It wasn't so long ago that the magnificent sire Gone West held court at Mill Ridge Farm near Lexington. From 22 crops, all while at Mill Ridge, he netted a mouth-watering 9% black-type winners from starters, including Breeders' Cup winners Da Hoss (twice), Johar, and Speightstown, all back in the days when the Breeders' Cup was still a single day and there were far fewer races.

The son of Mr. Prospector passed away in 2009, but his influence on the Breeders' Cup was not done and neither was Mill Ridge's. Among Gone West's sire sons are Speightstown, who has sired two Breeders' Cup winners, and Elusive Quality, who has sired three. His grandsons include Quality Road, sire of four Breeders' Cup winners. And among the major runners out of his daughters is another Breeders' Cup winner in Awesome Feather.

The Mill Ridge team hasn't stopped there. Eight Breeders' Cup winners have been bred, raised, and/or sold by the Central Kentucky farm. Additionally, Mill Ridge's involvement in Horse Country has created an extra ripple effect of the Breeders' Cup's impact on farms big and small, as well as on the fans who visit those farms. And now, the two young sires who are standing at Mill Ridge are both Breeders' Cup winners.

Oscar Performance on a Horse Country tour along with Mill Ridge's tour guide Ryn Harris and managing partner Headley Bell. Earl the Corgi is quite popular on the tours and on social media. | Sarah Andrew

Oscar Performance won the GI Juvenile Turf in 2016, while Aloha West won the GI Sprint in 2021.

“That's like starting two full teams for the University of Kentucky basketball team,” said Price Bell, Jr., general manager of Mill Ridge, with a laugh about the eight Breeders' Cup winners combined with the two additional championship day winners in the stud barn. “That's the beauty of the Breeders' Cup. How lucky are we to have been able to associate with this many horses on Breeders' Cup days?

“We'll often have visitors say, 'Well, don't you have an unfair advantage because you get to watch them in the field and then watch them win?' We know how special it is to get to do this.”

From the start, Oscar Performance had the Bell family's fingerprints all over him. Fittingly, he was raised on the farm and has now returned to the place of his birth to stand. He is also the sire of Sunday's GIII Zuma Beach S. winner Endlessly from his second crop of 2-year-olds. Endlessly is an unbeaten dual graded winner–for the same connections as his sire–who will try to emulate his sire in the Nov. 3 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.

“We raised Oscar Performance for the Amermans and helped with the mating. Now for a horse for the same connections to go on and keep that dream alive is very special.

“We feel so lucky and blessed to associate with so many incredible people and breeders and clients and horses,” said Bell. “The Breeders' Cup is what we're all striving for and dreaming about as soon as you do a mating. We feel so blessed to have gotten there and want to keep going.”

Sarah Andrew

Mill Ridge is a popular spot on the Horse Country tours and Oscar Performance has become a showman.

“To connect him with guests is so special,” said Bell. “People have just fallen in love with him. We've really enjoyed sharing him with people and seeing the way he's become a fan favorite. It has been very meaningful as we share that he was the best 2-year-old on the turf in his generation, the best 3-year-old on the turf, and that he set the world record at a mile. One of those three things often sticks with people. To be able to share him with fans is really special.”

As a racehorse, Oscar Performance had a devastating kick.

“What I found so brilliant in his Breeders' Cup is that he had broken from the 13 hole, yet was able to clear the field,” said Bell. “To break from the 13th post to get clear and over at Santa Anita is a big thing. I remember very vividly where I was when he broke his maiden [at Saratoga in August of 2016]. And then his Breeders' Cup, we sat and watched it at the office with my dad because my wife and I had a 15-month-old. It was our son's first Grade I and one we certainly remember as a family. It would be so memorable if Endlessly could do it, too. We're so blessed to have those relationships.”

Aloha West, whose first foals will be born in 2024, took a different route to Mill Ridge.

“He was raised by our friends at Nursery Place by John Mayer,” said Bell. “I think for his Breeders' Cup, what was so telling, is that was the ninth race he had had that year. He'd showed some ability at two, had some shins, hurt himself at three. They were really patient with him. [He debuted at four], broke his maiden in February culminating with a Breeders' Cup win. He danced every dance, had nine starts that year, no real break. He was sort of the clever horse on the backside; people had a lot of chatter about him going into the Breeders' Cup. And then he showed that will to win.”

Halter tag keychains, including one of Breeders' Cup winner Life Is Sweet, in Mill Ridge's Horse Country gift shop | Sarah Andrew

In addition to their two Breeders' Cup-winning stallions, one of whom they had also raised, Mill Ridge has been intimately involved with 2000 Distaff winner Spain, 2003 Turf dead-heater Johar (one of Gone West's winners), 2004 Juvenile Fillies winner Sweet Catomine, 2005 Mile winner Artie Schiller, 2006 Distaff winner Round Pond, 2009 Ladies' Classic winner Life Is Sweet, and 2013 Juvenile Fillies winner Ria Antonia. For those keeping score, that was four consecutive winners from 2003-06 and six in that decade alone.

