Airdrie Stud: The crossroads of Kentucky politics and horseracing
MIDWAY, Ky. (FOX 56) — It should come as no surprise that Kentucky's political history has overlapped with the horse business.
'It's an amazing thing to get to do for a living,' Bret Jones told FOX 56.
Spread over 2,500 acres off Old Frankfort Pike is Airdrie Stud, launched in 1972 by a West Virginia man Kentucky would soon know as Governor Brereton Jones.
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'So long before politics, it was that love of horses that really got pop excited,' Jones' son Bret, who now oversees the breeding farm, said. 'Every Saturday, Dad would watch almost every race where any of our horses that we raised or even were loosely associated with were running. He was absolutely so passionate about the business, so passionate about Airdrie.'
Airdrie is home to about 130 mares and 10 stallions, including Mage, the Derby winner of 2023. That was a transformative year for both the farm and the Jones family.
'The deal was signed the day after Dad's passing. So that was a very, very emotional time. But that really was a wonderful moment within those very tough moments to be able to secure the first Kentucky Derby winner in the history of the farm,' Jones said.
Mage, now in his second career, lives the good life as a breeding stallion.
'Very, very charismatic, he honestly acts like a Kentucky Derby winner. Your camera is not bothering him in the slightest,' Jones said of the champion horse.
For now, Mage is the only Derby winner on the property; however, there will be two horses running for the roses this year that took their first steps on this farm: Chunk of Gold and Publisher, the latter Jones stayed on as owner. And whose family still resides in one of the farm's pastures.
'So her big brother will be in the starting gate for the Kentucky Derby,' Jones said as he introduced a young mare still kept under the watchful eye of its mother, Indian Pride. Jones hopes to one day run Publisher's little sister in the Kentucky Oaks. Airdrie has already raised 3 Oaks winners.
'He's fast, and let's hope she's even faster,' he said.
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Jones said Publisher may be a long shot on the board, but should he cross the wire, Jones' eyes won't just be on the celebration below, he'll be thinking of his dad up above.
'It'll hit us all right in the face if one of those gets there first, it will be my very first thought, and it'll cross my mind about a million times thereafter,' he said.
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