Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.
Issue link: https://loumag.epubxp.com/i/283499
4.14 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 1 0 7 A Tale of Two Farms As picturesque as they ever were, the historic horse farms Calumet and Claiborne have taken radically diferent paths to get to where they are today. By Brandon Quick Photos by Ted Tarquinio A pproaching Lexington from the west by way of Versailles Road (U.S. 60) is to slip briefy into a fairy tale. An incongruence of suburban sprawl before you enter the city is bookended by a castle and Calumet Farm — each as fttingly regal as the other. In 1969, when Rex Martin started building the castle for his wife after being inspired by a European vacation, Calumet was a year removed from Forward Pass' Kentucky Derby win. It was the farm's eighth since 1941, efectively making Calumet the Roman Empire of Toroughbred racing. By the mid-'70s, however, Martin's castle was crumbling along with Calumet's prestige. Te white four-board fences and rolling pastures make Calumet one of the most idyllic and recognizable landmarks in horse country. Tose red gates are full of symbolism and history. As they swing open, the pages of the already well-documented narrative begin to turn. Remnants of success and scandal cloak themselves in the general aesthetics of the place. But on a cold February afternoon, a new chapter from that narrative is being written — the renaissance. Breeding season is in and that makes Calumet farm manager Eddie Kane a busy man. Kane, a Los Angeles transplant with a demeanor decidedly more Midwestern, is a polite, patient and pragmatic guy, greeting me warmly when I arrive. We walk through the stallion barns that once housed the most powerful roster of stallions anywhere in the world. Names like Whirlaway, Citation, Tim Tam and Alydar once called this place home. Full of wonderment, I halfway expect one of their ghosts to emerge from the shadows. What emerges instead is Half-A-Bastard, a crude but oddly afectionate name for Calumet's "teaser" horse. Te teaser's job is a thankless one that involves preparing a mare in heat for the duties of the actual stallion. "Half " prances into the breeding shed wearing a strategically placed black apron to prevent him from actually consummating the relationship. His date is with a magnifcent-looking gray mare named Inspired Exchange — ironic, I think, because there's nothing particularly inspiring about the impending exchange. Te four- year-old great-granddaughter of Northern Dancer and Seeking the Gold is making her initial foray into the adventures of breeding after fnishing her race career in October. Half 's job today is to "jump" the flly to ensure she reacts accordingly before her appointment with Calumet stallion Oxbow the next morning. Ever the professional and gentleman, Half snifs her fanks approvingly and raises himself to his hind legs. Te mare whinnies in surprise and Kane nods in approval. She'll meet the better-pedigreed Oxbow at sunrise. It was Oxbow's upset gate-to-wire Preakness victory over Orb last May that signifed Calumet's return as a major breeding operation. Te farm had been established in 1924 for harness-racing Standardbreds by William Monroe Wright, who named it after his baking-powder company. When he died in 1931, his son Warren changed gears, caught Toroughbred fever and made two major acquisitions: a 25 percent stake in powerhouse sire Blenheim II and full ownership of Bull Lea — two horses that quickly enriched the farm's bloodstock. In addition to the eight Derby winners, Calumet claimed two Triple Crowns in the 1940s with Whirlaway in '41 and Citation in '48. Te aforementioned Forward Pass, awarded the '68 Derby win after Dancer's Image was disqualifed, and Alydar carried the farm's colors through the '70s despite the latter narrowly losing all three 1978 Triple Crown races (and seven of 10 overall) to Afrmed. Oxbow marked Calumet's frst victory in a Triple Crown race since Forward Pass. It's what happened in the 45 years separating Forward Pass and Oxbow that became the focus of Ann Hagedorn Auerbach's book Wild Ride: Te Rise and Tragic Fall of Calumet. Te sordid and nefarious goings-on after a 1982 ownership change read like an episode of American Greed, replete with bankruptcy, scandal and possible murder. Despite Alydar's heroics on the 1978 Triple Crown trail, the '70s had been lean by Calumet standards under Gene and Warren Wright widow Lucille Markey. Te decade that followed would prove nightmarish. When Gene Markey died in 1980, followed by his wife in '82, operational management of the farm fell to the eldest of the Wright heirs, granddaughter Lucille Cindy Wright, who had married a former farmhand named J.T. Lundy. According to Auerbach, before marrying Wright, Lundy once told a friend about his ambition to one day run Calumet. Lucille Markey was rumored to have disliked and distrusted Lundy so much she actually kept him from coming on the grounds. As it turned out, grandmother knew best. Lundy began a spending spree, eager to IF YOU WANT TO TOUR HORSE FARMS, THESE TWO SHOULD BE AT THE TOP OF YOUR LIST. 108 TIP 98-111.indd 107 3/19/14 5:36 PM