Winning the Breeders' Cup doesn't get old though. On the contrary, it leaves one hungry for more.

“Once you've been there, you want to experience it again,” said Bell. “You want to do it again and again and again and again.”

Bell has distinct memories of every winner. Some stood out early.

“I often put Sweet Catomine as the one that everyone on the farm thought was very special. For her to culminate as champion and the way she had done it was wonderful. Sometimes you do see something when they're young and it's very gratifying.”

Some stand out because of the relationships with the breeders.

“Artie Schiller was awesome because Leroidesanimaux (Brz) was the overwhelming favorite and he beat him handily, squarely, no excuses. He ran by him like he was standing still. It was a great culmination of the relationship we had with the Moussacs [breeders of Artie Schiller]. A great celebration.”

But one of the Breeders' Cup wins that is most memorable to Bell is for an out-of-the-ordinary reason and ties in to the farm's involvement with Horse Country.

“I remember Spain was a classic [D. Wayne] Lukas move. Lukas put them to sleep. She got a phenomenal ride [from Victor Espinoza]. It was Lukas taking a shot and then he wins at 56-1.

“But what I really remember when I think of her now is on one of our tours there was a gentleman who was about my age. He loved Spain. He was in the hospital at the time she won, in a children's cancer ward, and he'd told all the nurses to bet her.

“Here's a horse that we both had great memories of for very different reasons. It was our first Breeders' Cup winner while he's a kid fighting cancer. It meant a lot to both of us, was an inspiration for both of us. Horses touch people in different ways and sometimes we don't even know it.”

A Horse Country tour sign at Mill Ridge | Sarah Andrew

Perhaps that is why Bell and Mill Ridge are so bullish on the non-profit Horse Country, which Bell was instrumental in co-founding and which also has Breeders' Cup roots. It's his way of giving back to the industry and connecting the wider public to our sport.

“We launched Horse Country tours the same year [2015] as the first Breeders' Cup at Keeneland. It coincided with American Pharoah and that was kind of what got us going. We had set a timeline of the Breeders' Cup date and it gave us a starting gate. We were committed. It has taken a lot of iterations between then and now, but we're big believers in it. We love doing it and sharing what we do.

“The tours have welcomed 200,000 people since then, 25,000 of those at Mill Ridge. We're the number two thing to do on Trip Advisor in Lexington. It feels like it's our part in trying to connect people to racing.

“We're all inspired by the horses and tours are people's best opportunity to meet a horse. Farms create a great opportunity for that. It's meaningful for people to share that, just like the gentleman who had a relationship with Spain from his hospital bed.”

One guest at a time, Mill Ridge and Horse Country are changing the wider public's perception of racing. If meeting a Breeders' Cup-winning stallion brings one more person over to the beauty of our sport, it's a win. If it shows another person how well we take care of our horses and how much they mean to us, it's a win. And if it gets one more person to watch the Breeders' Cup, feeling they have a connection because they've feed a carrot to the sire of one of the runners or have walked over the same land where one was raised, it's a win.

“The better we can show guests what we do, the better we all are,” said Bell. “It feels like the right thing to do. We get so much from the guests and the experience. It's a great reminder of how lucky we are.

“Mill Ridge is just one small piece in it, but we've jumped all the way in. It's very doable. And it's beautiful. At the end of the day, we get so much out of committing to it.

“I feel like we get more out of it than we give.”

The post ‘How Lucky are We?’ Mill Ridge and the Breeders’ Cup appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Hallie Hardy has been named executive director of Horse Country, Inc., replacing Anne Sabatino Hardy (unrelated), who has led the nonprofit since its founding in 2015.

“Horse Country is proud to announce Hallie as its new executive director,” explained Gathan Borden, president of the Horse Country board of directors. “She brings not only a necessary skill set and diverse experience, but also sincere enthusiasm for the organization's mission and the desire to continue the growth of this critical fan development initiative. We are grateful to Anne and the foundation of success she leaves behind for Horse Country. The Board looks forward to working with Hallie and our members to build upon that foundation as the organization steps into this next phase.”

Departing executive director, Sabatino Hardy agreed. “I have appreciated the opportunity to be a part of this effort and am grateful for the relationships and shared accomplishments–I can't wait to see what's next,” said Hardy. “Hallie brings a unique set of skills and experiences that make her ideal to lead the organization. Having worked for Horse Country member locations she's seen firsthand the impact experiences have on fan development. Her relationships, vision and passion for the mission will inspire the next phase.”

A native of Frankfort, Hardy held an internship at WinStar Farm while an undergraduate in the University of Kentucky's Equine Program, leading its public and private tours. Following graduation, she joined America's Best Racing (ABR) as one of six brand ambassadors who traveled the country to promote the sport's biggest race days. After ABR, Hardy was accepted to the Irish National Stud Breeding Course and then Godolphin Flying Start.

Since completing Flying Start, Hardy has worked for trainer Graham Motion and again at WinStar Farm. She most recently worked for Godolphin as part of the nomination sales and marketing teams, as well as assisting with several charitable initiatives and Godolphin's tour experience.

