Spendthrift Farm, Horse breeding farm in Lexington, Kentucky, United States
Spendthrift Farm is a thoroughbred horse breeding operation located near Lexington, Kentucky. The farm keeps a number of stallions whose foals go on to race on tracks across the United States and abroad.
Leslie Combs II founded the farm and named it after a stallion called Spendthrift, which had once belonged to his ancestor Daniel Swigert. Over the following decades the farm built a reputation as one of the most influential breeding operations in American thoroughbred racing.
The farm holds deep ties to royal British bloodlines and breeding practices. Queen Elizabeth II visited in 1984 to view horses for her own breeding program.
Guided tours can be arranged in advance, as availability tends to vary with the season and what is happening on the farm at the time. The property sits in the countryside outside Lexington, so having your own vehicle is the most practical way to get there.
The farm has a burial ground for notable racehorses, including Nashua, Never Bend, and Raise A Native, all resting on the property. Walking past these graves gives a sense of how many generations of American racing history passed through this one place.
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