Sunday, November 09, 2008
Alyshebas Arrival
With his bay coat gleaming and his feisty temperament on full display, Alysheba looked fabulous Friday afternoon upon his arrival at the Kentucky Horse Park. One of his first moves was to try to bite Chris McCarron, his jockey and partner in winning the 1987 Kentucky Derby.
Alysheba returned to the United States as a gift to the American people from Saudi Arabian King Abdullah. The son of Alydar has lived in Saudi Arabia for eight years since leaving Lane’s End Farm. He retired from breeding two years ago.
The gift of Alysheba was a result of a chance remark that President George W. Bush made while on a state visit to Saudi Arabia last January. King Abdullah was showing him the horses at his 2,000-acre Janadria Farm near Riyadh when the King asked the President if he was familiar with Alysheba, since the horse had come from the United States.
Bush reportedly replied, “Everybody knows Alysheba.” The King then began to realize how important this horse was to Americans. He decided to return the horse to the United States as a gift.
King Abdullah quite correctly realized that Americans love Alysheba. Upwards of 400 persons attended the welcome home ceremony Friday at the Horse Park. McCarron, along with Alysheba’s trainer, Jack Van Berg, and Preston Madden, co-breeder with his wife, Anita Madden, were among those who shared their memories of Alysheba during the welcoming ceremonies. Another who spoke was Frank McGovern, general manager for King Abdullah’s racing and breeding operations. He accompanied Alysheba on the horse’s journey, which took approximately two months.
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Alyshebas Arrival
Written by Maryjean Wall
Visit Maryjean Wall's new site at "
Celebrating the Horse"
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Featured Farm: Stonewall Farm
Few places in the Bluegrass countryside seem more suited to ghostly hoof beats clattering up and down the road than Stonewall Farm. Confederate guerrilla fighters and William Quantrill’s outlaws rode through the front gates of this estate. Founders of the Kentucky horse industry also entered past these gate posts, for Stonewall was among farms clustered at the heart of the early horse business.
Neither the outlaws nor Major Warren Viley, who founded Stonewall Farm in 1852, would believe how the property has changed. The present owner, Audrey Haisfield, began a major architectural and landscaping makeover upon acquiring Stonewall in 2005. The new look is an attention-catcher from U. S. 62 for people driving by between Midway and Versailles.
A lake, multiple fountains, and barns finished in brick are among the new features. The stallion complex includes such architectural details as a stained glass transom depicting the young stallion, Medaglio d’Oro, and his jockey. Immediately inside the barn, to each side of this entrance, lie two resting places that reveal an interior designer’s touch. Inside the stalls, stallions stand in bright yellow straw that is elbow-deep. A drop-down viewing screen inside the barn can be activated for the showing of any stallion’s races.
Chandeliers hang in the open cupolas of the stallion barn; travelers along U. S. 62 can see the lighted chandeliers from the road after dark. Other nighttime views from the road reveal lighted street lamps and four fountains shooting watery plumes in yellow and blue.
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Featured Farm: Stonewall Farm
Written by Maryjean Wall
Visit Maryjean Wall's new site at "
Celebrating the Horse"
Monday, October 20, 2008
Claiborne, Where History Lives
Memory of Secretariat lives large at Claiborne Farm, where the Triple Crown winner of 1973 stood throughout his breeding career.
The memories live in the brass plaque bearing his name and affixed to the stall he once occupied. Memories are etched into his grave marker laid over him in the cemetery out behind the office.
Memory also lives in the reverence spoken at Claiborne Farm for this great horse who always left his visitors awestruck. Thousands of visitors passed through these gates to see him when he lived, for he was king of Thoroughbred horsedom.
Those privileged to visit him at Claiborne recall how he loved to race across his paddock, flashing that blazing speed that had been his signature on the race track. They tell how Secretariat seemed to laugh at the world as he reached the fence, stopping on a dime from a full gallop. He never overshot his mark.
Secretariat did not make Claiborne Farm. Long before Secretariat retired here at age 3 in the autumn of 1973, these thousands of historic acres had been home to some of the world’s most royally-bred Thoroughbred stallions. Yet not one of these stallions had drawn the same size crowds to Claiborne as had Secretariat. He was the people’s horse.
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Claiborne, Where History Lives
Written by Maryjean Wall
Visit Maryjean Wall's new site at "
Celebrating the Horse"