The post Hardy Named Executive Director Of Horse Country appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

“The equine industry is vital to the tourism infrastructure of Lexington and Central Kentucky tourism,” said Gathan Borden, Vice President of VisitLEX and Visit Horse Country Board Chair. “[Hardy] has been a tremendous asset in helping develop and grow Horse Country to where it is today. As we embark on this next chapter, the board looks forward to building upon her leadership and success to take Horse Country into the future.”

Horse Country members have hosted more than 180,000 guests and fans since a group of industry participants conceived the idea of a collaborative industry initiative focused on outreach in 2014. Horse Country enables guests to be a part of equine experiences in the heart of the Thoroughbred industry, with documented positive perception change for the sport as well as national and international recognition in press and awards.

“Building Horse Country with the members, board, sponsors, and supporters over these last seven years has been a beautiful challenge and I treasure the relationships I've built through this work as well as the accomplishments we've shared together,” said Hardy. “I look forward to seeing the next vision of Horse Country. I was drawn to this work as someone outside of the industry who was inspired by the members' unified vision of providing engaging access to the horse, land, and people and I still firmly believe in how this outreach prioritizes the guest and fan above all as a way to help them fall in love with the horse, the sport, and Kentucky.”

The post Horse Country Searches for New Executive Director with Hardy’s Departure appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Back in April the Bell family grieved farm founder Alice Headley Chandler, a revered matriarch not just around their own hearth but among the whole Bluegrass community. But their loss, while poignantly refreshing their gratitude and sense of privilege, could only reinforce an engrained determination that her legacy be honored by all the ambition that had characterised her own, pioneering tenure.

Her son Headley Bell, managing partner since 2008, had already promoted her grandson Price as general manager in August 2020. The previous year, meanwhile, they had welcomed Oscar Performance to revive a stallion station that had gathered dust since Gone West and Diesis gave it such international significance. And now, in a confident invitation to traffic from the impending breeding stock sales, they have just extended capacity with the acquisition–or retrieval, rather–of 288 acres from Calumet.

Retrieval, because this parcel of land was once part of the Beaumont Farm where Mrs. Chandler's father Hal Price Headley raised the likes of Menow and Alcibiades. On his death, in 1962, she inherited just a nook of the farm, around 1/16th of its extent; while this portion was left to her sister. Later on, it was actually leased by Mill Ridge for a few decades until the farm shared in the shocks absorbed by the industry after 2008, and it was sold to Calumet in 2015. Its return to the fold, then, is expressive of a striving for regeneration by the heirs to the breeder of the game-changing Sir Ivor.

“It's the type of land we all covet,” says Price. “Big, open spaces for horses to develop, 40-acre pastures with big slopes and big trees. But this is also about our team, our human capital. Our infrastructure was developed to handle 130, 140 mares. As our numbers declined with the foal crop, we didn't adjust our team. So we have talented people, blessed by incredible horsemanship and experience. To utilize that to the full, we need more volume; and to accommodate that, we needed more land. So that's how we hope to make this thing go. We're lucky to have people who are so passionate about the horse, and about the farm. Now we just need to make sure they have the stock to do what they do so well.”

This kind of calculation is as educated as you could find in our community, Price having returned to Mill Ridge not only bearing the laurels of an MBA from Vanderbilt's Owen School, but having already cut his teeth in the wider business world. Straight out of college–and it's easy to imagine his livewire interview–he was appointed CEO of a $40 million commercial real estate asset in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“That was a very service-minded framework, which I really enjoyed and have carried with me since,” he says. “Charlotte was booming, but after things went well there the company decided to move me to Nashville–at a time when there were then less than 1,000 people living downtown. Still in my mid-20s, I found myself with nearly half a million square feet of 30-year-old office space with a significant leasing problem.”

The point of this recollection, however, is not that the precocious salesman filled the vacant premises–though he duly did. What really told in Nashville was learning the organic connection between the commercial interests he happened to be serving, on the one hand, and improved viability for the city as a whole, on the other. Invited onto the board of a non-profit organisation devoted to downtown development, he embraced their agenda with a zeal that entitles him to a modest share of pride in Nashville's “meteoric” progress since.

That experience was not lost on Price after he accepted his father's offer to return to a world in which he had, naturally, been given a thorough grounding in his youth–initially by joining the Nicoma Bloodstock agency that can count Street Sense (Street Cry {Ire}), Barbaro (Dynaformer), Havre de Grace (Saint Liam) and Bricks and Mortar (Giant's Causeway) among counselled matings. In the 10 years since, Price and his father have been pivotal to the evolution of Horse Country, the open-our-gates tours that have transformed public engagement with Bluegrass farms. And Horse Country, of course, obeyed much the same principles that Price had seen validated in Nashville: namely, that businesses will always thrive if embracing and enhancing their social and cultural setting.

