worthy cause, Michael replied, “Everyone has a little spot in the world. One tiny little dot. This is my dot.” And as Sally told Michael, “MAGGIE MAE DESIGNS has a dot, too.” And she believed that by helping Michael with his dream, by joining forces they could connect all of their dots by bringing the worlds of hat couture and equine aftercare together. As she put it, “Instead of two isolated dots, we can work together to help the horses we all love.”
And for 13 consecutive years, the “Hats Off” auction series raised funds for the retired racehorses of Old Friends with an annual online Derby hat event. Over the course of 13 consecutive years, Sally created nearly 70 one-of-a-kind Derby hats honoring the Old Friends retirees. And together she and Old Friends raised more than $46,000 for the retirees of Dream Chase Farm and Cabin Creek!
Michael Blowen, President and founder of Old Friends once stated, “Sally Faith Steinmann’s works of millinery art have raised thousands of dollars and a priceless amount of awareness for all these great retired athletes. Their stunning beauty and indescribable originality symbolize what one great artist can do to positively alter the lives of so many deserving athletes.”
Welcome BACK to “Hats Off to the Horses”!
So starting January 1, 2026, “Hats Off to the Horses” was back with their four-month Derby hat auction series.
As before, the fundraiser ran for four months, from January through April of 2026. Each month Sally created and donated four custom Derby hats that she created to honor Old Friends retirees Cozmic One, A Shin Forward, I’ll Have Another and Big Brown. These one-of-a-kind chapeaux went for auction on the 1st of each month. 100% of the proceeds went to the horses of Old Friends.
A note from Sally: It’s a wrap for the 2026 “Hats Off to the Horses” of Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement! As the owner of MAGGIE MAE DESIGNS® Custom Millinery of Cape Cod, I am pleased to announce that the 14th season of “Hats Off” was a huge success for all of the horses who now call Old Friends and Old Friends at Cabin Creek home. All four of the one-of-a-kind Derby hats that I created to honor Cozmic One, A Shin Forward, I’ll Have Another and Big Brown were auctioned off with 100% of the proceeds going to Old Friends. To date and since 2009, Old Friends has received donations totaling over $50,000 from 14 seasons of our exclusive online Derby hat auction collaboration. I am so grateful to this year’s four amazing equine athletes who inspired me as an artist to create hats celebrating their individual life stories, the experience has been powerfully rewarding. And there are so many people to thank as well… Thank you to Andie Biancone and Keith Asmussen, Acacia Clement and Cassidy Gaffalione for modeling the hats so beautifully; our photographers, Carson Blevins, Samantha Decker, Connie Bush and Laura Battles as well as our videographers, Dora Petrulis and Samantha Decker; the Old Friends grooms and stable hands who got the horses looking their best for the photo shoots; Donna Petrulis who was the project coordinator from Old Friends; all those who placed bids and helped pass the word about the auction. Finally, thank you to Michael Blowen who, as always, had the perfect words to capture each individual horse and the hat that honored him in a way that only Michael can because he knows them all so well. Thank you everyone, it surely takes a village! On a personal note ~~~ it has been an honor coming back this year after a brief hiatus to sponsor “Hats Off” again. A dream come true for a horse-crazy Cape Cod girl who always hoped someday there would be horses in her life whom she could support. For more information about Old Friends and how to help them, please visit their website at www.oldfriendsequine.org.
If you would like to see a photo album of our past “Hats Off to the Horses” auctions, please visit the new “Hats Off” – A Retrospective page created to showcase all of the auctions from 2009 through 2022. This retrospective will soon be updated to include the 2026 “Hats Off” season, so please stay tuned. In the meantime you can read all about each of this year’s four auctions here – Cozmic One, A Shin Forward, I’ll Have Another and Big Brown.
To learn more about Old Friends at Dream Chase Farm and offer your support, please visit the Old Friends website or call them at 502-863-1775.
And be sure to watch this space for updates on our “Hats Off to the Horses” 2026 fundraiser for Old Friends!