Kentucky Horse Blog - Jennifer Karlen

Frankfort KY Horse Therapy Barn Fire

The Lexington Kentucky newspaper the Lexington Herald-Leader had an article today regarding a barn fire for a Frankfort KY horse farm. The barn was located in southern Franklin County Kentucky and killed 6 out of the 7 horses. A secondary sad aspect is that the horses were used in a therapy program for disabled riders.

It is believed that lightning struck the Stewart Home School barn at approximately 7:00 pm on Monday which started the fire. A cook saw the lightning strike, and managed to get 1 of the horses out. The lone survivor was Tia Marie. She had scorched hair on her back, but no serious injuries.

The Stewart Home School has 400 students on its 850 acre horse farm and was established 114 years ago for students with intellectual disabilities. More…

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Keeneland Breeding Stock Sales - World Record

The Lexington Herald-Leader newspaper reported on the Keeneland Breeding Stock Sales and that a world record for a broodmare had been set.

Playful Act sold for $10.5 million to Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum.  It was the 4th highest price ever for a horse sold at a public auction.  The previous record was a little over $9.1 million for the sale of Magical Romance at the 2006 Tattersalls December sale.

Playful Act is the daughter of Sadler’s Wells and Magnificent Style.

Not surprisingly, the 2 bidders inching up the price were Coolmore Stud and Sheikh Mohammad.  The Dubai ruler won out.

Another horse that did quite well in the auction was Spun Sugar which sold for $4.5 million.  Spun Sugar is currently in foal to A.P. Indy.   This…

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Grade 1 Winners sell for millions in Fasig Tipton November selection mixed sale

The Lexington Kentucky newspaper the Lexington Herald-Leader had an article today about the Grade 1 winners that were put up for sale at auction at Keeneland on Sunday November 4, 2007.

The 2 top horses were of course Round Pond, and Octave.

Round Pond sold for $5.75 million to John Ferguson who is a bloodstock agent that purchased on behalf of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashin al Maktoum.  This price was the highest sale since 1985 during when Oceana sold for $7 million.  Round Pond is a 5 year old mare, and the daughter of Awesome Again.  This mare’s race career included a 5.5 length win in the 2006 Breeder’s Cup.

Octave was bid for $4 million also to Ferguson - but there was controversy as Ferguson signed the ticket.  Apparently,…

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Governor signs order to help Kentucky farmers get hay

Governor Ernie Fletcher signed an order to help Kentucky farmers get hay.  This order removes the size & weight restrictions for transportation that is bringing hay or other livestock feeds into KY.

It also removes the need for permit fees for oversized or overweight vehicles carrying those feeds.

Companies transporting the feeds will still be required to obtain the required permitting for routing verification.

This is a big help to get some hay into Kentucky.  KY hay production is estimated to be down 50% from the previous year in 2006.

You can contact the Hay Hotline that the Department of Agriculture has provided at 1-888-567-9589.  Persons that want to buy or sell hay, are able to get on, or review the lists there.

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North American International Livestock Exposition November 3-16 2007

The Shelbyville Kentucky newspaper, The Sentinel-News, wrote an article yesterday about the North American International Livestock Exposition (NAILE) to be held November 3-16 2007 at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville Kentucky.

This year, they expect over 22,000 entries into 140 categories and competitions - and more than 200,000 visitors will be in attendance during the North American International Livestock Exposition 2 week event.

Some of the animals to be at the show this year include:

Horses

Goats

Dairy cattle

Llamas

Alpacas

Donkeys

Boer goats

Mules

Beef Cattle

Hogs

Sheep

And a new addition to the North American International Livestock Exposition this year is the Saddle Mule & Donkey show which is going to be…

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Versailles Kentucky Horse Farm sells for $2 million

The Versailles Kentucky newspaper, The Woodford Sun wrote an interesting article today about a Versailles Kentucky horse farm known as Liberty Farm LLC.

Liberty Farm LLC (formerly known as Stockwood Farm) sold approximately 122 acres at 3945 W. Leestown Road to DeGraff Stables Kentucky LLC for $2,004,450 on October 24 2007 per the deed of record in the Woodford County Clerk’s office.

DeGraff Stables Kentucky LLC has announced on their site that they are participating in the 2008 Kentucky Bred Incentive Program. They continued with additional information that included information about their purchase. According to their site, the 122 acres they purchased includes 21 paddocks, 3 barns, & 55 stalls.

DeGraff Stables is based in Port Clinton Ohio, and…

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Breeders Cup Classic 2007 Winner Curlin

The results are in for the $5 million Breeders Cup Classic 2007:  Curlin is the winner.

This almost assuredly locks Curlin in for the Horse of the Year award.  Curlin won The Preakness, the Jockey Club Gold Cup and was a contender in the Kentucky Derby finishing 3rd behind rival 2nd place finisher Hard Spun and Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense.

Curlin ran the 1 1/4 mile race in 2:00.59 and won the Breeders Cup Classic by 4 1/2 lengths.  He paid $10.80 to win.   (Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense finished 4th.)

Monmouth Park in Oceanport New Jersey hosted this years Breeders Cup Classic, and 41,781 persons were in attendance.  The Breeders Cup Classic is America’s richest race with $2.7 million going to the winner.

The Breeders Cup Classic was a…

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Churchill Downs will not host Breeders Cup in 2008 or possibly 2009

The Louisville KY newspaper The Courier-Journal reports in the October 27 2007 edition, that Churchill Downs racetrack may no longer host the Breeders Cup World Championships.

Churchill Downs has hosted the Breeders Cup World Championships a record 6 times - and has gathered the championship’s largest attendance in 5 of those 6 years, including most recently in 2006.

But when the bidding came for the 2008 event, Churchill Downs didn’t even make a bid to be host for next year’s competition. And taking it a step further, Churchill Downs has not indicated any interest in hosting it for 2009 either.

Officials for Churchill Downs in Louisville Kentucky have complained that their racetrack gets so little money from the event, that its not worth the effort…

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2010 World Equestrian Games Vendor Registration

As of October 15 2007, vendors can now begin registering for space at the 2010 World Equestrian Games that will be held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington Kentucky. This event is held once every 4 years and for the first time, are being held outside of Europe. This event also marks another first - 8 world champions in 8 different equestrian disciplines will be crowned during the event. All 8 disciplines have never been held at a single event on a single site.

There are currently 3000 vendors that have indicated interest in the space. It is estimated that there will be 600,000 people in attendance for the games September 25 - October 10 2010. Kentucky statewide impact estimates are in the $150 million range.

Registration requires an initial deposit…

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Masters in Ranch Management College Degree

Texas A&M University is now the first university offering a masters degree program for Ranch Management. This degree requires standard graduate level business courses as well as studies in rangeland specialties, animal nutrition, and wildlife management.

One interesting example that is cited was the various students in the program using laptop computers that were strewn with lengthy calculations that was an equation for determining how to get the most beef from various pasture grass.

This program appears to be growing quickly. The first graduating class had 2 persons. The current class has 4 persons. And now there are 20 applicants for next year’s class (7 were accepted). The class size is intentionally kept small so that it remains an elite program…

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