Airdrie Stud

Former Kentucky Governor and Airdrie Stud founder Brereton Jones died at age 84 on Monday. His Sept. 18 passing was announced via social media by current Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear. No cause of death or details about services were listed, although the current governor's posting said the Jones family would release a statement in the coming days. Jones was governor from 1991 to 1995, and is best remembered in politics as a reformist who advocated for universal health care in Kentucky. He had previously served as lieutenant governor under Governor...

Shannon Castagnola has been named as Airdrie Stud's new director of sales, the Midway nursery said in a release Friday afternoon. Helping to head up both the stallion nominations and public sales divisions, Castagnola managed the yearling and breeding stock consignments for Woodford Thoroughbreds for the past nine years. "I am thrilled to be working with the incredible Airdrie Stud team," said Castagnola. "It's energizing to be working with a farm this diversified and with such a tremendous history of success. From the beautifully bred mares whose families have been...

1st-SAR, $136k, Msw, 2yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 1:10 p.m. ET The Niarchos Family's Flaxman Holdings went to $1.3 million for GI Jenny Wiley S. heroine Daisy Devine (Kafwain) at the 2013 Keeneland November Sale, and her daughter CARINA NEBULA (Into Mischief) gets her first taste of the races Sunday. The versatile dam, who also won the 2011 GII Fair Grounds Oaks, is a 100% producer from five to the races, and Carina Nebula makes the trip up from Fair Hill, where she most recently breezed five furlongs over the all-weather...

For over a half century, Airdrie Stud has grown into one of the most recognizable names in the breeding industry. Well known for producing future stakes horses, developing stallions or selling livestock, the Midway, Kentucky operation has become part of the very fabric of racing. And while the nursery, founded in 1972 by Governor Brereton Jones and his wife Elizabeth, has been a fixture at the yearling sales for much of its history, its return to the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale offers a departure from its sale's program in...

Bill Strauss and Bret Jones have both been named to the Board of Directors of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. The two, who are the first new members added to the board since three members were added in 2018, bring the total number of current board members to 11. "We've made ourselves better and stronger with the addition of these two fine gentlemen," said board member and Del Mar CEO Joe Harper. "When you can pick up a pair of individuals who love racing and have rich histories in the...

Antony Beck (Gainesway Farm), Alan Cooper (Niarchos Family/Flaxman Holdings Ltd.) and Bret Jones (Airdrie Stud) were each re-elected to serve a four-year term on the Breeders' Cup Board, the organization said in a release Wednesday afternoon. "We congratulate Antony, Alan and Bret upon their re-election to the Board," said Barbara Banke, Chairman of Breeders' Cup Limited. "We look forward to their continued advice and counsel to the Company in many important initiatives, including critical areas of equine safety and welfare and further enhancing the growth and international impact of the...

3rd-Belterra, $23,700, (S), Msw, 6-29, 2yo, f, 5f, :59.70, ft, 3 3/4 lengths. ARTISTIC LANEY (f, 2, Preservationist--Artistic License {SW, $196,488}, by Heart of the Storm), chilly on the board at 9-1 in her afternoon debut, tucked in behind the leading duo of Pretty Patty (Bold Warrior) and Twisted Justice (Biondetti), content to sit off them through fractions of :22.73 and :48.80. Shaken up to take the lead with a four-wide move into the stretch, she was easily the class of the field to the wire, hitting the line 3...

We are all the products of our environment. Tim Thornton could see as much, when he saw a foal that had been delivered at sea trying to walk on dry land for the first time. "He was, like, six weeks old," he recalls. "It was so funny to see him get off that ship, rocking everywhere, giving it the sea legs." But then that's pretty well how Thornton himself might have felt, as one born and bred for horses, had he ever been torn away to work in some other...

Edited Press Release As One Racing Stables has launched its first diverse and inclusive racing partnership. The group will race under the As One Racing banner and has acquired its first equine athlete to promote the group's mission and vision. As One Racing was formed by a group of six like-minded individuals with a desire to grow the sport by broadening its base and bringing new faces to the industry. Turning to history, the group recognized the need for the African American community that had once been a vital part...

Just six days after the passing of his owner Burt Bacharach, Afternoon Deelites, a six-time graded-stakes winner, was euthanized Feb. 14 at Old Friends, the Kentucky-based Thoroughbred retirement farm, due to complications from colic. He was 31. Old Friends President and Founder Michael Blowen announced his passing Wednesday morning. The dark bay stallion, who was the farm's oldest resident, was just two weeks shy of his 31st birth date. Bred by Blue Seas Music Inc., the son of Private Terms--Intimate Girl, by Medaille d'Or, was foaled in West Virginia on...

Born just a day apart in the same foaling barn, two daughters of Girvin once roamed the same Bluegrass fields in their early days at Airdrie Stud. On Saturday, the duo will meet again as 'TDN Rising Star' Faiza and stakes-placed Blessed Touch enter the starting gate for the GI Starlet S. at Los Alamitos Race Course. The Brereton C. Jones-bred fillies represent two of the 20 winners this year for fast-starting first-crop stallion Girvin, who has relocated from Ocala Stud to Airdrie for the 2023 breeding season. With four...

GSW & MGISP American Freedom (Pulpit--Gottcha Last, by Pleasant Tap) has been sold to Bob and Tyree Wolesensky's Leadem Farm and will stand stud in Arkansas beginning the 2023 breeding season. American Freedom will command a stud fee of $3,500 LF. He stood at Airdrie Stud his first four seasons. The purchase was facilitated by Brock Martin and Steve Castagnola of Taylor Made Sales Agency. "We wanted to find the perfect match for Arkansas breeders and we are very happy with this beautiful son of Pulpit," Tyree Wolesensky, President of...