Spendthrift Farm is a thoroughbred race horse breeding farm and burial site in Lexington, Kentucky currently owned by B. Wayne Hughes. It was founded by Leslie Combs II and named for the great stallion Spendthrift, who was owned by Combs' ancestor, Daniel Swigert of Elmendorf Farm. Spendthrift was the great-grandfather of Man o' War. Although Spendthrift Farm is known mostly as a commercial breeding operation, they maintain a small racing stable as well. Their most notable runners are Beholder, a 4-time Eclipse Award winning mare, Lord Nelson, a three-time Gr.I winning sprinter, and Court Vision, who won the Breeders' Cup Mile and now stands at Spendthrift.
History
In 1966 Majestic Prince was foaled at Spendthrift, bred by Combs. The famous son of Raise A Native later was returned to the farms and died there in 1981. In 1979, the great Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew was retired to stud and stood at Spendthrift until 1987. Spendthrift Farms went public in 1983. In 1984 Queen Elizabeth II visited Spendthrift Farms to view not only Seattle Slew but also Affirmed as possible studs for her stable of Thoroughbreds containing 22 broodmares. In 1988, Spendthrift Farms filed for bankruptcy. The farm was acquired out of bankruptcy the next year by Terry McBrayer, Curtis C. Green, Henry "Cap" Hershey, and William du Pont III Spendthrift Farms was sold in a foreclosure auction to MetLife in 1993. MetLife resold it to lawyer Ted Taylor the next year. In 2000, the farm was acquired by Bruce Klein. In 2004, B. Wayne Hughes, the founder of Public Storage, purchased the historic farm.
Burial site
Along with being a breeding facility in the 1960s and 70's, several important racehorses are buried at the farm. These include, Nashua, Never Bend, Prince John, Raise A Native, Gallant Man, Caro, and Valdez. Landaluce was moved to the farm from the Hollywood Park Racetrack in 2014 after the racetrack closed.
Stallion roster
As of 2017, the stallions that they stand in Kentucky are: Malibu Moon is the sire of Kentucky Derby winner Orb, and was a top 10 sire in North America from 2010 to 2013 and again in 2015. His stud fee for the 2017 season is $75,000, the highest at Spendthrift Farm. Spendthrift Farm also owns shares in regional stallions, including Flashpoint, who stands in Louisiana, Normandy Invasion, who stands in New York, and Freedom Child and Super Ninety Nine, who both stand in Maryland.
