LAND of PLENTY

own Stockwood Farm on adjacent acreage.

Te distinctions of Dan Swigert included breeding 10 prominent horses, “fve of them of the highest class” as hailed in “Te Great Ones.” Te fve included the great horse Hindoo as well as the aforementioned Ben Ali and Firenze, both raced by James Ben Ali Haggin. In 1891, Swigert sold Elmendorf to Enright, the owner from whom Haggin bought the farm at auction. Enright bred the champion and major sire Hamburg on the property.

Te Elmendorf chapter in the hands of Haggin included the building of a grand home plus acquisition of many quality mares from which he bred a tide of major winners. Haggin also greatly expanded Elmendorf through the addition of some 8,000 more acres, properties that later bore other names for other owners.

Te home Haggin built on the farm was named Green Hills. Te elegant structure was described as costing $300,000 in various publications of Haggin’s era. A later owner of the farm, Joseph E. Widener, who lived primarily in the East, had the home razed in 1929 to save himself the detail of paying taxes on the unoccupied mansion. Widener did leave standing the handsome marble pillars of the home’s entrance. Tose pillars survive also as a symbol and landmark in the Bluegrass country.

As extolled in the Hall of Fame publication of 2022, “Haggin’s breeding exploits impacted the sport at the highest levels. He bred six horses that won races in what later would become known as the Triple Crown series” — Preakness winners Old England, Cairngorm, and Rhine Maiden; Belmont Stakes winners Comanche and (champion) Africander; and Kentucky Derby winner Stone Street. (Stone Street, ironically, won late in that era in which Haggin’s own haughtiness had damaged the Derby.) Other major victors included Suburban Handicap winner Montana, Travers Stakes winner Sir John, Jerome Handicap winner Tournament, Alabama Stakes winner Tradition, and also Sir Walter (earner of more than $120,000 and winner of 36 races).

Although breeding to sell had come to take pride of place, Haggin also had some key scores with horses in his own colors. Tese included the champion Waterboy and the historic Travers Stakes winner Ada Nay. Tat last-named winner, in 1903, was a flly who had been bred in the name of Rancho del Paso.

A Victim Of Timing

Te breeder renowned as having had the largest Toroughbred operation and being one of the richest Americans eventually bumped up against a stunning development in the sport of racing. Tat sport itself had bumped up against a wave of moral indignation over the fact that gambling was part of the appeal of horse racing. “At the height of puritan reaction,” wrote Hollingsworth in “Te Great Ones,” “racing went dark in New York.” And New York was the center of the best racing. Without it, the circuits that remained were collectively and individually unable to maintain the value of