24-04-2025
Hope runs high on Kentucky farms during foaling season
LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56) — People driving on Military Pike in southwestern Fayette County shouldn't be so noisy when passing Winter Quarter Farm. There are babies asleep in the fields and other newborns trying to focus on their mothers. At farms all over the Bluegrass, foals will be born at a rapid pace in April and May.
'Every birth is very exciting, and to see these young foals running around, it's just the promise,' said Don Robinson, owner and manager at Winter Quarter Farm.
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He is proud of the thoroughbreds raised on this family farm; some of them are his, some have other owners.
'We are a bit like investment bankers,' Robinson explained, noting that most horse owners don't have farms. 'We keep their horses. We manage their equine portfolio. So, their horses reside here, we raise them, we advise them on breeding, and we consign and sell the horses at Keeneland and Fasig Tipton at auction.'
All of the horses at Winter Quarter Farm will be prepared for racing or auction, and Robinson says there's no better place to raise a foal than central Kentucky. He's an advocate for the land, with mineral-rich soil that produces grass full of calcium, which makes for strong bones.
'It's God-given with the limestone underlayment and high phosphorus content of the soil,' he said. 'It is magic earth here. It's more than just because we love it and it's beautiful. It's productive, and it's considered endangered.'
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Winter Quarter Farm is part of the Purchased Development Rights program, meaning the Fayette County government paid him to protect his land from future development. Robinson has 389 acres of the more than 33,000 acres that have been protected on nearly 300 farms.
He is also one of a growing number of farm owners using solar power in his barns, saying that it has cut his electric bills nearly in half.
Each spring, Robinson wonders if one of the foals on his farm will be a future champion. In 2005, his medium-sized farm was home to a giant of a yearling named Zenyatta.
'It ensured my reputation. It was a huge plus.'
Zenyatta seemed unimpressive at first and sold for just $60,000 at the Keeneland September yearling sale, where horses often sell for a million dollars or more. Four years later, she was the first mare to win the Breeders' Cup Classic and was Horse of the Year in 2010. She won 19 out of 20 races in her career.
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Robinson said no one could have predicted Zenyatta's success. 'Sometimes you can see it, often not.'
Even non-horse owners can relate to the emotions that come with foaling season. The Jockey Club estimates that there are nearly 12,000 foals born in Kentucky each year. Only about 30 of them will be raised at Winter Quarter Farm. But somewhere in the mix of large and small farms across the state, there could be a future Kentucky Derby winner.
You never know how your little ones will turn out. You just try to give them a good home and raise them right.
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