Taylor has served in many roles at Taylor Made Farm, including General Farm Manager, Vice President of Boarding, and Vice President of Sales. He became a partner in the organization in 1982.

“I am so grateful that the KTFMC has honored my father with such a prestigious award,” Katie Taylor Whalen, Taylor's daughter and partner in Taylor Made Sales Agency, said. “I am so blessed to have grown up with such a strong and driven mentor. My Dad has taught me and countless others to dream big, work hard, and trust in God. I have seen him work tirelessly with my uncles to grow the Taylor Made brand and witnessed his dedication to his family, friends, clients, mentees, and the horses under his care. My Dad has a servant's heart and is willing to accept and help people from all walks of life. Whether you are a billionaire or have lost it all in the grips of addiction, his willingness to accept and help is unwavering. I would not be the person I am today without my father.”

The Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers Club will be hosting its annual Dinner Dance to honor Frank Taylor at the Carrick House in Lexington on Friday, Dec. 1. A silent auction will be held with all proceeds benefitting Stable Recovery, LLC. Tickets and sponsorships for the event will be available for purchase through KTFMC's website later this month.

The post Taylor Selected as KTFMC’s Farm Manager of the Year appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Born and raised in Colorado, Reed moved to Lexington to pursue a career in the Thoroughbred industry. While working in the yearling division at Three Chimneys Farm, she was sent to pick something up from the stallion barn. Peeking into the breeding shed to scope out who was in charge, she quickly noticed that a woman was in command. She was petite–at least, compared to the powerful studs she handled–with a blond braid and a sharp eye that took in every detail of the session.

From that moment, Reed had a goal. She too would be a stallion manager one day.

This year, that dream came to fruition as Reed has taken over as stallion manager at Three Chimneys. As stallion manager emeritus, Hatfield is still a fixture in the barn–at least for this year's breeding season–but Reed is now at the helm.

When Reed first approached Hatfield about working for her almost 20 years ago, Hatfield told her to gain a bit more hands-on experience and come back. Reed did just that, working with the yearlings at Three Chimneys while attending Midway University, before eventually joining the stallion team. When Reed graduated college in 2008, Hatfield asked her to escort Point Given to Brazil.

The job came with many challenges, but Reed enjoyed the adventure of going to a new country where the only thing familiar to her was the stallion on the other end of the shank. She spent several years shuttling stallions between hemispheres, including a five-year stint going back and forth between the U.S. and Darley Australia.

Of course, whenever she arrived at a farm, she was not exactly what her new co-workers were expecting.

“The first time I moved to a Southern Hemisphere location was Argentina,” Reed recalled. “It was not only a new culture, but it was a new language and new people. So when they saw a girl come off the airplane, they were as confused as I was. But the best part about it was after working sessions and showing that I was there every day, I earned their trust in the shed. I think you just have to give people time to realize that, yes she's a girl, but she can do it too. I think it was a lot of just being a good person and working hard, and in the end they don't care what gender you are.”

Reed's predecessor was a pioneer of the industry as she pursued a career in a very male-dominated stallion business in the 1980s.

Sandy and Will Take Charge at Three Chimneys | Sarah Andrew

“When I first came to town, there were a lot of breeding sheds that wouldn't let a woman in the breeding shed to watch,” Hatfield recalled. “I mean if you took your mare to the breeding shed, they made you stand outside. There were a lot of times that people came and walked right past me and went to the first guy they saw. Once people realized that I knew what I was doing and could take care of their mares in the breeding shed and make sure they got a good cover, I think they understood.”

Hatfield acquired a love of horses from her father while working on their ranch and racing Quarter Horses in Oklahoma. She moved to Kentucky when she received a scholarship from Murray State University's equine program. She spent a summer prepping yearlings at Spendthrift Farm and instantly fell in love with the industry. After graduating, Hatfield moved back to Lexington to pursue a career as a yearling manager. She was working at North Ridge Farm when the farm's general manager Dan Elliott asked her to go to the stallion barn and pull manes. It wasn't long before she was back in the stud barn for every breeding session and Elliott was asking her if she would be the farm's stallion manager.

