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r-------------------------------------- -- ----------- f Kentucky Breeding Establishments No. 24 By THOS. B. CROMWELL. J . . . . - 0 - ..4 The twenty-fourth of a series of articles containing information concerning ownership, location, acreage, equipment and horse population of thoroughbred breeding farms in Kentucky. CHRISTIAN COUNTY. LEXINGTON, Ky., April 23 Hopkinsville is the county seat of Christian County, the only section of that portion of this state lying below Louisville and commonly designated as Western Kentucky, in which successful effort has been made to produce Thoroughbred horses at several establishments, though in other counties of the region a stud or two is occasionally found. The mineral content of Christian County earth is very similar to that in Fayette County arid other portions of the Blue Grass region. Christian County has an abundance of limestone, excellent water and as good blue grass as is to be found in and about Fayette, Bourbon and Woodford Counties. The breeders of Thoroughbred horses in Christian County are not numerous. The horse population at the present "time is 109 mares, f iv stallions and sixty-five yearlings on seven farms. ADELBERT STUD. Adelbert, which takes its name from the famous stallion, imported Albert, was the first of the breeding establishments in Christian County. It had its origin in the formation of a partnership between Dr. Marion W. Williams and Major Radford in the 1880s. Major Radford died a number of years ago and Doctor Williams carried on the establishment until his demise on June 24, 1935, at the age of 80. Imported Albert, a bay horse foaled 1882, by Albert Victor from Hawthorn Bloom ancestress ol Epin-ard, by Kettledrum, was at Adelbert, in the suburbs of Hopkinsville, until his death in January 1910, at the age of 28. Imported Albert was the leading sire in America in 1898, and one often heard it commented that "had Albert been in the Blue Grass he might have monopolized racing." Doctor Williams shipped his yearlings to Sheepshead Bay and, later, to Saratoga for many years. He was as well known in the East as perhaps any Kentuckian who ever bred horses. In his younger days he had been a dentist, but his success as a breeder enabled him to retire from his profession and to indulge his fondness for the thoroughbred. Zeus was Doctor Williams last stallion. He had great faith in this sturdy son of Adam, but Zeus was no such success as had been Albert. Well-bred daughters of Zeus are highly prized, and it is regrettable that there are not more of them. Adelbert Stud Farm contains only thirty acres. The stud embraces seven mares and six yearlings. Operations are being continued by Mrs. Clyde Smith, Doctor Williams only daughter, who not only inherited her fathers fondness for thoroughbreds, but is exceptionally well posted on blood lines. She is frequently consulted by other breeders in Christian County. HERBERT STUD. John H. White, who has 200 acres of good land three miles from Hopkinsville, is the owner and manager of Herbert Stud, which he established in 1907, naming it for the first stallion at his place Herbert, a real good race horse by Albert, from Bonnie Ola. Other stallions which have stood at Herbert Stud were Jack Atkin, Captain Alcock, The Finn, Ambassador IV., Kentucky II. and White Satin, and now Rolls Royce and Masked Marvel II. In addition to these two stallions, Herbert Stud this year consists of twenty-four mares and eighteen yearlings. The better yearlings produced are annually sent to Saratoga for sale. Mr. White is the father of Cyrus White, manager of Elsmeade Farm at Lexington. This able young man got his first lessons from his father at Herbert Stud. Some of the horses bred in Herbert Stud were Julialeon, Questionnaire son of Zeus, The Heathen, Donnay, Satin Spar, Silk Mask and Kentucky Blues. RIVERVIEW FARM. About two miles out of Hopkinsville is Riverview Farm of 260 acres of excellent land, the property of Lucien A. Moseley, who began his activities as a breeder in conjunction with the late John E. Madden, master of Hamburg Place, Lexington. Mr. Madden supplied him with his first mares. Mr. Moseley now has the patronage and friendship of B. B. Jones, master of Audley Farm, Berryville, Va. The two stallions High Cloud and Carlaris, now standing at Riverview Farm, are the property of Audley Farm, as are some of the thirty mares there at the present time. Mr. Moseley, like Mr. White and other Christian County breeders, sends his best yearlings to Saratoga each season. This year he has fifteen yearlings from which to select the Saratoga shipment. Flying Ebony, winner of the Kentucky Derby; Princess Tina, winner of the Pimlico Oaks, and Banner Bright, winner of the Latonia Oaks, are among the horses raised at Riverview Farm. The Choctaw, which ran second to Mike Hall in the Agua Cal-iente Handicap and won the Agua Caliente Gup, was another product of Riverview Farm. WALNUT VALLEY FARM. Messrs. Henry and Joe Altsheler, two of Christian Countys most successful farmers, have 970 acres of good land known as Walnut Valley Farm, and the thoroughbreds on it at the present are the stallion Donnacona, twenty-one mares and eleven yearlings. They have been interested in breeding only a few years, but have been quite successful. Henry Altsheler was formerly sheriff of Christian County and is one of the most widely known and best liked men in western Kentucky. BROADVIEW STOCK FARM. Thomas W. Garnett has 520 acres of good land, four and a half miles southeast of Hopkinsville, which he calls Broadview Stock Farm and on which, for a number of years, he has produced thoroughbreds for the markets at Saratoga and Lexington. He does not keep a stallion at his farm, but he has an interest in Donnacona. His mares at the present time number eleven and he has eight yearlings. SOMINCO FARMS. "Sominco" was coined from parts of the words Southern Mining Company. The name Sominco was given to a farm of 510 acres, four miles from Hopkinsville on the Nashville Pike U. S. Highway 68, by the late Rodman Meacham, who began breeding thoroughbred horses after the World War, in which he served as an officer in the engineering corps of the United States Army. He was the principal owner of the Southern Mining Company, which produced valuable clays from mines in Christian County. It was in connection with this mining business that he became the owner of the land on which first he established one of the states noted herds of Jersey cattle and on which he so successfully produced Korean Lespe-deza that he made a market for the seed all over America and in many other countries. He was equally successful in the production of thoroughbred horses, and at the time of his sudden death from a heart attack, November 8, 1933, he had built up his stud to approximately twenty-five mares. He was well known and well liked in the eastern market at Saratoga and each year had good patronage for his yearlings. Mrs. Meacham had died in 1930 nd there were no children, so his property was left to his father, mother and brother. The estate still maintains a stud of thirteen mares, patronizing stallions on other farms, and this year there are seven yearlings. Perhaps the three best horses raised at Sominco were Willie K., Sir Johren and Hi-Nelli. WENONAH FARM. B. P. Eubank, who was a friend of Rodman Meacham as well as other breeders in Christian County, has 380 acres on which there is excellent grass, but he keeps only three mares. He has no yearlings, having sold the produce as weanlings.
