Prince Khalid Abdullah's Juddmonte Farms has sold approximately 1,460 acres of land in Berkshire and Kentucky, Racing Post reported Monday. The British tract, numbering 890 acres encompassed the original Juddmonte Farms–purchased in 1982–at Wargrave in Berkshire has been acquired confidentially by a breeder in South Africa that wants to expand to Britain. Coolmore Stud purchased the Kentucky acreage known as Farm Three, which totals 570 acres and is close to their Ashford Stud west of Lexington, Kentucky. The reduction in land follows a gradual consolidation of Juddmonte's bloodstock holdings beginning in 2014 and a decrease in the organization's broodmare band down to 200, with 125 split between Britain and Ireland and another 75 in Kentucky.
“The decision to sell the farms did not come easily–in particular the farm at Wargrave, which is where it all began,” Juddmonte's chief executive officer Douglas Erskine Crum told Racing Post. “It was where Prince Khalid's vision to build a world-class breeding and racing operation was born.”
Banstead Manor Stud, near Newmarket, will continue to play host to Juddmonte's British-based stallion roster, including Frankel (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), Dansili (GB) (Danehill) and Oasis Dream (GB) (Green Desert).
“His Highness is looking forward to continuing to race his horses at the highest level in Europe and the US,” Erskin Crum continued, of the 79-year-old prince, whose children do not share his passion for Thoroughbreds. “There will still be two main operational centres: the farms near Lexington and Banstead Manor Stud. Our priority now is to ensure that we have the right strategy in place to sustain the long-term future and quality of Juddmonte's bloodstock.”
Juddmonte has been riding high in recent times, with their current top runner sensational G1 Dubai World Cup/GI Pegasus World Cup and GI Travers S. hero Arrogate (Unbridled's Song), who will stand at Juddmonte's Kentucky branch alongside Mizzen Mast (Cozzene) at the end of the year. Last term's champion sophomore colt in the U.S. and 'TDN Rising Star' is joined by recent MGISW Paulassilverlining (Ghostzapper), who won the GI Humana Distaff at Churchill Downs Saturday, while Juddmonte also has G1 Epsom Oaks candidate Shutter Speed (GB) (Dansili {GB}).
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