Thoroughbred New Year’s Eve Turns 39

The former racehorse New Year’s Eve is now 39 years old.

According to Thoroughbred Daily News (TDN), the horse, whose barn name is Axl (thanks to owner Julie Izzo’s love of rock band Guns N’ Roses) is the second-oldest Thoroughbred following the death of Dead Solid Perfect. That senior citizen passed in 2022 at 39 years and 188 days and holds the current record for America’s oldest Thoroughbred.

“He’s a jackass, but he’s my jackass,” Izzo told TDN a few days after St. Patrick’s Day, which is his actual birthday. The owner never understood the official registered name of her horse.

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“I have no idea why! It’s the dumbest name on the planet. There’s so many great things associated with St. Patrick’s Day, but maybe they wanted another holiday that started with an ‘N’ since his sire’s name started with ‘N’ [Night Conqueror]? It’s the only thing I can think of.”

Axl was born on March 17, 1986 and raced 18 times, winning two races and earning the less-than-impressive sum of $3,140. But none of that mattered to Izzo, who was looking for a pleasure horse and bought the gelding in 1993 when he was seven. The two have been together ever since. She tells TDN that Axl never competed in a show ring and was kept strictly as a pleasure mount.

Advances in veterinary medicine and equine nutrition have made aging well and quality of life for horses more common– although 39 is impressive. Other senior OTTBs with similar longevity include Prospect Point, who passed in 2016 at 38 years and 204 days, and Merrick, who died in 1941 and was at the time America’s oldest-known Thoroughbred at 38, newsworthy then, too: “It is heartening in this day when commercialism and the stress of living would seem to have bludgeoned so many of the finer feelings and instincts into insensibility to know that there are so many persons who really love a horse, cherish the memory of his deeds and appreciate the sentiment that leads to his care and well-being long after his day is done,” wrote The Thoroughbred Record.

Izzo doesn’t really care if Axl beats Dead Solid Perfect’s record. “I really hope people aren’t just amazed by [Axl’s age], but it makes them wonder, ‘What was she doing and what were the philosophies that helped get these animals to this phase?’” she explains. “I want people to learn more about natural horsemanship, learn more about how wild horses live and try and replicate that as much as possible within a domesticated situation. [Axl lives a healthy outdoor life on her Gettysburg, PA property she shares with her husband Carmine]. You’re never going to go wrong trying to keep a horse in a more natural state. Learn from your horse. They’re there to teach you, not the other way around. Listen to them.”

For the record, Izzo has been down this road before. A Quarter Horse mare she owned lived to be 40!