The call from the security gate came late in the evening. Cleared for entry, a trailer carrying an early wedding gift from an adoring grandfather rolled up the curving driveway in the darkness.
It was a pair of horses from racing legend A.J. Foyt’s ranch in Texas for grandson A.J. Foyt IV and his fiancee, Casey Irsay.
Foyt, who will turn 25 Monday, the day after he competes in his sixth Indianapolis 500, and Irsay, the 26-year-old daughter of Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, are to be married July 18.
“We were down at the (Kentucky) Derby, and we mentioned that we were looking for a couple of horses,” said Irsay, a vice president for the Colts. “He (A.J., the grandfather) said he had some pleasure horses with good dispositions that would be great for us.”
“Their names were Popcorn and Casey,” said the younger Foyt, who grew up with horses. “But we had to change them because we already had one Casey living here.”
The new home for the horses—renamed Charley and Louise—is in Hamilton County on 71/2 acres, hidden by woods and rows of planted trees.
The two-story, Nantucket-style hideaway has 5,200 square feet of living space, a three-car garage and a swimming pool. The three-stall barn and open fields were already there when the couple moved into the 1970s-era home about a year ago.
Auto racing and professional football come together in this home. Sports memorabilia belonging to both Foyt and Irsay and some of Foyt’s racing awards are spread throughout the home. Indianapolis Star
“I guess you could say that,” Foyt said of how their names have become popular in social circles. “Her dad runs an awesome football team and my grandfather has done what he’s done and made a great name for himself. The funny thing about it is they’re in the same city. My grandfather pretty much made his name here in Indianapolis, and Jim owns the Colts.”
Quite the young power couple, Foyt deferred to his wife-to-be when asked which of the two is better known.
“I think Casey is definitely more famous,” he said. Indianapolis Star
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