Coach Ken McPeek has teamed up with Horse Nation to share the historical past of his beloved Magdalena Farm close to Lexington.
Horse Nation is a not-for-profit group devoted to sharing the tales of the horses, the individuals, and the land that make Kentucky’s horse nation so distinctive. They provide excursions at lots of the prestigious stallion farms, nurseries, vet clinics, and different amenities throughout Central Kentucky.Â
Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mystik Dan  was bred, raised, and skilled at Magdalena. His dam Ma’am , who’s a resident mare at Magdalena, was bred to Spendthrift’s Goldencents  in 2020. She herself RNA’d as a yearling on the 2014 Keeneland September Yearling Sale for $9,500. A attempting race mare, she earned $167,923 on the observe.
“I satisfied the possession, I stated look, you actually must hold her. She was a very good filly, I imply she was stable, sound. She was a tryer. And do not be scared to breed her. If you happen to breed her, you must breed her to one thing a little bit sooner than her, as a result of she was a very good filly, however wasn’t subsequent degree, proper?” stated McPeek.Â
“So, I beneficial the mating to Goldencents, and the mare foaled in that stall proper there with the brass plate on it,” stated McPeek, Mystik Dan’s stall. Join BloodHorse Each day
Ma’am is entered to promote as Hip 285 at The November Sale, Fasig-Tipton’s premier breeding inventory sale, and will definitely convey way more than her final time at public public sale.
Picture: Anna CurlinKenny McPeek with Ma’am, dam of Mystik Dan, at Magdalena Farm
McPeek beamed as he checked out Mystik Dan, and expressed how proud he was to have bred, raised, broke and skilled the 3-year-old colt.
“He (Mystik Dan) was raised right here, we despatched him to Florida (McPeek’s Silverleaf Hills Coaching Middle), and we broke him. We skilled him to win the Derby. I imply, how many individuals aspire to do this?” he added.
Ever assured in his horse’s potential, McPeek stated the Kentucky Derby winner can be again, larger and stronger than earlier than, noting he is gained about 150 kilos throughout his 90-day break.Â
Mystik Dan shouldn’t be the one historical past made at Magdalena. Latest grade 1 winners Swiss Skydiver and Thorpedo Anna  have hung out at Magdalena, a farm with a wealthy historical past that goes again centuries. McPeek bought the property in 2006, however the story began lengthy earlier than that.
Magdalena’s Starting
Magdalena Farm was initially a land grant again within the late 1700s when a gentleman named Captain David Shely acquired a 2,000-acre parcel for his service within the Revolutionary Conflict.Â
He got here to Kentucky from Virginia along with his spouse Mary. Their son John later married a woman who can be thought-about the matriarch of the property for greater than 40 years. Her identify? Magdalena. Magdalena married John Shely simply 9 days shy of her sixteenth birthday, and died through the Civil Conflict. She is buried on the farm in a household cemetery in the back of the property.Â
When McPeek bought the property in 2006, the farm was deserted. The electrical was out, fences down, and water was out. As McPeek started his renovations on the farm, they had been working within the fields and realized that they had uncovered the historic cemetery.Â
After researching the ancestry and the again story, McPeek determined to call the farm after Magdalena.
“It is type of the fitting factor to do for the household, the Shely household was right here, from what we may inform, 130 years. They stored the property intact. On the hill are sons who died within the Civil Conflict. From what we are able to inform, perhaps a few the sons had been Confederates, and a pair sons had been Union,” stated McPeek.Â
Within the early 1800s, the Shely household stood their English-bred stallion Crawler on the farm. Shely needed to enhance the pedigrees of Kentucky mares by importing English-bred and -raced stallions. Crawler was the primary stallion they publicly marketed in 1810.
Picture: Olivia NewmanA newspaper commercial for Crawler, a stallion who stood on the property within the early 1800s
Within the Thirties, the Shely household offered about 900 of their 2,000 acres to a gentleman named Lou Doherty. He established a stallion operation. He stuffed the stalls with stallions that had been racing at a excessive degree, and he would market them in such publications because the BloodHorse and Thoroughbred Occasions.Â
“I really discovered an previous, a hardback model of the BloodHorse within the (College of Kentucky)Â library after I was a freshman. These ads for horses like Tomy Lee, Kentucky Derby winner, stood right here. An extended checklist of champions stood right here,” stated McPeek.
McPeek visited the property as a younger boy along with his father, having no concept he would sometime personal it. Lou Doherty owned one of many first business stallion operations in central Kentucky, often known as the “Stallion Station”.
Many notable horses referred to as this farm dwelling, together with Tomy Lee, winner of the 1959 Kentucky Derby; Venetian Method winner of the 1960 Kentucky Derby; 1970 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Sassafras; and Satan Diver, 1943 and 1944 American Champion Older Male Horse.Â
The dams of 1977 Triple Crown hero Seattle Slew and 1997 twin basic winner Silver Attraction had been each conceived on the Stallion Station. They had been each by a stallion referred to as Poker.Â
There may be nonetheless a barn referred to as “The Poker Barn” at Magdalena. Poker was recognized for his vicious character, they usually constructed a barn particularly for him.Â
“An previous groom advised me this after I first purchased the property, they needed to construct that nook stall for him, as a result of he would assault individuals. He was that imply,” McPeek stated.Â
Picture: Olivia NewmanPoker, buried at Magdalena Farm, is the broodmare sire of Seattle Slew and Silver Attraction
Excursions of Magdalena Farm give company a behind-the-scenes take a look at the wealthy historical past of a profitable operation, starting from mares, foals, and yearlings, to a few of his star racehorses in coaching.Â
You possibly can e book your tour right here.