A few days ago, Mill Ridge hosted a six-term congressman from Georgia on a Horse Country tour. He was entranced, stuck around for a coffee, chatted. At one point he looked Price in the eye. “Don't you ever sell this place,” he said. The next day Price found himself driving another septuagenarian visitor round the farm: a woman from upstate Ohio who had been drawn to the sport by Zenyatta–not a fanbase, it must be granted, always received with patience by busy professionals.

“This woman had become our biggest 'virtual tour' fan,” Price explains, referring to the enterprising solution adopted when lockdown broadsided Horse Country. “As we drove around she kept stopping me to take in the view, kept saying, 'I just can't believe where I am right now…' It made me feel as close to John Lennon as I'm ever likely to feel! So here we had a woman who's been around the sun 75 times, speechless, within 24 hours of our visitor from Georgia. Two such different people, both entering our orbit for a very brief time–and it was interesting to me that not only did we have that impact on both of them, but they each had an impact on us, too.

“Because it's that kind of experience that reminds us how special this all is, how very lucky we are to do what we do–and the responsibility we all have, to share the horse, to share the land, to share Lexington. At the end of the day, this business is about humans and horses. And that is not something we can assign to associations, to NTRA or TOBA or the Jockey Club. It's the responsibility of all of us, as individuals.”

Happily, Price feels that horse evangelism is a little easier now than has previously been the case. Behind Mill Ridge's roll of the dice, in expanding capacity, is a conviction that the whole sport has a new spring in its step: that people are eager to go out and enjoy life, to put the economic and social trauma of the pandemic behind them.

“I feel there's a lot of good momentum,” he says. “In taking on this risk, this big investment, we feel there are great opportunities going forward for the industry, and for Mill Ridge as well. Finally it feels like we're rowing together a little more than we have been. We see great hope for our sport, for our community, and we're investing in ourselves and welcoming new clients. I guess it feels like the first time, really since the '08 crash, that everything is really growing again.

“Back then we all felt like we were battening hatches down, constantly baling out water: the foal crop adjustment, PETA, Santa Anita, aftercare. With no fan engagement, that could have knocked us out. Quite frankly, if we'd continued being complacent in our racetracks, our horses, our fans, we'd be shrivelling and wilting away. We still have some big issues, obviously. But the key tenets of what we do, and how we share those, have been restructured. And I'd say the foundation is now stronger than it has been in my lifetime. We're excited by that.”

Horse Country had an incidental benefit, too. With such a delicate margin between family and professional life, Price and Headley treated the enterprise as a useful “test drive” for how they might work together in their own business.

“In working so closely on a passion project, on something that wasn't our core business, Dad and I could develop a confidence in each other that has ultimately allowed this transition to take place,” Price says. “We saw that we could work as team-mates, as opposed to me coming in and saying, 'This is how you should be doing everything,' or him looking at me saying, 'You haven't proven you can do anything.' Mill Ridge is here today, and successful, because of my dad and my grandmother, because of my uncles, and because of our clients. And Mill Ridge tomorrow will be successful for the same reason.”

At this point Headley joins the call. A man of such courtesy and dignity was never going to cling resentfully to the authority of a parent, and he discusses the situation with candour and quiet pride.

“We're fortunate that in Price, and the team he's building, we have a lot of talent,” he says. “He happens to be our son, but he's always been visionary, always been willing to take a position and back it up, always been a team player. When he was president of his class in high school, that wasn't because he was some super jock. It was because he was inclusive of others, and elevated those around him. And he brings in people with similar strengths. So not only is Mill Ridge better off, but the industry will be, too.”

Headley likes the way the transition evolved almost of its own volition. There was no turning point, no formal deadline. It gradually became clear, during lockdown, that the time was right; but that realization had been reached by lifelong increments. They fortified the arrangements by involving Price's mother, sister and wife; and there was so much counsel and support at hand: from “Doc” Chandler, from Headley's brothers, from Duncan Macdonald who worked here for 38 years.

“Remember, there had never been any pressure for me to go on with this, and nor was there any pressure on Price,” Headley says. “It did not have to go on. What I've done with Nicoma for 45 years has been very fulfilling. Mill Ridge, I'd long been part of the team parallel to Nicoma but stepped in only in '07, when Mom was 82.

“And out of that evolution, when Gatewood [Bell, nephew] was going out on his own, I approached Price and said: 'If you're interested, here's where we're are.' And do you know what he said? 'Let me get back to you, Dad.' He's going to get back to me! But about three months later, he did come back. And he said: 'Three things, Dad. Number one: I would never want to do anything to jeopardize our relationship.' So that was, like, wow. 'Number two: I'm bringing what I believe to be my future wife into this environment. Is that fair to her? And number three: am I qualified to do it?'”

But just to ask those questions, in effect, was to answer them. It's not just the equine graduates of this regime that you can judge by the results.

