Additional Farm History

When one thinks about Thoroughbred racing in Kentucky, those thoughts immediately touch on the tradition of the sport. The processes associated with raising good horses are timeless - there are no shortcuts, no hidden formulas, and certainly no secret veterinary procedures that guarantee success.

Breeders interested in producing the best racehorses must engage in the same uncompromising methods to which generations of horsemen have adhered. There is the study of bloodlines, the select breeding of stallions and mares with specific body types, the early nurturing stage, the dedicated feeding program, and the overall care and development of the horse as an individual. One cannot rush the process or forsake even the smallest of details, because Mother Nature must run her course and, like children on a playground, each horse must develop physically at his or her own pace. Applying a uniform program to all young horses is tantamount to giving a regiment of soldiers the same size uniform.

It just doesn't work that way.

Successful breeders evaluate each foal as a unique athlete and prescribe a course of action designed to maximize that horse's physical gifts and apparent talents.

There is no farm with a prouder, more dedicated or more proven sense of tradition than Runnymede Farm. The 365-acre farm nestled sweetly in Bourbon County predates all other Kentucky breeding farms, even longstanding bastions such as Calumet and Claiborne Farms. The story of Runnymede Farm is a singular one but also complex, for its development as a revered nursery is one in which family and the raising of Thoroughbreds are inseparable. The traditions embraced by the Clay family have not only served the farm well, but they have come to be an integral foundation of the Thoroughbred industry as a whole. You see, the patriarchs of this esteemed estate have not only produced some of the finest horseflesh to ever grace the American Turf, but they have been pillars of the local gentry whose foresight and dedication to the breed have set the standard for others in the sport to follow.

The history of Runnymede Farm is almost as old as the history of the United States itself.

The early years of the Clay family

In the late 1860s, Colonel Ezekiel "Zeke" Clay returned from the Civil War to his new estate located just north of Paris, Kentucky. The property - which local residents had considered 'magnificent' - had been purchased by Clay's father, Brutus, for his son and new wife, Mollie. The house had been built in the 1830s by a relative of the Clay family, former Kentucky Governor James Garrard.

Zeke named the estate "Runnymede," after the site in England where the Magna Carta was signed. He would settle down with his wife, father six children and live the life of a gentleman businessman, having gotten involved in the local banking and cattle industries. He was regarded as "a man of knowledge, high moral character, compassion and humanitarianism" according to historic journals, and was looked upon as a leader in various business and social circles.

In the early 1970s, Clay joined a neighbor, Colonel Catesby Woodford, to form a partnership to breed Thoroughbreds at their respective Runnymede and Raceland Studs. Both Cols. Clay and Woodford originally set out to race the products of their breeding enterprise, but demand for Runnymede runners soon became so outstanding that by the early 1880s the two had initiated a production sale.

It was at a sale such as this that, in 1885, Phil Dwyer purchased Hanover for the princely sum of $1,350. Hanover was a son of Hindoo, whom Phil and Mike Dwyer campaigned before they traded him to Col. Clay. Hanover would go on to be one of the greatest runners of his - or any other - era, as he retired in 1889 with 32 wins and career earnings of $118,887. He would also establish himself as a foundation sire of the breed, as he would go on to lead the general sire list for four consecutive years in the late 1800s.

(Interestingly enough, when Hanover took over as the leading money-earner in the U.S., he did so at the expense of another Runnymede homebred, the great filly Miss Woodford, who was the first horse to earn more than $100,000 in the States. That filly would ultimately go to the Dwyer Brothers in the trade that brought Hindoo to Runnymede.)

Two years after Mollie's untimely death in 1900, Ezekiel Clay married the widow Florence "Agnes" Lockhart, and he lived out his days at Runnymede until his death in 1920. He was always a passionate leader, however, and he even sold all his stock to John Madden in 1912 as a protest when racing became banned in New York.

After his death, Agnes eventually married Senator Johnson N. Camden, and the couple carried on the tradition of Runnymede until Catesby Clay - Zeke's grandson - took over primary custodianship of the nursery in the 1950s.

Runnymede has bred more than 200 stakes winners since its founding, and they have won virtually every prestigious race on the American racing calendar. Either alone or in partnership with Col. Woodford, Runnymede Farm has bred and/or raised seven runners to compete in the Kentucky Derby, including two winners - Ben Brush (1896) and Agile (1905). They produced a Preakness winner in Buddhist (1889) and two Belmont Stakes winners - Hanover (1887) and Sir Dixon (1888). Runnymede products have won the Alabama Stakes six times, the Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs six times, the Kentucky Oaks twice, the Saratoga Special five times, the Spinaway Stakes three times, the Suburban Handicap twice and the Withers Stakes three times.

Perhaps just as impressively, Runnymede Farm has bred four horses who are enshrined in the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame - BEN BRUSH, HANOVER, MISS WOODFORD, and ROAMER.

Lest one think that Runnymede Farm is an outdated enterprise, consider the elite stakes horses produced on the farm during the past decade. Those include Tejano Run, a Grade 2 winner at two who went on to place in the 1995 Kentucky Derby (G1), Marylebone (G1), Midnight Cry (G1) and Kathy K D (G3). The farm has also recorded significant international success as the breeder of Japanese Champion Agnes Digital, Royal Ski and 1981 Gimcrack Stakes winner Full Extent.

"Runnymede has always been committed to raising the very best Thoroughbreds we possibly can," said Catesby Clay. "Breeding horses is more than a business for us - it's a family tradition that's been a way of life for generations of Clays. Everything we do is a testament to my grandfather (Ezekiel Clay) and his dedication to the breed. That aspect of Runnymede will never change.