Kentucky Breeding

"I think this filly's cheating on me." Well, if that was the opinion of a Hall of Fame trainer, who could argue? Least of all a woman, in the male-dominated Bluegrass of the mid-1970s. But Headley Bell remembers that when Frank Whiteley Jr. sent Nicosia (Gallant Romeo) home to Mill Ridge, his late mother Alice Chandler was not ready to give up. After all, this was a daughter of Nicoma (Nashua), whose previous foal had just won a Grade I; and Alice's husband, Dr. John Chandler, suggested that maybe the...

From the outside looking in, Jaron Kohari had an idyllic childhood growing up in Belfry, Kentucky. Raised by his mother and step-father, alongside two half-brothers, Kohari found his place in the world of sports as he played basketball, baseball and football. Though he maintained good grades, participated in plenty of extracurricular activities and even won two state championships at Belfry High School, Kohari was plagued with an underlying darkness in the form of manic-depressive bipolar disorder. Always looking to quell the constant turmoil in his mind, he found the solution...

Needless to say, all four tried to reject their billing. Between them, after all, they have spent the better part of three centuries dealing with that vehicle of humility, the Thoroughbred. To everyone else present, however, the opportunity to tap into the experience of four such sages as Bill Landes, Frank Penn, Tom Thornbury and John Williams fully justified the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers Club in promoting their latest meeting in Lexington as "An Evening with Legends." Each, moreover, could be consoled that one of the first tasks addressed--an acknowledgement...

Edited Press Release Awards are on the way to Kentucky's Thoroughbred breeders participating in the commonwealth's Thoroughbred Breeders' Incentive Fund (KTBIF) program. The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) announces the release of $16.2 million through the KTBIF. "Our horse farm families are the backbone of our racing industry, and I'm proud to support the Incentive Fund that keeps mares and foals in Kentucky," said Gov. Andy Beshear. According to the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, the Kentucky Equine industry generates $6.5 billion and supports more than 60,000 jobs. In fact, 2023 was...

The ever-growing threat to American life that is coronavirus COVID-19 has rapidly chipped away at horse racing's business after shutting down the affairs of all major sports. Only a handful of tracks are choosing to stay open without spectators as of this writing, and news of the four-month postponement of the GI Kentucky Derby drove home once and for all that the sport would not be unaffected by this crisis. But deeper into the heart of Kentucky than the Twin Spires, are stallion and breeding farms. As much as racetracks,...

The Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP) will host the fourth annual KEEP Day in Frankfort Thursday, Mar. 12, it announced Teusday. KEEP Day in Frankfort provides KEEP grassroots members, industry leaders and breed associations an opportunity to share with state legislators the importance of horses to their districts and to the state's economy. The event will take place from 8:30-10:30 a.m. in Room 125 in the Capitol Annex. "KEEP Day in Frankfort is a great opportunity for legislators to connect with the horse industry to learn exactly what makes this...