“I've been very fortunate through my time, to be successful enough to have the liquidity to navigate the water,” reflected Headley. “That's positioned us to build for the next generation, without, say, needing someone to come in and partner. There's nothing more enriching than being able to include your children in whatever you're doing, especially something like this. And that's something we feel every day, with these Horse Country tours. People say, first off: 'Thank you very much for sharing.' But then also: 'Wow, do you know how lucky you are to do what you do?!' So all we ever have to do is step out the door and look. We don't take anything for granted.”

That can seldom have been so true as when the family shared its memories of Headley's mother this spring.

“Really, she stays alive through this effort,” remarks Headley. “I say that to people often. We feel her presence here, in our efforts. Dr. Chandler has always been such a great team-mate. It's been difficult for him, of course, but he really embraces Price and his energy.”

Price, for his part, will always view his grandmother as a model of how to be a good citizen of the Turf. “Reflecting on her life, I think the great inspiration is that she didn't ever back down from any challenge,” he says. “Not just at the farm, but in the industry too. KTA, KTOB, Gluck Center, dozens of causes. She was a very thoughtful person and passionate too: when she had a conviction, she worked tirelessly with many like-minded people to make things better.”

And, with that inherited sense of the bigger picture, Price is adamant that connecting fans with the horse is not just good public relations, but good business.

“Our personal experience is that the magic we really need to push comes from bringing people to the farm, bringing them to the races, introducing people to horses,” he says. “That's not to diminish everything else that's being done: the TAA, the improved screenings and accountability at the racetrack. But that's where we felt we could contribute: connecting people to horses. There's great curiosity out there as to how you breed a horse, raise a horse, choose a horse to get to the finish line first. That's the elixir we have, and I guess sharing that with more people has always inspired me.”

Of course, you can only engage people with horses if you know how to engage with people. And that's what really augurs so well for the new era at Mill Ridge–though that MBA presumably won't do any harm, either.

“In the end I guess I'm curious by nature,” Price says. “Maybe that additional schooling gave me the confidence to be inquisitive, and to learn from the type of people who are now our customers. But more importantly it also gave me even greater confidence that what we have is very special; and that we're very lucky. It's just that sometimes we don't recognize that, or don't package it quite right.”

Its pastures new contain an apt analogy for what is happening at Mill Ridge. Because if the horse-lore handed down between generations represents deep soil, dense roots, then you don't just leave turf to grow rank or parched. It's by keeping active, by mowing or grazing, that you foster its healthy renewal.

“While we're in transition, the industry is also in transition,” notes Headley. “You see it on the racetrack, you see it in these partnerships, you see it with NYRA. There's an evolution. All you had to do is look at Keeneland recently, when Gatewood filled up the winner's circle with family and friends, maybe 60 strong–and probably 30 of them under the age of eight! It's certainly not just Price, there's a lot of talent in his generation. So this feels very natural, fitting well with what's happening in the industry as a whole. This is a really exciting time.”

The post Pastures New Maintain Old Standards at Mill Ridge appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

“Visit Horse Country has been a game-changer for the Lexington tourism product,” said Borden. “The outreach from the horse industry into the community has been powerful and has allowed us to truly share the Bluegrass in a way we never could before. I'm excited to be a part of helping Horse Country continue to develop fans of the industry and further cement Lexington as the Horse Capital of the World.”

Borden is a 14-year veteran of the tourism industry and has served on the Horse Country board since 2019. Borden, who was selected in 2021 as one of the “Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales, Marketing, and Revenue Optimization” by Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI), is a sought-after speaker on marketing topics and trends.

Bell, Jr. worked alongside his father, Headley, and with Brutus Clay and Dr. Luke Fallon to form the industry initiative that would grow into Visit Horse Country. All have been on the board with Dr. Fallon recently rejoining.

“No doubt the organization would not be what it is, or at all, without Price's generous dedication of time, contribution of boundless energy, and sheer will,” said Executive Director Anne Sabatino Hardy. “He's been a mentor and a tremendous leader. His fingerprints are all over the initiative, which has opened the gates to completely new fans over these last years.”

In handing over the reins, Bell, Jr. said, “As we move into the next era of Visit Horse Country, Gathan's marketing prowess, vision, and strategic approach is the perfect fit for this position. He's an expert in the tourism field and, as we seek to attract new fans to our sport, he lends invaluable perspective on how to leverage our experiences to the leisure traveler.”

In additional Horse Country news, Heather Higgins, VP of corporate partnerships for Breeders' Cup, and Harold Palmer, president of The Jockey Club Technology Services, were unanimously elected as board members.

The post New Horse Country Board President is VisitLEX’s Borden appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

“Since our first tours in 2015, the members of our not-for-profit organization have opened their gates to more than 150,000 leisure travelers, fans, clubs and schools in service of our mission of fan development for racing and equine sport,” said Anne Sabatino Hardy, executive director of Horse Country. “Aftercare is a critical part of the story of racing and experiential storytelling is an effective and compelling way to share our love of the horse, land and people. While we've supported TRF in previous endeavors, we're happy this new program allows us to welcome them to membership.”

