Kentucky 2007: The Miraculous Breeding Shed!

Here it is again -- a place on earth which touches Heaven. Here is Claiborne Farm's breeding shed. Violet is a Claiborne girl. She has the bloodlines of very important stallions and mares who met in this shed.

I am so glad that I got to see this living slice of history!

Kentucky 2007: Blenheim's Grave

Here's is Blenheim's gravestone. He is among the many important stallions who lived at Claiborne Farms. He was purchased by the Aga Khan even though he only topped out at 15.3 and was straight in his front pasterns! As a 2 year-old for the Aga Khan, he raced 7: 4-3-0. And then ended his race career with a 10: 5-3-0 record.

As a sire, he was fabulous. He produced Mumtaz Begum the dam of Nasrullah. In 1936, the Aga Khan sold him for $250,000 to the American syndicate headed by A.B. Hancock, Sr. of the wonderful institution, Claiborne Farms. Among his greats, Blenheim sired Whirlaway (1941 Triple Crown Winner), and Jet Pilot (1947 Kentucky Derby winner). In the United States, Blenheim lives through his Nasrullah and Mahmoud lines. And in Europe, he lives through Crepello and Alycidon!

Kentucky 2007: Swale and Round Table's graves

The Claiborne Family Cemetary is truly amazing and a wonderful place to visit. Here are two graves right across from Secretariat's in which Swale and Round Table rest. Round Table was born on April 6, 1954, the exact same day as Bold Ruler. Both horses were truly amazing, both on the track and then in the shed -- so it is truly a miraculous event that they were born on the same farm on the same day!

Anyway, Round Table's record was 66: 43-8-5 and $1,749,869. He earned Horse of the Year, a Handicap Champion award, was grass champion for 3 consecutive years, and an all-time leading money winner when he retired. He was consistent, sound, game, travelled a lot, and very productive for his family. When he was a colt, the Hancock's sold a majority interest in him and managed to save their farm after the death of A.B. Hancock, Sr. What a good boy Round Table was! Anyway, he sired 401 foals and had a 21% stakes winner percentage, just shy of Bold Ruler's 23% rating! He was so famous and so loved that even 5 years after being pensioned from breeding, at a ripe old age, the Queen of England changed her travel plans in 1984 in order to visit him. She wanted to see her relative, since her father had sold Knight's Daughter who was Round Table's dam! He passed away in 1987 at the very nicely old age of 33!

Now, Swale is a sad story. He is Seattle Slew's son and in his short life from 1981-1984, he earned the Champion 3 year-old award, and won both the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, among others. His final abbreviated record was 14: 9-2-2. He won the Belmont on June 9th, 1984 and passed away of a heart attack on June 17th, 1984 while having a bath! He rests with the greatest!

Kentucky 2007: The Claiborne Breeding Shed!

Okay, so here it is! The Breeding Shed at Claiborne Farms -- our piece of American equine history! The motto of the good people who manage this place is "take care of the horses." And they care about being "practical and solid rather than fancy and showy." A.B. Hancock was from a pillar of equine society in Virginia, but he married into the Kentucky Clay family and began Claiborne Farms, the 2,764 acre facility that shapes our thoroughbred industry.

I will never be able to tell you how important this little black box of a place is! But here's some small statistics to give you an idea. Six of our 11 Triple Crown winners were conceived in this shed! Secretariat was a twinkle in his dad's eye in this shed. The following stallions served in this shed: Nasrullah, Princequillo, Abiorix, Double Jay, Round Table, Bold Ruler, Buckpasser, Forli, Herbager, Hoist the Flag, Secretariat, Nijinsky II, Danzig, and Mr. Prospector! I can't believe that I was standing in the room where Secretariat was made and where he later made Lady's Secret!

What confused me about the facility when we first arrived is that it was just so plain. I kept waiting for the tour guide to say, this is just the holding area, now we'll show you the deluxe shed we have. And the reason I felt that way was because Tom had taken us to a breeding at Hill 'n Dale farm and that place was just swank. The breeding shed was gorgeaus and they had this huge elegant viewing room above the breeding shed. Plus they had this really large area for the veterinarian and other staff and a large room for the washing of the mares and stallion. But Claiborne just has this shed and they use simple paper buckets to wash the horses.

And that's because of their generations of tradition. The shed is a private activity where superstars are conceived. I can hardly believe the great outcomes from such humble beginnings!