“I had asked him, 'Are you sure? You're going to catch a lot of flak for this.' But he told me that they knew I could do it. So they gave me a great opportunity and I was stallion manager there for two years.”

Hatfield would go on to be the yearling and broodmare manager at Calumet Farm and the stallion manager at Gainsborough Farm. In 2000, she was offered the opportunity to move to Three Chimneys.

“It was just the most magnificent place I could have thought of,” Hatfield explained. “Dan Rosenberg was a great manager and horseman and Robert Clay and his family were all great. It was just the epitome of what I wanted to do and it was the best decision I ever made.”

From her early days with Seattle Slew, Dynaformer, Rahy and Wild Again, then later to Big Brown and Smarty Jones, and on to today's headliner Gun Runner, Hatfield has been at Three Chimneys for them all.

Hatfield hesitates to pick an all-time favorite stallion, but ultimately coins Silver Charm as a special one. She even adopted one of his offspring, Silver Indy, who resides at her own farm today.

“I've been here long enough that I've had a few gravestones go out there,” Hatfield reflected. “There are so many of them that you make friends with, especially as they get older and you spend more time with them. You get to know them and appreciate them.”

Hatfield has always made a point to participate in many of the tours at Three Chimneys. While most visitors have little idea of just how unique Hatfield and her prominent position might be, or the significance of her contributions to the breeding industry, Hatfield said her goal is to leave them with a positive impression of the business.

“People have a different perspective when they first come here and you try to explain to them about how much we really love our horses and how we take care of them. I think I've changed some attitudes about the horse industry.”

The horses are the easy part, according to Hatfield. Where stallions are black and white, she said that humans' personalities can be every shade of grey. But the horsewoman who was named 2011 Kentucky Farm Manager of the Year excels at overseeing every type of charge, both human and equine.

“I've never asked anyone to do anything that I haven't done or wouldn't do,” she said. “I think that's important. Treating people like people. I remember when I was a groom, the manager would pull up in his truck and honk the horn and expect us to drop what we were doing and come outside. That always made me a little irritable, that they couldn't take the time to come inside and talk to us. So I've always tried to remember that and remember how excited I was the first time I got to lead a yearling to the sale ring or the first time I got to bring a stallion into the breeding shed.”

Sandy's own small farm is home to a pony named Sugar and Silver Indy, a doppelganger of his sire Silver Charm | photo courtesy Sandy Hatfield

Hatfield has mentored countless young people who have gone on to succeed in the industry, including several women who now work in stallion barns throughout Kentucky.

“I have two-legged kids and four-legged kids down there,” she said, pointing toward the stud barn. “I've watched a lot of people grow up and do great things in this business. It's a feeling of accomplishment that I've watched those people go on to run their own divisions or become farm managers. I mean look at Veronica. She was a young girl, just going to college, and now she's managing stallions at Three Chimneys Farm.”

“She's a good horsewoman,” Hatfield said of her mentee. “She is also good with people and she speaks fluent Spanish. She knows her horses, which I think is one of the most important things.”

Reed, who served as assistant stallion manager at WinStar Farm for four years before joining Hatfield back at Three Chimneys, speaks just as highly of her mentor. She said that no matter the continent, whenever Hatfield's name is mentioned, “basically the red carpet is rolled out.”

“Her reputation in this industry is amazing,” Reed said. “Not only is she a great horsewoman and very dedicated to what she does, but she also gives a great voice to the industry–a voice for everybody, not just females.”

Hatfield's incredible attention to detail, Reed said, is something that she could not have learned from anyone else.

“I've never seen a stallion manager the way that she writes on her sheet. This mare did this or this mare was like that. When you go back to breeding that same mare the next year, you've got tons of information from all the years that she's been here so you can warn the guys that this mare is difficult or this mare is really sweet. Her horses receive some of the best management I've ever seen around the world.”

Yet even today, Hatfield and Reed face opposition from people who doubt their abilities in a male-dominated profession.

“There are a lot of people I talk to today who tell me that women can't work with stallions,” Hatfield said. “I've been managing stallions for 35 years, so I know women can do it.”

Asked about her greatest accomplishments, Hatfield said that she is proud to serve as an example for young women in the industry and that she enjoys following the achievements of the people she has mentored.