Chestnut Hall represents the realization of a dream of local businessman, Bill Carstanjen, CEO of Churchill Downs Inc. to preserve the historic farmland. Carstanjen oversaw the restoration of the 25+ acre property to an active horse farm and sought out the TRF as his partner to provide a home for retired racehorses.

Among the small herd of retired Thoroughbreds who will welcome tour guests at Chestnut Hall is graded stakes winner Warrior's Club (Warrior's Reward). The 7-year-old, who won the 2018 G3 Commonwealth S. for the Churchill Downs Racing Club, will retire to the facility thanks to a grant from the club.

Chestnut Hall is the fourth TAA-accredited aftercare organization to join Horse Country. Tours are now offered at https://visithorsecountry.com/trf-chestnut-hall/ or https://www.trfinc.org/trf-sanctuary-farm-at-chestnut-hall/.

The post TRF’s Chestnut Hall Added To Horse Country Tours appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

“Since our first tours in 2015, the members of our not-for-profit organization have opened their gates to more than 150,000 leisure travelers, fans, clubs and schools in service of our mission of fan development for racing and equine sport,” said Anne Sabatino Hardy, executive director of Horse Country. “Aftercare is a critical part of the story of racing and experiential storytelling is an effective and compelling way to share our love of the horse, land and people. While we've supported TRF in previous endeavors, we're happy this new program allows us to welcome them to membership.”

Chestnut Hall represents the realization of a dream of local businessman, Bill Carstanjen, CEO of Churchill Downs Inc. to preserve the historic farmland. Carstanjen oversaw the restoration of the 25+ acre property to an active horse farm and sought out the TRF as his partner to provide a home for retired racehorses.

Among the small herd of retired Thoroughbreds who will welcome tour guests at Chestnut Hall is graded stakes winner Warrior's Club (Warrior's Reward). The 7-year-old, who won the 2018 GIII Commonwealth S. for the Churchill Downs Racing Club, will retire to the facility thanks to a grant from the club.

Chestnut Hall is the fourth TAA-accredited aftercare organization to join Horse Country. Tours are now offered at https://visithorsecountry.com/trf-chestnut-hall/ or https://www.trfinc.org/trf-sanctuary-farm-at-chestnut-hall/.

The post Visit Horse Country Adds TRF Farm to its Membership appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

“Between refunds and not being able to offer tours, a year that had been trending to exceed 40% growth year over year turned into a budget net-negative,” said Price Bell, Jr., president of Horse Country's board. “The way we're currently structured, nearly all of our operating budget is derived from revenue sharing when members give tours. When that couldn't happen, we were looking at a pretty dire scenario. We cut every expense we could, including a temporary furlough of our team. Even as a limited amount of tours reopened in 2020, we would not have made it without the financial support of our industry, community and members.”

Fasig-Tipton, Keeneland, Breeders' Cup and The Jockey Club provided emergency support in the spring. The KTA-KTOB joined that group with a contribution over the summer, and Breeders' Cup has subsequently made an additional pledge of support. Claiborne Farm donated proceeds from tours in 2020, and other members have donated tour revenue. Spendthrift Farm made a contribution and has helped lay the groundwork for a future partnership between MyRacehorse and Horse Country.

Due to the organization's structure, Horse Country did not qualify for government support programs. At the suggestion of Bill Farish, Visit Horse Country partnered with the Bluegrass Community Foundation to launch a charitable fund supporting the growing charitable initiatives of the organization including services for TAA-accredited aftercare members of Horse Country which receive a complimentary membership, scholarship and field trip visits, community outreach such as Meet the Neighbors, and a new workforce development partnership with the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.

So far, in a launch of the fund earlier this year, more than 70% of the initial goal of $150,000 has been raised, with major support coming from the W. S. Farish Fund, followed by the Duncan & Carol Taylor Fund, Headley & Nancy Bell, Priscilla Fallon, The Bakhaus Family Foundation, The Jones Family Foundation, Siena Farm and Godolphin, and others.

“The successful work of fan development through Horse Country is vital to our industry. For it to go away after the dedication of so many wasn't acceptable,” said Bill Farish of Horse Country member Lane's End Farm, and on behalf of the W. S. Farish Fund. “The financial health of Horse County is vital to the success of the effort. I'm thrilled to hear the match by the W. S. Farish fund has worked and that Horse Country will make it through this pandemic.”

“Like many this year, the key to our survival was creativity, and community support,” said Anne Sabatino Hardy, executive director of Visit Horse Country. “We pivoted to free virtual tours and reached millions. We reopened a limited number of tours at reduced capacity and they were often sellouts; private tours were a particularly attractive product this year. We are deeply grateful our industry, guests, members and community continue to be committed to Horse Country's mission, and excited about what we have to offer.”

Tours for 2021 will be offered on a limited basis beginning late December, though some members may not resume regular operations until later in the new year. Updates can be found at www.visithorsecountry.com or by contacting the office at info@visithorsecountry.com.

“We know experiences at member locations are effective at fan development, and owner development; it's been rewarding to see the support for creative new ideas and the purely educational and charitable work that has always been part of our mission, which can now grow. It's been a tough year, but we've learned a lot, made some changes, and look forward to continuing our work.”

