Custom Derby Hats to Benefit Retired Racehorses

by Deb West (RSS feed)
Mar 2nd 2010 at 8:01AM

For some the first Saturday in May is all about the horses, and for others, the Kentucky Derby is all about the hats. There are very few occasions left in today's society where woman can wear incredible millinery creations that really bring back another era. For those who love both the hats and the horses, or are just in a philanthropic mood, it is not too late to support retired racehorses and be a recipient of a fantastic custom made hat to wear to the big day.

Maggie Mae Designs™ has teamed up with Old Friends to create a series of one-of-a-kind Derby hats inspired by specific retired racehorses. Old Friends is an equine farm that specializes in the rescue and retirement of pensioned Thoroughbreds. Many in the horse world were devastated by the death of Kentucky Derby winner Ferdinand in a Japanese slaughterhouse in 2002. In an effort to ensure that this never happens again the organization focuses on bringing at-risk racehorses, whose active careers are over to experience the dignified retirement they deserve. The only retirement farm to accept stallions, Old Friends is committed to providing a great retirement for these amazing athletes. The farm is open to the public and hosts tours daily.

Gallery: Derby Hats

Milliner Sally Faith Steinmann created a new hat (pictured above) specifically to honor retiree "Academy Award", one of the last surviving sons of the great Secretariat who was recently donated to Old Friends by actress Angie Dickinson. If the thought of helping your fellow equine and receiving a spectacular hat in the process appeals to you visit the Old Friends ebay store to bid on her latest creation. The auction runs from March 1st through March 11th and all proceeds go to benefit Old Friends.

For those who just love beautiful hats feel free to peruse The Maggie Mae Designs™ website or view the gallery to see some of the other hats that were created for the Hats Off to the Horses: The Road to the Derby auction series which began last November. Remember the hats are inspired by real race horses so those are not typos in the hats' names!

Tags: hats, horse, horseracing, kentucky derby, KentuckyDerby, Maggie Mae Designs, MaggieMaeDesigns, millinery, Old Friends, OldFriends, thoroughbreds

Filed under: Auctions, Charity, Sports

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

dryryr Apr 28th 2010 6:18AM

The events and The derby itself is more than just the horse racing. You can always see the elegant hats worn by socialites and spectators themselves - It is actually the only time that big lady-like hats are worn. It's quite nice that the designs of these hats are the actual horses on the race. On Wednesday the list of the Kentucky Derby contenders will be posted. This has been a long running sport in the USA. The excitement on the race of the elite and unexpected horses on one field will be on May 1 on the on the Churchill.