“Those are great accomplishments,” she reflected. “And being around a horse like Gun Runner is a great accomplishment. To be able to watch him grow and develop and become a great stallion is pretty spectacular.”

Sandy welcomes Palace Malice to Three Chimneys | Gayle Ewadinger

Hatfield was present for many of the 2017 Horse of the Year's shining moments on the racetrack, including his career finale in the GI Pegasus World Cup where she flew home to Kentucky with him afterwards.

“He's very smart and personable,” she said of the young sire sensation. “He's not a mean horse, but he will let you know that he is the man. He loves to go out and show off when we have tours. He's a magnificent horse, to think about what he did on the racetrack and see what he's doing as a stallion. He's going to be one of the ones that people will remember his name.”

It was Gun Runner's auspicious start at stud that led to the careful changing of the guard in the Three Chimneys stallion barn.

“With Gun Runner's presence and who he is making himself out to be as an important stallion, we really felt a responsibility to him to make this transition as smooth as possible,” explained the farm's COO Chris Baker. “In 2023, we have the benefit of both Sandy and Veronica here. How that changes or when it's 100% Veronica, time will tell. That's up to Sandy. She has earned the right to plot her own course through this.”

“Sandy has done a fantastic job over decades, operating at a very high standard and retiring champions from the racetrack and introducing them to the breeding shed,” he continued. “Three Chimneys has been the beneficiary of Sandy's professionalism and experience. Both Sandy and Veronica are driven by a passion for and a love of the horse. That's really what makes them so good at what they do.”

The love of the horse is where it starts and ends for Hatfield. Even now, as she is supposedly in the early stages of retirement, Hatfield is up before the sun every morning, layering on coats for another breeding session. After 24 years at Three Chimneys, her love for the stallions she cares for and her passion for the industry keeps her coming back.

“I mean, it's what I love,” she said. “I love getting to know the horses. I love the excitement of the breeding shed. I love talking to people about our industry and explaining to people what we do, how much we love our horses and how good of care we give all of them. It has been a great opportunity, a great learning experience, and hopefully I've done a good job.”

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“I am thrilled to hear Matthew has won this prestigious award,” said Teddy Kuster, co-owner of Shawhan Place and the 1986 KTFMC Farm Manager of the Year. “The club has meant a lot to Matt's entire family and all of us at Shawhan Place. Matt is a wonderful individual who wears many hats. He's a farm manager working in the trenches and has given back to his community by serving on several boards. He serves as State Representative for 72nd District (Bourbon, Nicholas, and Fleming County) and was instrumental in passing HHR for the industry… Even more important than raising horses, Matthew raises the next generation of young horsemen and women. He is a mentor to many and regularly hosts interns from both KEMI and the University of Kentucky.”

A graduate of both the University of Kentucky and the Kentucky Horseshoeing School, Koch is also a former United States Marine captain and served his country in Afghanistan and Kosovo. In 2006, Koch and Kuster formed Shawhan Place, which now breeds about 100 mares a year.

Among the boards Koch has served on are Kentucky Equine Management Internship (KEMI), the Consignors and Commercial Breeders Association (CBA), and the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association (KTA). He has previously been the president, vice-president, director, and treasurer of the KTFMC.

Koch is a second-generation KTFMC Farm Manager of the Year, as his late father, Gus Koch, was awarded the title in 2004. The pair join B.G. Hughes and Scooter Hughes as the only father/son recipients of the award. Koch currently resides in Bourbon County with his wife, Kristen, and their three children Taylor, Jack, and Nate.

The KTFMC will be hosting its annual dinner dance to honor Koch at The Carrick House in Lexington Dec. 2. A silent auction will be held with all proceeds benefitting The Horse Farm Workers' Educational Assistance Fund. Tickets and sponsorships for the event will be available for purchase at ktfmc.org later this month.

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He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Theresa, t10en children: Charles (Katie) Koch, Jennifer (Drew) Alvarez, Becky (Mark) Mitchell, Stephen (Wendy) Koch, Matthew (Kristen) Koch, Anthony (Jill) Koch, Amy (Brian) Sellers, Cecilia (Drew) Adams, Gus (Shelley) Koch, and Mary (Bryan) Flachbart, 33 grandchildren and two foster grandchildren.