For more information on supporting Horse Country's charitable fund with a tax-deductible donation: https://bgcf.givingfuel.com/horsecountry or contact Anne Sabatino Hardy at ahardy@visithorsecountry.com.

The post Horse Country Remains Operational Thanks To Community Support appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Broadsided by this unaccountable emergency into a sudden, existential crisis, Horse Country is now turning to the community it serves and making its own case for salvation.

That’s a chastening positional shift for an operation that had, by its own volition, appeared to be achieving inexorable momentum. But it’s also one that can be made with the clearest of consciences, however you choose to quantify that “worth.”

In literal terms, you could point to over $1 million of known, direct investment in the business already made by converts made through Horse Country. (And who knows what other seeds may yet be germinating among 120,000 guests, from all 50 states and 22 other nations, entertained to date?)

But other gains are less tangible. What price, after all, can we put on evangelism for a sport so menaced by the misapprehensions of an increasingly urban society? As many as 73% of Horse Country guests have never previously or only occasionally been exposed to any equine experience. Even before being drawn into this global crisis, remember, the industry had spent much of the previous year struggling to demonstrate its commitment to the welfare of noble animals sometimes reduced by breakdowns and/or corrupt use of pharmaceuticals.

In reality, these different types of traction are actually continuous. Because whoever takes a Horse Country tour, whether as novice or aficionado, will come away knowing that the Bluegrass way of life starts and ends with the Thoroughbred.

For this is no artificial show, spinning some artful marketing message. The idea is simply to remove all barriers, real or perceived, between the horse and the world beyond the paddock rails. That transparency, that belief, has sustained dynamic growth through what remains, at no more than six years, the relatively brief history of Horse Country.

To Price Bell, whose family’s Mill Ridge Farm has been a key partner from the outset, that trust–in the wonder of the Thoroughbred, and the candour of the experience–gives Horse Country seamless application. If anything, in fact, the disastrous severing of access during the pivotal tour season (wiping out projected revenue between March and June of $345,000, and stacking up refunds of $150,000) has only served to emphasize that reach. For the improvisation of virtual tours has given a staggering new dimension to public engagement, with over 2.5 million views in 12 weeks.

“What I’m so proud of is that we’d lost 40% of our budget, and all the pre-bookings for this year,” Bell says. “And instead of just saying, ‘Woe is me,’ we said, ‘Okay, well, how do we keep pushing the mission?’ Claiborne kicked off the first virtual tour and their series has generated over 550,000 views. Mill Ridge has had 430,000 views. It’s been incredible.

“It was mid-March, and everyone was in a tailspin. So there was not a lot of planning. It was just, like, ‘Hey, let’s see if we can share the peace of these pastures with you.’ And we had a ton of first responders and medical workers who wrote to say how much it meant to them, how they were going to the E.R. every day and how just being out in the field gave them peace.'”

That heart-warming feedback came from one end of the spectrum. But Bell was also gratified to receive enthusiastic messages from industry peers. One prominent breeder sent him a selfie while tuning out from the stresses of the day with a glass of bourbon and a virtual tour.

“That was a good touch point,” Bell says. “I thought, okay, if guys like this are consuming these, that’s got to be good. This has to be worth continuing.”

Then there came a warm message from Tanya Gunther, after a friend had forwarded footage of Bell’s father Headley illuminating viewers about the success of Glennwood Farm. She’s a shareholder in Mill Ridge’s stallion, Oscar Performance, so here was an alternative interaction during lockdown. Even in a time of mass alienation, Horse Country had shown–from exhausted nurses to important clients–an unfailing ability to connect.

It’s sometimes been difficult, for the hosts of virtual tours, to know quite where they’re going. “But in your gut it feels like the right thing to do,” Bell says. “And then you get all these moments, whether it be the front-line workers, or potential customers, or existing clients. And when you hear how much they enjoy it, you’re like, ‘Well, yeah, we got to keep doing this.'”

And that, again, has all been an exercise in transparency and confidence. There have been live feeds, live questions, live comments. There’s no rehearsal, no window-dressing. And, judging from some of the comments received, the direct nature of that connection has won trust, hearts, minds. Here are a few samples:

“Seeing this behind-the-scenes operation will make watching racing more enjoyable for me.”

“This was wonderful… I hope you all will continue doing these even after social distancing is no longer a factor. For those of us who don’t live close by it keeps us connected to the horses.”

“Thank you!!! Can’t wait to see the foals from season one start racing!!!”

“We could never thank you enough for opening up the farm to us on these wonderful virtual tours. You made enduring this pandemic so enjoyable. I learned so much… What was so wonderful was learning the history of your family and the farm.”

“Hello from Seton Medical Center–I’m screening to [patient] visitors rt now!”

“You made my little grandniece so happy today by chatting with her. Thank you for making a little girl’s day. Hope to see you all real soon in person.”

“All the foals I now feel as though I know, I will follow as they get to the track… I hope it may be a whole new market for the racing industry.”

