On a chilly afternoon in early March, Naughty New Yorker came home.

After a van ride from Port Colborne, Ontario, where he had been standing at stud, to Old Friends at Cabin Creek in Greenfield Center, the 18-year-old millionaire was restless. He paced his stall. He looked longingly out the window at the horses nearby in their paddocks. He snorted. He rolled.

Three weeks later, he had a paddock to himself, equine buddies nearby, and a steady diet of affection and treats.

“He was fine once he got outside,” said JoAnn Pepper, owner and manager of the Thoroughbred retirement facility a 15-minute drive from downtown Saratoga. “He’s doing great.”

Naughty New Yorker was born in April 2002 at Stepwise Farm near Saratoga Lake, bred by Joan Taylor and Bill Wilmot, out of their mare Naughty Natisha. He was sired by Quiet American and sold for $145,000 as a two-year-old to Fox Ridge Farm, which owned him for his entire eight-year, 67-race career. Pat Kelly trained him to a record of 12-10-10, all of his wins but one coming in stakes races. He raced just once outside of New York State; 11 of his starts came at Saratoga, three of them wins. The world of horse racing doesn’t always make sense, but in this case it does: Naughty New Yorker belongs at Cabin Creek.

Continue reading at The Saratogian…