Lexington's Ashwood Training Center Set to Reopen

Ashwood Training Center, formerly Victory Haven Training Center, is scheduled to reopen May 1 after significant construction and improvements over the past year. Located on Russell Cave Road, Ashwood Training Center features a six-furlong track, nearly 300 stalls, 30 turnout paddocks, indoor and outdoor arenas, a walking machine and open land to ride horses away from the track.

Managing the day-to-day operations is owner Marc Ricker, a third-generation horseman from Paris, Kentucky. Ricker grew up working on his family's Sunny Oak Farm before moving to Florida to pursue a career in private equity. Upon his father's passing in 2013, Ricker made the move back to Kentucky to help his mother with the family farm. He began leasing the property from Lucian Anderson three years ago.

“Growing up on a farm and loving horses, I was glad to come back,” he said. “This facility has so much to offer horsemen, all in a quieter environment than a traditional racetrack. Trainers can choose to send their horses to the track, work in one of the arenas or take them out over the gently rolling hills around the property. Kenny McPeek's facility is next door and he also allows horses stabled at Ashwood to walk over and use his turf gallop.”

Ricker and his team are also offering those looking to lease stall space at Ashwood the option to do personalized improvements to make their barns more user-friendly and customized to their trainers' needs.

“Ideally, we'd like to have a week or two notice before someone moves in so we can go through the space and go over improvement requests,” said Ricker. “Each new lease is given a move-in allowance to personalize his or her space.”

In addition to traditional breaking and training amenities, the farm also features a rehabilitation division, which includes an Aquatread and Theraplate and can offer laser and pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) therapies.

“Our goal is to be one of the premier training and rehab facilities in the region,” said Ricker. “Matt Frazier partners with us to handle the rehabilitation side of the farm. He's an excellent horseman and has a deep understanding of how to bring horses back to perform at their best after an injury.”

A licensed trainer of both Thoroughbreds and Quarter horses, Frazier also came up in the horse industry under the tutelage of his father, Dan Frazier.

“We never had the money to buy the best horses, so my dad would pinpoint proven runners who needed some attention for physical issues. We'd rehabilitate them and move them up,” explained Frazier, who has trained the likes of Stinkin Rich, Indiana's all-time leading Quarter Horse earner, and Skyline Lover, an 11-time stakes/graded stakes winner.

Ricker and girlfriend Kathryn Kinder also operate Alliance Bloodstock, a sales prep and consignment division of the farm. Much like Ricker and Frazier, Kinder also got her formative experience on her family's farm. With a background in both show horses and Thoroughbreds, she eventually took on the role of broodmare manager for her father, Ralph Kinder's farm.

“Sales prep and preparing young racehorses are surprisingly similar. The biggest difference is taking the yearlings to the walking machine or hand-walking them instead of sending them out to the track to train,” said Ricker.

Ashwood Training Center currently has stalls available for lease and is also open to ship-ins by appointment. Ricker and Kinder are planning a spring open house on May 11, as well as several other events throughout the year.

“Our open house event will include a breeze show, crawfish boil and live music, and after that event we plan to host breakfast trackside for horsemen and the public alike who want to see the facility or simply learn a bit about what goes into the day-to-day training of young racehorses,” said Ricker. “We have a great area that's away from the barns and perfect for events.”

Added Kinder, “Later this year we're planning to have a few rodeos, which will have live music and food vendors, and maybe some concerts as well.”

For more information on Ashwood Training Center or to schedule an appointment, go to ashwoodtrainingcenter.com. To stay updated about their events throughout the year, follow them on Facebook at facebook.com/AshwoodTrainingCenter .