Gus was a Marine, Vietnam veteran, and retired manager of Claiborne Farm.  As a parishioner at the Church of the Annunciation, he faithfully led the Rosary before Saturday evening Mass for nearly 40 years, was a past Grand Knight of The Knights of Columbus (4^th degree), and was past president of the Parish Council.

Gus proudly served the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers' Club as president in 1987 and was honored by that group as the 2004 Farm Manager of the Year. He was also a past member of both the Bourbon County School Board and the Bourbon Community Hospital Board.

Visitation will be Tuesday, March 23, 5-8 p.m. at the Church of the Annunciation in Paris with Rosary preceding at 4:45 p.m.  Rev. Daniel Fister will celebrate the Mass of Christian Burial at the church Wednesday, March 24, at 10 a.m. and live streamed on www.facebook.com/paris.cdlex. Interment will follow at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Paris.  His sons and sons-in-law will serve as pall bearers.

In lieu of flowers, donations are suggested to The Horse Farm Workers' Educational Assistance Fund (www.horsefarmworkerseducationfund.com) or Church of the Annunciation Building Fund (1007 Main St., Paris, KY, 40361).

The post Respected Kentucky Horseman Robert ‘Gus’ Koch, 74, Passes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Cline grew up in Versailles as the son of a farm manager and attended the University of Kentucky. He worked on the racetrack with Hall of Fame trainer Mack Miller, then returned to the Versailles area to manage Big Sink Farm. Farish originally hired Cline to oversee broodmares, foals, yearlings, barn construction, and pasture management at Lane’s End, but the farm soon grew into an industry leader with both major sales and stallion divisions.

Under Cline’s tenure, Lane’s End has bred, raised, sold, or raced hundreds of top horses for both the farm itself and for clients. Lane’s End stallions have sired over 285 Grade I winners and the farm has been the leading sales consignor 26 times, with over 380 black-type winners among their alumni. The legendary A.P. Indy (Seattle Slew), one of the world’s great stallions as well as 1992 Horse of the Year and a member of the Hall of Fame, is most closely associated with the farm, as the late stallion was co-bred by Farish, sold by Lane’s End, and then returned to the farm to stand his entire stud career.

In addition to his work with Lane’s End, Cline has mentored a number of people in the horse industry, including several who went on to manage other top farms. He has also been a strong supporter of the Kentucky Equine Management Internship (KEMI) program, which provides opportunities for students to learn horsemanship skills and begin their careers in breeding and racing.

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In 1979, Will Farish hired a young horseman named Mike Cline to manage his developing Lane's End Farm, located on an important and historic tract of land in the Bluegrass of Versailles, Woodford County, Kentucky.  The two horsemen would combine their knowledge of horses, land and business to build Lane's End into one of the premier Thoroughbred organizations in the world.

Mike Cline has been surrounded by horses all of his life.  He grew up in Versailles, the son of a farm manager, and attended the University of Kentucky on a football scholarship. After college, Mike took a job on the racetrack with Hall of Fame Trainer Mack Miller, another Woodford County native.

Upon returning to the Versailles area for his first farm management position, with Big Sink Farm, Mike was very fortunate to meet Mr. Farish, who hired him to oversee broodmares, foals, yearlings, barn construction and pasture management at Lane's End Farm. From this foundation, the industry-leading sales and stallion divisions of Lane's End emerged.

In his role at Lane's End over the course of 40 years, Mike has been involved in breeding, raising and racing numerous champions and stakes winners for the farm and its clients. The farm has been the leading sales consignor 26 times, selling 380 stakes winners including over 50 champions or Grade 1 winners, among them A. P. Indy, Saint Liam, Rags to Riches and Lemon Drop Kid. Lane's End has earned the title of leading stud farm 15 times, with the stallions siring over 285 Grade 1 winners.

Mike has mentored many successful people in the industry, currently managers at some of the world's top Thoroughbred farms. He was a strong supporter of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association's Kentucky Thoroughbred Equine Management Internship program (KEMI) which provides opportunities for students to learn horsemanship and management skills and begin their careers in the world of Thoroughbred breeding and racing.

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