Owner
rnc@threechimneys.comThree Chimneys Farm began with a dream, a plan and 100 acres of undeveloped land in 1972. Today it incorporates approximately 1,500 acres in six divisions, four of which are devoted to mares and foals, one to yearlings and one is home to 12 world class stallions.
Mr. & Mrs. Robert N. Clay own and developed Three Chimneys Farm. When Robert Clay founded the farm in 1972, he was with Top Yield Industries, later becoming president of that company. In 1984, he oversaw the sale of Top Yield Industries to Cargill, Inc. and from that point on, Clay devoted his time to Three Chimneys. The Three Chimneys Stallion division was built in 1984 and the first stallion to stand was champion Slew o' Gold, in 1985, followed soon by the only undefeated Triple Crown winner in history, Seattle Slew.
Clay, in the mid-1980's, took the unusual (for that time) approach of limiting the farm's stallion population and establishing a niche for the farm as a boutique, where "The Idea is Excellence." Three Chimneys' management philosophy for stallions is to provide a special place for an owner to send his horse -- a place which limited its equine population in order to ensure personal management and promotion of each stallion.
Clay, a native of Mt. Sterling, KY, is a graduate of the College of William and Mary and attended the University of Kentucky and Harvard Business School. He served as president of the National Thoroughbred Association, was a founding member of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association Board of Directors, was president of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and is a member of the Board of Directors of that organization. He is a member of The Jockey Club and a member of the Board of Directors of the Breeders' Cup, the Keeneland Association and the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association. Clay serves as a trustee of The Blood-Horse magazine, and is past president of the Thoroughbred Club of America and is currently secretary of the American Horse Council. In 1995, he received the John W. Galbreath Award, presented annually by the University of Louisville to recognize "exceptional entrepreneurship in the horse industry."
Clay's interest in education includes past service as a Trustee for the University of Kentucky, a member of the Board of Directors of Midway College, the University of Kentucky Business School and the College of William & Mary Endowment Association and former Chairman of The Lexington School. He is co-founder and past chairman of Bluegrass Tomorrow, a regional planning and land management program, and the Bluegrass Conservancy and is currently a member of each organization's Board of Directors. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Good Samaritan Foundation and he is a member of the Board of Directors of PNC Bank of Pittsburgh, PA.
President and Director of Sales
cclay@threechimneys.comCase Clay returned to the Three Chimneys Sales Team in 2004 after a year at the Irish National Stud in Kildare, Ireland and Arrowfield Stud in Scone, Australia.
Prior to his departure, he worked in sales at Three Chimneys and spent six years in Chicago, where he worked at Arlington Park, Ernst & Young and Hyatt Corporation; while performing improvisation in the evenings. Case is a graduate of DePauw University with a major in Economics. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, the NTRA PAC and Junior Achievement of the Bluegrass.
Executive Assistant
lisa@threechimneys.com
Financial
marka@threechimneys.comMark Ackerman joined Three Chimneys in early 1999, lured back to Kentucky by the "opportunity to fulfill a lifelong goal of working in the Thoroughbred breeding business with a first class operation." He's a native of Ft. Thomas, KY, received a degree in Biology from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from Xavier University, and most recently was in southern California as Financial Manager at Xerox Corporation. Mark owns racehorses in California and mares in Kentucky and is responsible for financial analysis, business planning and special projects at Three Chimneys.
Financial
bhr@threechimneys.comBarbara Rink graduated from Western Kentucky University with a degree in business administration that has taken her from an architectural firm, to an engineering firm, to Three Chimneys Farm in 1981. Responsible for all financial aspects of farm operations, Barbara takes care of payroll, general ledgers, season billings and sales proceeds. In doing this she must work closely with banks, attorneys and sales companies.
As seems to be the general consensus about Three Chimneys Farm, Barbara says "What I like best about working at Three Chimneys is the people I deal with, from Robert Clay to my co-workers to outside professionals to our clients."
Seasons & Matings Advisor
apeters@threechimneys.comAnne returned to Three Chimneys Farm in August of 2004 after 15 years of freelancing as a pedigree consultant and writer. A native of Pennsylvania, she was Three Chimney's on-staff pedigree specialist when the farm stood its first stallions, Slew o'Gold and Chief's Crown, in 1985.
She and co-author Alan Porter wrote the book "Patterns of Greatness II: The Americans" in 1995, and previous to her return to the farm, was the editor of the industry journal Owner-Breeder International, the monthly pedigree columnist for the MidAtlantic Thoroughbred, and a contributor to the Thoroughbred Times and The Blood-Horse MarketWatch. Anne is also a partner with Patricia Erigero in the website "Thoroughbred Heritage" (www.tbheritage.com).
