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4.14 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 1 0 9 and simple, in keeping with the rest of the horses buried there, but incongruous with the greatness of their careers. Such names as Pulpit, Swale, Mr. Prospector and Nijinsky II form a veritable who's who of racing and breeding fame. O n a sunny but oppressively cold morning, Claiborne stallion associate Jon Niehaus shows me around the grounds. All of the farm's stallions are out in their paddocks, unfazed by the weather as lingering steam rises from their coats. Some have already been to the breeding shed this morning. Some await an afternooner. Niehaus is a human racing and pedigree encyclopedia, rattling of specifc races and lineages with absurd rapidity. As he recites and segues, he rattles the gate of a paddock and signals for a bay horse maybe 20 yards away. Te horse sports a splashy white blaze and pricks his ears before ambling toward us. It's War Front, a solid but unspectacular racehorse who has quickly ascended into the ranks of elite stallions. Tis year's breeders wishing to send a mare to Claiborne's biggest gun will pay $150,000 for his services. His progeny, including European champion Declaration of War, have proven to be high-class, versatile and fast runners. As a result, he gets only the best mares. Zenyatta is currently carrying a War Front baby and is scheduled to be re-bred to him — Success breeds success. War Front is a son of the wildly successful Claiborne stallion Danzig, who in 2008 became the frst U.S. stallion to have his ofspring reach 200 stakes wins. Behaviorally, Niehaus describes War Front as a "1,500-pound puppy dog." From an adjacent paddock another horse whinnies and War Front pricks his ears. As it turns out, the whinny comes from Blame, the only horse Zenyatta never passed en route to infamously winning the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic. Bernie Sams swears A second era under way: Although today's Calumet horses carry operator Brad Kelley's black-with- gold-chevrons racing silks, the traditional devil's red (and a cupola of blue) still dress up the farm's stallion barns and mare stables. Above, white fences line the spacious property just east of Keenel- and Racecourse on Versailles Road. 98-111.indd 109 3/20/14 10:09 AM