User:Susan Ishmael/sandbox/Mill Ridge Farm

Introduction
Mill Ridge Farm is a full-service Thoroughbred farm located in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1962 by Alice Chandler (daughter of famed horseman Hal Price Headley), Mill Ridge Farm is known for attracting European clientele to the Keeneland horse auction complex.[1]

Notable race winners bred and/or raised at Mill Ridge Farm include Epsom Derby Winner Sir Ivor, 2001 Horse of the Year Point Given, 2011 Horse of the Year Havre de Grace, and 2005 Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo.

History
Mill Ridge Farm derives its name from its location, the highest elevation along Bowman Mill Road in Lexington, Kentucky.[2] The land had once been part of Beaumont Farm, owned by Chandler’s father, Hal Price Headley, from whom she inherited four mares and 286 acres in 1962.[3]

In 1968, Chandler became the first American woman to breed an Epsom Derby winner, Sir Ivor, a stallion descended from Alcibiades, a champion bred by Chandler’s father in 1927. Sir Ivor was sold to Raymond Guest, an American businessman and U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, at Keeneland in 1966 for $42,000. After winning several major European races, Chandler’s stallion influenced a shift in horse sales, emphasizing the U.S. commercial market and Keeneland, specifically.

In 1979, Chandler’s son, Headley Bell, created Nicoma Bloodstock, a full-service agency intended to inform Mill Ridge Farm of industry demands.[4] Nicoma Bloodstock has since operated closely alongside Mill Ridge Farm to breed and raise horses for international clientele. In 2008, Bell became the managing director of Mill Ridge Farm.

In 2011 Headley Bell’s son, Price Bell began working for the farm and for Nicoma Bloodstock as a bloodstock agent. In 2020, he became General Manager of Mill Ridge Farm. Headley Bell currently serves as Managing Partner.

Alice Chandler
Alice Molloy Headley was born January 15, 1926 in Lexington, Kentucky to Hal Price Headley and Genevieve Morgan Molloy. Chandler’s father owned Beaumont Farm, 4,000 acres of land in the western part of Fayette County, and was “one of the prime, and perhaps most important, of the original organizers of Keeneland,” an equine racing and sales facility in Lexington.

Inspired by her father’s legacy, Chandler returned to Lexington in 1959 to engage in horse breeding and sales after living in Texas with then-husband Reynolds Wait Bell, a businessman in the oil industry.

In 1970, she married equine veterinarian Dr. John A. Chandler, considered by many to be the patriarch of the Mill Ridge family. According to America’s Best Racing, a media subsidiary of The Jockey Club, Alice and John “worked tirelessly to turn Mill Ridge into a leading destination for top sires and mares.”[5]

Chandler won several notable awards during her lifetime, to include Honor Guest for the Thoroughbred Club of America’s Annual Testimonial Dinner, the Eclipse Award of Merit, Keeneland’s Button Club, and the prestigious induction into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2020 under the category of “Pillars of the Turf.”

Chandler passed away peacefully at her home in Lexington, Kentucky, on April 6, 2021 at the age of 95. The Lexington-Herald Leader called Chandler a “pioneering horsewoman” and attributed Chandler as the conduit between the European horse industry and Keeneland.[6]

Notable Horses:
Gone West

Bien Bien

Oscar Performance

Came Home

Jalil

Symboli Kris S

Flemensfirth

Sir Ivor

Menow

Anees

Diesis

Giacamo

Set Them Free

Kitten’s Joy

Nicoma

Alcibiades

Awards and Recognition
Eclipse Award of Merit, 2008

Alice Headley Bell Chandler--national Museum of Racing hall of fame, 2020

Alice Chandler received the 2009 Eclipse Award of Merit for her lifelong contributions to the Thoroughbred industry and in 2020 was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. She has served as chairperson of the University of Kentucky Equine Research Foundation, president of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, a director of the Breeders' Cup, Keeneland Association, Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association; and a member of the Equine Drug Council and the Gluck Research Center. Alice was recognized by the 2006 Kentucky State Senate for her lifelong dedication to the community and to the equine industry.

Historic Stallions
Diesis

Gone West

Johar

Oscar Performance

Reference and Further Reading
1. Mill Ridge Farm. (n.d.). The Mill Ridge Story. Mill Ridge Farm. Retrieved March 30, 2022, from https://millridge.com/the-mill-ridge-story

2. VisitLEX. (n.d.). Visit mill ridge farm. Horse Capital of the World: Lexington, Kentucky Visitor Information. Retrieved March 30, 2022, from https://www.visitlex.com/event/visit-mill-ridge-farm/20498/

3. Alice Headley Chandler - Obituary. Milward Funeral Directors. (n.d.). Retrieved March 15, 2022, from https://milwardfuneral.com/obituaries/1117-alice-headley-chandler

4. Nicoma Bloodstock. (n.d.). About Nicoma. Nicoma. Retrieved March 30, 2022, from https://www.nicoma.com/about

5. Ehalt, B. (2020, February 17). "Alice Chandler: Forging a bluegrass legacy". America's Best Racing. Retrieved March 15, 2022, from https://www.americasbestracing.net/the-sport/2020-alice-chandler-forging-bluegrass-legacy

6. Lexington Herald Leader. (n.d.). Obit: Alice Chandler, founder of Mill Ridge Farm. Lexington Herald Leader Online. Retrieved March 15, 2022, from https://www.kentucky.com/sports/horses/article250493569.html