Gracefield Equine

Owner(s): Elaine and Ben Walden Jr.
Residence: Lexington, Ky.
Family: the couple has a daughter, Hope
Racing Background: Walden’s father is the late Ben Walden Sr., a noted farm manager in Central Kentucky. Brother Elliott Walden spent 21 years as a trainer, becoming a leading conditioner in Kentucky and winning the 1998 Belmont Stakes with Victory Gallop. He now is vice president of WinStar Farm near Versailles, Ky. … Brothers grew up on Dearborn Farm near Lexington, which their father managed ... Ben Jr. also is involved in the Blue Grass Farms Chaplaincy, a division of the Race Track Chaplaincy of America that serves the Central Kentucky horse farm community. He is special adviser to the organization’s executive committee
Breeding/Racing Operation: Ben Walden Jr. founded Vinery in 1985 and developed farm into a successful commercial breeding and sales operation. Vinery bred Antahkarana (6th in the 1998 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies) in partnership with Walden Sr. ... Walden Jr. sold Vinery to George Hofmeister in 1998 … He now owns Gracefield, a 310-acre nursery near Lexington, and is a president of the partnership that owns 400-acre Hurricane Hall in nearby Georgetown. Other partners are Brad Kelley, Pat Madden and David Hanley. Hurricane Hall stands 2005 Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Artie Schiller and grade 1 winner Bellamy Road. Both stallions entered stud in 2007. Farm includes a training center with a six-furlong uphill Polytrack gallop, which was sold in 2008 so the partners could focus on the stallion operation ... Gracefield, which is located on land previously owned by Castleton and Walnut Hall, two historic Standardbred nurseries, is home to 40 broodmares. Their resulting foals are offered as yearlings each year at Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton sales … Gracefield bred Corinthian in partnership with longtime Walden family friend Hargus Sexton ... In 1994, Walden Jr., agent, made a savvy purchase when he spent $20,000 to acquire Corinthian’s dam, the Easy Goer mare Multiply, from Claiborne Farm, agent, at the Keeneland January horses of all ages sale when she was two. Multiply's third dam is grade 2 winner Number, a half sister to leading sire Nureyev and to the dam of leading sire Sadler’s Wells. Multiply did not race, but she became a lucrative producer for Walden and Sexton. To date, her seven yearlings offered at public auction have been sold for a total of $4,690,000. Her first foal was eventual grade 2 winner Desert Hero, who was sold for $575,000 and ran unplaced in the 1999 Kentucky Derby for owner The Thoroughbred Corp. Desert Hero was bred in the name of Vinery and Hargus Sexton. Multiply also produced the winning Theatrical filly Triple Act, whom Gracefield sold to John Ferguson Bloodstock for $2.2 million at the 2001 Keeneland September yearling sale ... Gracefield consigned Corinthian to the 2004 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling sale, where Centennial Farms purchased him for $385,000. Sold Corinthian’s yearling half sister, by Silver Deputy, for $530,000 to Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC at the 2007 Keeneland September sale. Multiply died earlier in 2007 ... In May, 2008, the Waldens sold Gracefield in a private transaction. The buyers, Lisa and Robert Lourie, are in the show-horse business and have farms on Long Island in New York and in Wellington, Fla. Mr. Lourie is an executive with the Renaissance Technologies hedge fund. Walden will continue his commercial breeding operation at Gracefield until Dec. 31. "Our future industry efforts will be directed towards our broodmare band and the stallion operation at Hurricane Hall," Walden said.