Even in extremis, then, the project has been proving its value. But what has changed, temporarily but critically, is its viability.

Before the pandemic hit, Horse Country was on the brink of a confirmed sustainability. A maturing product had shown that it merited marketing spend, and enthused members were investing in making the experience better yet.

The belated resumption of tours, a couple of weeks ago, remains drastically confined by regulations on social distancing. As things stand, even with a very small payroll half-furloughed until September, the numbers will no longer add up this fall. And, should that happen, the open embrace of Horse Country will revert to the folded arms and averted gaze that discouraged outsiders in times past.

“To me, the great success story of Horse Country was that it had shown that it can be sustainable,” Bell reflects. “We weren’t crowding an already crowded marketplace, with the annual fundraiser, annual gala, annual contribution. We came with a business plan that was sustainable, and thus could celebrate the wonderful work of all the incredible charities that so many of us support and not compete with them.

“And then the coronavirus happens. So, the question is: are we valuable enough, in this time of extreme need, for the industry to come together and help keep the lights on?”

Happily, that question should be less difficult to answer now that the necessary red tape has been unravelled to give Horse Country flexible charitable status and eligibility for tax-deductible donations. (The Bluegrass Community Foundation, as a 501 (c3) non-profit organization, is hosting a designated fund for this purpose.) That lifeline has come just in time for an organization hitherto dependent, for industry-wide benefit, on the dedication of relatively few partners–some of whom have in effect been contributing hundreds of thousands by deferring or renouncing tour payments.

“We don’t know when we can get back to giving tours on a sustainable level,” Bell explains. “Members have been giving them for free for six to nine months, all the proceeds going to sustaining the organization. They’ve done a lot. Hopefully they can do more. But our hope is that our industry can recognize the value of what we’re doing, and the need. Maybe you didn’t get involved because you didn’t have a farm, or maybe you do have a farm but didn’t want tours. But now here’s the opportunity, with this fund, that you can support us.”

Even as it was, sales were on track to exceed even a budgeted 36% increase in sales across the fiscal year. Horse Country had established a virtuous circle by which greater sales lead to more marketing, which leads to more sales and ultimately more evangelists for the industry. A meeting had accordingly been scheduled with a major industry organization, with a view to an injection of marketing funds, the very week of the shutdown.

“That’s the great irony of it all,” says Bell ruefully. “There we were, kind of at that inflection point of starting to have a slight surplus of revenue that we could then pile back into marketing, into pushing our utilization. We had not wanted to ask for help; had not, perhaps, made a very good job of showing our vulnerabilities. As a start-up, you have to be scrappy; you like to work out your issues yourselves. And we’d almost gotten through that.

“We felt we had shown proof of concept, we felt we were growing. With one more member doing daily tours, we felt would really be able to get to the next level. To use Mill Ridge as an example, we hired an Experience Co-ordinator last year–and were on pace for her to pay for herself in a full year, because we’d seen such growth. That snowball was really starting to roll down the mountain. And then the pandemic happened.”

Hopefully, then, it’s only a question of fire-fighting. Horse Country has already shown that it is a sustainable model, so long as it can negotiate this crisis. Now it just needs enough people to recognize not just the merit of what has already been achieved, but also the still greater potential suggested in the process.

After all, the whole premise of the tour–emulating the Bourbon Trail’s model for sharing resources and insights–was that the community’s sum can be greater than its parts.

Some members have stoked the engine throughout. Claiborne observed a tradition of openness from the outset, and duly produced the first virtual tour four days after the Horse Country office closed. Coolmore generously harnessed the windfall of public interest when welcoming the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years. Many members have been hiring specialist staff and/or upgrading tour facilities.

By no means everyone in our community is in a position to do these things. Yes, Horse Country is always eager for new members willing to operate new tours. But its appeal is to every single one of us. It wants us to show that community means commitment; to show that we are all stakeholders in a way of life that is the cultural and commercial signature of the Bluegrass.

Do we really want to go back to hiding behind a post-and-rail palisade, and asking every intrigued newcomer to show credentials first? For all we know, remember, any Horse Country bus rolling down the drive may contain some future magnate of our business, making his or her first ever visit to a farm. But any home run of that kind would just be a bonus. This is about the incremental gains, the sense of homecoming that can be awakened across all tiers of society.

And the stakes, now, cannot be stated too starkly. “The lights go off in September,” Bell says. “We don’t think we can count on our existing business model until there’s a vaccine or until travel really picks back up. So if you are inspired by the way we’ve been creating fans, the way we’ve been sharing the story of the horse, then we could really use your support right now. I hope that anyone touched by this industry will be able to say: ‘I hadn’t considered this organization as a need–but I can see how they’re trying, I’m proud of what they’re doing, and I want to keep them going.'”

If you are interested in supporting Horse Country,
contact Executive Director Anne Hardy directly at ahardy@visithorsecountry.com or make an online donation here https://bgcf.givingfuel.com/horsecountry.

The post Your Horse Country Needs You! appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post