Freestyle Fairy is not in a good mood. “When they prick their ears back like that, they’re getting ready to bite you,” says Leslie Combs.
The man with the southern US accent is standing in the stall of the two-year-old thoroughbred and wants to pet the horse’s snout, but the horse flinches.
Freestyle Fairy can get away with this behaviour from time to time. This is Magdalena Farm, near Lexington in the US state of Kentucky. From this place, where lush green fields stretch from hill to hill, come some of the best racehorses in the world.
“There’s more horses than there are people,” says Combs, whose own name stands on the gold-plated buckle of the belt he wears. In 2012, Kentucky University counted 24,600 horses here in Fayette County, more than double as many as any other US county. The tourist bureau here calls the region the “Horse Capital of the World.”
Man o’ War, considered by horse professionals the best racehorse of the 20th century, has its own statue here and a highway dedicated to it. The splendid animals that graze here behind kilometres of wooden fencing on seemingly endless pastureland look like something from a storybook.
Horse breeding in Kentucky’s idyllic back country is not just a quaint pursuit, but a good way to make a killing. The owner of Seattle Slew obtained 800,000 dollars for the right for the famous stud horse to couple with a mare.
The record-holder however is Northern Dancer from Ontario, Canada, which fetched a US million dollars for the same service.
Often well remunerated derbies are only a second income source, after such huge breeding fees. Four years ago, the owners in Fayette County estimated the value of their animals at 2.6 billion dollars.
Controlling thoroughbreds during mating is a dangerous undertaking. Padding on hooves and teeth protect the partner animal against kicking and biting, while the human helpers wear helmets and heavy protective vests.
“Most dangerous job in the whole industry is the guy who actually handles the stallion during that breeding,” says Combs. The process takes only a few seconds, and then a few weeks later an ultrasound will reveal if the mare is pregnant.
The rate of success ranges between 80 and 90 per cent. Payment comes only when the foal is born, can stand by itself and drink its mother’s milk.
So many purebreds draw the bluest of bloods to the Blue Grass State as buyers. Queen Elizabeth II of Britain, for example, long one of the most important breeders in her country, has bought steeds here.
The renowned Juddmonte Farm is run by a cousin of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah.
Fabled Arabian horses can be admired at the Kentucky Horse Park — a combination farm, museum and amusement park centred around horses, which also offers horse “shopping.”
Money pours into this county from people who dream of owning perfect horses and have the wealth to pay for their expensive hobby. Two like that who “had money coming out of their ears,” in Combs’ words, were Miles Franklin Yount, who in 1925 discovered oil in Texas, and his wife Pansy, who inherited everything when Franklin died of a heart attack.
The widow and daughter built a vast mansion and breeding farm, Spindletop Hall, that today is valued at 17 million dollars and houses the upscale University of Kentucky Faculty, Staff, and Alumni Club.
Not far away is Castleton Lyons, an estate that Shane Ryan came into after the death of his father Tony, the founder of Ryanair. To remind him of his native Ireland, the elder Ryan had a “medieval” limestone castle built in the state.
Today Shane is trying his hand at breeding thoroughbreds.
Thanks to the huge inflow of money, lucky horses here can expect first-class care from day one. For example that two-day-old foal on the Millenium Farm standing unsteadily on its feet next to his mother was and will continue to be regally looked after because of its promise.
There are two horse hospitals in the area, and until that foal is sold, it will be cosseted and pampered. Only then will the new owner decide if he has the physicality and character of a winning racehorse.
“You gotta know who they are,” says Dean Langford, who nurtures and grooms the horses on Magdalena Farm. “They got personality.” —DPA