Photo Courtesy of PhotosByZ.com

Three Chimneys once was home to a Triple Crown winner (Seattle Slew) and to one of only three filly winners of the Kentucky Derby (Genuine Risk), along with a third Kentucky Derby winner (Silver Charm). The farm presently has two Kentucky Derby winners standing at stud: Smarty Jones and Big Brown. Rock-star "name" horses like these keep the tour schedule booked at least a month in advance. The farm's new tour charge of $5 per person (a policy implemented this year) has not slowed requests for visits.

The major position Three Chimneys occupies in the horse industry belies its humble beginnings. Robert Clay's hope in 1972 when he founded the farm on 100 acres of former cattle land was to develop a boutique operation. Claiborne, Spendthrift and Gainesway dominated the breeding business during that era like Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors once ruled the American auto industry. Clay envisioned a niche as a smaller operation catering closely to a select number of clients.

No one could have foreseen Three Chimneys growing so exponentially beyond the "boutique" plan. The farm presently operates with multiple divisions on 1,800 acres, a portion of that acreage on leased land. With a major contribution from now-retired Dan Rosenberg, longtime president, Three Chimneys built its business on a reputation for honesty, plain-talk, and a clever advertising slogan: "The idea is excellence."

The farm balances its areas of expertise in sales consignments, raising foals, standing major stallions at stud, boarding mares for outside clients, managing farm property for clients including Satish and Anne Sanan's Padua Stables, and operating a racing division. The racing arm is the most recent innovation for Three Chimneys.

"I think we're always trying to stay cutting-edge," remarked Case Clay, president, who has taken over day-to-day operations for his father. "And we're always striving to be excellent. That's the idea here, to try to do that every day."

Stallion halters grouped in five shadow boxes lining the office walls attest to the quality of stallions that stand or have stood here since 1972: Slew o' Gold, Seattle Slew, Nodouble, Chief's Crown, Shadeed, Shahrastani, Rahy, Wild Again, Capote, Fast Play, Time for a Change, Fly So Free, Dynaformer, Arazi, French Deputy, Atticus,

Joyeux Danseur, Silver Charm, Miesque's Son, War Chant, Point Given, Albert the Great, Sky Mesa, Yes It's True, Medalist (indicated on his halter not by name but by his breeding: Touch Gold out of Santaria), Good Reward, Flower Alley, Exchange Rate, and Smarty Jones, whose halter does not identify him by name but by the name of his owner during his racing days: Someday Farm.

Still to come in another shadow box frame: halters for Big Brown and Lewis Michael. When a new stallion arrives at Three Chimneys its halter is removed and replaced with a new one to wear for the duration of its life at the farm. The one the horse wore upon arriving goes into the shadow box collection.

Everything at Three Chimneys, like the halter collection, has its place with the entire place picture-perfect. A short walk down a path leading from the office building is the stallion barn and breeding shed. Beyond the breeding shed is a statue in honor of the late Seattle Slew.

The stallion division opened in 1985 with the acquisition of Slew o' Gold upon his retirement from racing. Chief's Crown followed. Then came Seattle Slew, transferred from Spendthrift Farm. These stallions put Three Chimneys on the industry map.

Step inside this barn and you will tread where Seattle Slew once set down his hooves. Smarty Jones presently occupies the stall where Slew previously lived. Three Chimneys is almost unique in that nearly all the stallions here are ridden almost daily.

"One of dad's passions is architecture," said Case Clay. "That stallion barn was designed on a cocktail napkin by dad when he was out to dinner with my mom. He's just very passionate about architecture and farm layout."

The result has been a farm where the architectural beauty blends with the natural lines and curves of the land, the one enhancing the other. Major portions of Three Chimneys have been given over to land conservancy, which means they never will be developed. Robert Clay has long been passionate about land conservation and "smart" growth.

"One of the things that makes Kentucky unique is the horses," Case Clay said. "If the land is developed, it becomes like any other suburb in the United States. And if we didn't protect it, it would be developed. We think it's short-sighted to develop on land that makes your state, your community, unique."

While Robert Clay showed some industry visitors about the farm one morning, Case Clay shared family stories of his father's entry into the horse business: "I was in the fourth grade and dad was in the fertilizer business as well as getting into horses. One night he came into my room at our house and said, 'I'm thinking of getting out of the fertilizer business and doing this full-time. I didn't think it was a very good idea. I remember this like it was yesterday: I remember him walking out of my room and I'm thinking, 'oh, this is going to be rough.'"

Case Clay said he still has the letter his father sent to Seattle Slew's owners, Karen and Mickey Taylor, telling them that he'd built a six-stall barn and was pitching Three Chimneys as a place they might want to consider for standing Slew o' Gold. Acquisition of that stallion, when he retired from racing, was pivotal for Three Chimneys as it launched the farm from boutique level to major player in the industry: not too surprising an outcome considering the idea, after all, was founded in striving for excellence.