This is the area where our local Valley Thoroughbred owners have visited for years, to evaluate horses that they may purchase. They also go to see the stallions standing at stud, to which they may wish to breed their mares. So let’s travel along like a thread in a string of beads and have a vicarious visit. One breathtakingly beautiful Thoroughbred encampment is the 630-acre Donamire Farm. It is an incredible collection of Versailles palaces for horses. The four spacious barns are created of stone: one for stallions, yearlings, brood mares and one for training. One sees a multitude of slate roofs topped with cupolas, domes and spires. Inside, pampered horses gaze out of arched windows.
Donamire’s Thoroughbreds can prepare for their racing careers on a 5/8-mile dirt track and/or a one-mile turf track, both of which circle shimmering infield lakes. After their training period, they will be competing at Kentucky race tracks including Churchill Downs.
Donamire’s roster of horses has included many multiple stakes winners, a track record-breaker, and “Going Straight” who ran in the Kentucky Derby. The gracious owners, Don and Mira Ball, hold the famous Lexington Derby Ball here, just before the Kentucky Derby. This exquisite Thoroughbred farm has been the site of two major films, “Simpatico” and “Dreamer.”
Other Valley visitors to the Thoroughbreds
Patricia Youngman of Pepper Oaks Thoroughbred Farm in Santa Ynez, reminisced about her adventures visiting Thoroughbred farms around Lexington. ” I used to go to all the top farms to see the sires and other horses related to the yearlings that I was considering buying at the sales. One of the most elegant farms is Lane’s End. Swiss Yodeler, owned by Heinz Steinmann, came from there and later stood at my farm.
“In order to visit Lane’s End it is necessary to obtain an appointment and when you arrive, you are quietly ushered to the stallion barn and seated in an elegant waiting room. Everyone speaks in hushed tones and you are served little cakes and iced tea (they are big on iced tea in Kentucky). The room is enclosed with tasseled draperies, has red-and-green plaid wool carpeting and elegant overstuffed furniture, with crystal chandeliers twinkling overhead. There is even an elegant scent in the air; it’s like the rest of the world has disappeared. I really think that I could live in the stallion barn!”
“Finally,” she continues, “the stallions are ready to be presented. Everything is very formal. One by one, they appear in an outside ring planted in the famous bluegrass. They really seem to strut out, because they know they’re regal.“
Lane’s End, is one of the foremost Thoroughbred farms in the U.S. and covers more than 3,000 acres. The owner, Mr. William S. Farish, was appointed Ambassador to Great Britain by President George Bush. Queen Elizabeth, a dedicated horse enthusiast, has been a guest there.
It is also where Russell Drake, manager of the Valley’s River Edge Farm, sends some of his mares. Stud fees range from $300,000 for A.P. Indy, on down to $5,000 for other studs, all guarantee a live foal. Their many conquests included Kentucky Derby winners and a bastion of stallions with impeccable genetics. Smart Strike, sire of Curlin, stands there as does our River Edge Farms’ After Market.
Tom and Debbie Stull, of Tommy Town, often visit the Kentucky Farms when selecting stallions such as their recent acquisition Kafwain, who formerly stood at Darley Stud in Kentucky. It is owned by HH Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoune, who stands stallions around the world. The 16.2 hands Kafwain, will no doubt turn out to be a wise investment, as he joins their other stallions Minister’s Wild Cat, Old Topper and Whatsthescript. The Stulls led all California Breeders by annual progeny earnings in 2009.