Price Bell

The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA) Board of Directors voted at its meeting Dec. 14 to add six new directors in 2023. For a second consecutive year, Jeffrey Bloom, managing partner of Bloom Racing Stable, will serve as president of the TAA. The directors beginning service in 2023 are: Price Bell, general manager of Mill Ridge Farm; Dr. Bonnie Comerford, DVM, veterinarian at Tiegland, Franklin, & Brokken; Joe De Francis, HISA director and managing partner of Gainesville Associates LLC; Georganne Hale--returning for a second term--vice president of racing development of Maryland...

Aloha West (Hard Spun--Island Bound, by Speightstown), winner of the 2021 GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, has been retired from racing and will begin his stud career next year at Mill Ridge Farm at a fee of $10,000 live foal. Owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and trained by Wayne Catalano, Aloha West was also second in last year's GII Stoll Keenon Phoenix S. and third in this year's GI Churchill Downs S. He retires with six wins from 13 starts and earnings of $1,507,290. "This horse has the potential to be...

Was it divine intervention? As the story goes, sometime in late 1923 or early 1924, a Kentucky pastor, Rev. Dr. Thomas Settle, convinced some state legislators in Frankfort not to end legalized gambling in Kentucky by repealing parimutuel wagering, much to the relief of the Kentucky Jockey Club and other concerned horsemen. Most ministers may have taken the opposite tack at the time, but not Dr. Settle, and this made him stand out. A well-travelled Englishman who'd found his way to a small congregation on Main St. and Bell Ct....

The Kentucky Thoroughbred Association (KTA) and Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders (KTOB) have elected new members of the Board of Directors who will serve three-year terms and are elected by the full membership of the organization. Online and paper ballots were managed, monitored, and tabulated by Dean Dorton Technology (Dean Dorton Allen Ford, PLLC).  Newly elected KTA/KTOB Board of Directors for 2022 are: Ned Toffey--General Manager, Spendthrift Farm; Michael Banahan--Director of Bloodstock, Godolphin USA; Fergus Galvin--Partner, Hunter Valley Farm & U.S. Racing Manager, Qatar Racing; Neil Pessin--Thoroughbred Trainer; Tommy Drury--Thoroughbred...

For a farm so steeped in heritage, and so properly respectful of it, there's no mistaking the vitality, the aversion to complacency, animating Mill Ridge with a sixth generation now at the reins. Back in April the Bell family grieved farm founder Alice Headley Chandler, a revered matriarch not just around their own hearth but among the whole Bluegrass community. But their loss, while poignantly refreshing their gratitude and sense of privilege, could only reinforce an engrained determination that her legacy be honored by all the ambition that had characterised...

The daily number of U.S. deaths from the COVID-19 virus neared 1,000 per day last week, the highest level the country has seen since February. The seven-day moving average of COVID-19 cases reported by the CDC, is at 149,263, and continues to rise. There are currently four variants circulating in the United States; Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Gamma, with Delta making up over 99% of all cases. It seems like every day, someone we know in racing has contracted COVID, from trainer Todd Pletcher to the TDN's own Christina Bossinakis,...

With the Keeneland September Sale fast approaching, Gray Lyster of Ashview Farm is looking forward to showcasing his colt by Oscar Performance (Kitten's Joy-Devine Actress, by Theatrical {Ire}). Bred by Colts Neck Stables, the bay catalogued as Hip 892 is a half-brother to the talented MGSW Venetian Harbor (Munnings). The sibling duo is out of the stakes-placed mare Sounds of the City (Street Cry {Ire}), who hails from the family of champion sprinter Safely Kept (Horatius). "He's actually the fifth generation of the family that we've raised here at Ashview,"...

Gathan Borden, the vice president of marketing for VisitLEX, Lexington's convention and visitor's bureau, has officially been named the new board president of Visit Horse Country. Borden succeeds founding board president Price H. Bell, Jr., who served in the position for the first seven years of the organization. "Visit Horse Country has been a game-changer for the Lexington tourism product," said Borden. "The outreach from the horse industry into the community has been powerful and has allowed us to truly share the Bluegrass in a way we never could before....

A life as long and rich as that of Alice Headley Chandler, which drew to a peaceful close on Tuesday, Apr. 6, at her home in Lexington, Kentucky, at the age of 95, is measured by four generations--from her surviving contemporaries to her great-grandchildren--for whom the black raiment of mourning will surely be brightened by cheerful scarves of pride. And that's not just because of the consolations available in remembrance of a wonderful character or celebration of her wonderful achievements. For this iconic Kentucky horsewoman was always animated by a...

While 2020 has been a year of hardships for everyone in our industry, many people have said the sport has come together in ways it never has before. As we enter into the holiday season, we spoke with several people who helped make this year a little better. We asked them to reflect on the things that have been particularly difficult to deal with this year; what they have learned because of these struggles and what they hope our industry will take away from this year as we look to...

Visit Horse Country, like many others, suffered a serious financial impact from the COVID-19 pandemic. Several members of the industry, such as Fasig-Tipton, Keeneland, the Breeders' Cup and The Jockey Club, stepped into help. However, Visit Horse Country has now partnered with the Bluegrass Community Foundation to launch a charitable fund supporting initiatives like services for TAA-accredited aftercare members of Horse Country which receive a complimentary membership; scholarship and field trip visits; community outreach such as Meet the Neighbors; and a new workforce development partnership with the Kentucky Chamber of...

Price Bell, Jr. has been appointed to the position of general manager at Mill Ridge Farm. Upon completing his MBA from Vanderbilt's Owen School in 2010, Bell returned to Lexington and his life's passion, the Thoroughbred industry. With conviction for the sport and believing in the great opportunity to develop the industry's fan base, he became actively involved with the founding of Horse Country, while assisting as a bloodstock agent for the Mill Ridge affiliate, Nicoma Bloodstock. He serves on the boards of the KTA-KTOB, TOBA, National Museum of Racing,...