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Grave Matters: Airdrie Stud, Midway, Kentucky
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Photos by Kurt Lemke ©Kurt Lemke 2013; all rights reserved. |
AIRDRIE STUD is owned by Governor Brereton Jones and his wife Elizabeth and was established in 1972 on property owned by Mrs. Jones, a great-granddaughter of A.J. Alexander through his daughter Lucy Simms. Most of the current Airdrie property, on the southern side of Old Frankfort Pike near Midway, Kentucky, was once part of the famous Woodburn Stud. Woodburn was home to great Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds in its long history, begun by A.J. Alexander's brother R.A. Alexander. Airdrie Stud was named for the Alexander ancestral estate in Lanarkshire, Scotland.
Jones has built up a large broodmare band, and stood many stallions at Airdrie over the years, and the roster usually includes around a dozen stallions every year, many moving on to regional programs, but the best staying for life. The first was Speculating, who was later sold to Australia, but Jones put the farm on the map as a stallion station with the purchase of Paul Mellon's racehorse Key to the Kingdom for $730,000 when a five-year-old in 1975, a record price for a horse in training. Key to the Kingdom entered stud at Airdrie in 1976, and was a successful sire until his death in 1995, at the age of 25. Other top stallions who have served at Airdrie include Preakness winner ELOCUTIONIST, as well as DANCE SPELL, SILVER HAWK, SLEW CITY SLEW, INDIAN CHARLIE and PROUD CITIZEN. -- A.P. |
| AIRDRIE STUD BURIALS (not a complete list):
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| Stallions |
| Dance Spell (c. 1973-1979), Key to the Kingdom (c. 1970-1995), Silver Hawk (c.1979-2008), Slew City Slew (c.1984 - 2013) |
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