Commercial Thoroughbred farms in Central Kentucky are multimillion-dollar institutions, often with generational longevity. When a sizable one goes on the market to sell, the industry takes notice.
Last October, billionaire Frank Stronach made headlines when he announced he would put Adena Springs, the hub of his Thoroughbred breeding activities, up for sale. The 2,246-acre property on the outskirts of Paris, Kentucky, has developed into one of the country’s most successful stallion operations, and it’s the birthplace of many of Stronach’s top runners. It can be had for $75 million.
As might be expected, the process of listing a major Thoroughbred farm is not quite the same as selling a typical property, but some of the key elements remain true—know the product, know the market and know the potential buyers.
“You have to proactively campaign,” said Bernard Uechtritz of Icon Global Group, which is handling the Adena Springs listing. “You’ve got to create a campaign to that specific property, and it has to be proactively taken to the global market. That’s the cornerstone of everything.”
Icon Global, based in Dallas, specializes in what Uechtritz calls “one of ones”—high-end, diverse-use properties of $50 million that the company aims to get sold within 12 to 15 months of listing. However, Uechtritz said, Adena Springs was a different campaign from the norm, and it was considered more of a long-range project.
Adena Springs farm, on the outskirts of Paris, Kentucky, is on the market for $75 million. / Photos courtesy Icon Global Group
The company’s list of buying clients is just as top-shelf.
“My clientele, whether it’s [statewide], nationally or globally, is generally the billionaire clientele, the billionaire class,” Uechtritz said. “They’re also institutions. They’re guys who have a collection of farms or a collection of ranches, or a particular niche that they fill. A lot of my guys own millions and millions of acres around different parts of the country or different parts of the world.”
On the opposite side of the Bluegrass, horseman Ben Walden has had Pauls Mill in Versailles, Kentucky, listed since 2015. The 265-acre farm stood a handful of stallions until 2014 and was initially priced at $8.5 million.
Walden has spent much of his career buying and selling farms throughout Central Kentucky, including Vinery (now Don Alberto Farm) and Gracefield Farm (now Spy Coast Farm), many with Lexington Realtor Bill Justice of Justice Real Estate.
Keeping the property in perpetual show-ready condition is a must, because the call for an inspection from a prospective buyer could come on short notice.
Like selling a house, Walden said, keeping the property in perpetual show-ready condition is a must, because the call for an inspection from a prospective buyer could come on short notice. Both Walden and Uechtritz said having the farm still in operation as it’s on the market is a plus, as routine maintenance and landscaping will keep the farm looking presentable.
“It would often require me scrambling a little bit when I would get a call from Bill, saying we’ve got a new showing that popped up and we need to be there tomorrow at 2 o’clock, and he’s calling me at noon the previous day,” Walden said. “There were plenty of late evenings and early mornings leading up to that mid-afternoon showing, where we kicked everything into high gear. Most of the time he would give me more notice than that.”
Walden said three years on the market was an unusually long time, in his experience selling farms, and time works against a property for sale. He and Justice agreed earlier this year that a new game plan was needed to market Pauls Mill.
“I went to Bill this spring and said, ‘What are we doing wrong?’ We’ve got the most beautiful farm in Central Kentucky, by many people’s testimony,’” Walden said. “These bigger farms just weren’t selling. I was right at 320 acres. The smaller farms at about 120 acres and down are selling, but very few of the big ones are.”
The decision was made to divide the farm into two parts: one 105-acre parcel and another at about 160 acres, divided by a natural ridge splitting the property. Within a few months, the 105-acre section sold to a Texas-based buyer. The remaining piece is still on the market.
While Adena Springs is currently being offered as one full parcel, Uechtritz said the possibility is there to sell the land off in chunks, but the Realtor was aware of the long-term effects that could have on the area.
“You never say never, but when you have a piece of property like Adena Springs, it’s pretty special,” he said. “It’s pretty rare, and it’s very hard to put them back together once you chop them up. It’s hard to make a beautiful meadow out of a bunch of condominiums.”
With that in mind, Uechtritz said his marketing strategy did not necessarily limit Adena Springs to buyers that would want to keep the property operating as a horse farm.
“Sometimes the obvious use for a property is not its highest and best use,” he said. “Just because it’s being dressed up and used as a horse farm today doesn’t mean that that’s what its best use. You have to be careful not to put yourself in a box. Adena Springs is a very versatile property, and it’s a multi-use opportunity location.”