Stallion Seasons
matt@threechimneys.com
Bloodstock Services
johnham@threechimneys.comJohn Hamilton, a native of Louisville, joined Three Chimneys in early 1997 following a seven-year tenure at the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association as the Executive Director. He is in charge of client development for the Three Chimneys Farm sale consignments and for long-term boarding. He also recruits and improves the quality of mares that come to our stallions. He points to "Three Chimneys' tremendous sense of team spirit that makes possible great accomplishments," as being one of his primary sources of job satisfaction and pride.
Bloodstock Services
jlitt@threechimneys.comSince his arrival in 2002, Jason has worked with John Hamilton in all phases of the bloodstock arena: selling stallion seasons, public and private sales representation and client development. Originally from Northern California, Jason earned his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley and his graduate degree from Wake Forest University. He was also a veterinarian assistant on the racetrack for Drs. Cheney, Northrop and Landry.
Assistant Sales Director
ehv@threechimneys.com
Director
lincoln@threechimneys.com
Veterinarian
moredvm@threechimneys.comDr. Morehead is a native of Missouri and received D.V.M. from the University of Missouri. From 1985 to 1990, he was with Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital of Lexington, and since 1990 has owned Equine Medical Associates PSC, here in Lexington. He is a member of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, the Farm Managers' Club, the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP), and the Kentucky Association of Equine Practitioners (KAEP). Dr. Morehead was the 2004 president of the KAEP and has served two terms on the AAEP Reproductive/ Perinatology Committee and one term on the Infractions Committee, as well as on the Ad Hoc Bony Lesions in Sale Yearlings Committee and he chaired the Drug Compounding Task Force for the AAEP. He currently is a member of the Board of Directors of the AAEP and is a member of that organization's Professional Conduct and Ethics Committee.
He has been Three Chimneys' resident veterinarian since 1999, performing and/or directing the medical care of the farm's equine population - stallions, mares, foals and yearlings.
Marketing and Communications Director
Jen@threechimneys.comMarketing and communications director Jen Roytz joined the Three Chimneys team in 2008 and oversees all advertising and marketing - including television and print advertising, the annual stallion brochure, the web page, public relations and special events. Jen is a native of Cleveland, Ohio and has a background in both thoroughbreds and performance horses. She earned her BA in advertising and public relations from Morehead State University and is pursuing an MA in Integrated Communication at the University of Louisville.
Stallion Manager
slhatfield@threechimneys.com
Sandy Hatfield's job is one part stallion care, one part breeding supervisor, one part ambassador and press agent for the Three Chimneys stallions, and one part ambassador for the horse business to the thousands of visitors hosted at Three Chimneys Farm each year. Eight years as stallion manager at Gainsborough Farm, two years at Calumet Farm and seven years at North Ridge Farm prepared her for this wide range of responsibilities that she assumed in January 2000.
Sandy grew up in Oklahoma and attended Oklahoma State University and Murray State University, majoring in animal science. Married to Greg Magruder, she has been on the Board of Directors of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of the Bluegrass since 1996 and serves as the president of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers' Club for 2000.
Director of Facilities
brad@threechimneys.com
Yearling Manager
wayne@threechimneys.com
Maintenance Manager
info@threechimneys.com
Broodmare Manager
richie@threechimneys.comRichie Donworth hails from County Limerick in Ireland, and is a third generation horseman. He started off in the horse business with Coolmore Stud - first in Ireland and then for several years in Australia. Richie came to the U.S. in 2001 and worked as an Assistant Manager for Wimbledon Farm for three years, followed by a year as an Assistant Broodmare Manager at Overbrook, before joining Three Chimneys in August of 2004.
General Manager Three Chimneys Broodmares
tonyb@threechimneys.comTony has 25 years of experience in the horse business, including 14 years with North Ridge Farm and ten years at Domino Stud -- first as Assistant Manager, and then Manager. He joined Three Chimneys in January of 2001, and was a great "fit" from Day One because, as Tony says, "We share the same commitment to achieve excellence." He is the broodmare manager of the Three Chimneys and Tracewood divisions.
Tours
ann@threechimneys.com
Stallion Administrator
lori@threechimneys.comLori joined Three Chimneys as Stallion Administrator in 2005. She brought with her nearly a decade of Thoroughbred industry experience, specifically with regard to stallion administration, shares, nominations, booking and related issues.
A native of Utah, Lori and her husband Allan moved from Southern California to Woodford County, where they operate a small thoroughbred nursery. Lori is also active in "The Thorobreds", a group populated by women who are members of the industry, dedicated to service to our business and to the long term care of retired racehorses. She has also owned horses in training.
Stallion Booking
gayle@threechimneys.comGayle Ewadinger started out as Operations Assistant at Three Chimneys in 1994. She now has the broad and demanding responsibilities of booking mares to our stallions, booking Three Chimneys Farm mares going to outside stallions, scheduling arrivals and departures of horses, scheduling and issuing insurance exams and communicating with insurers, issuing live foal reports and generally facilitating communications for the managers.
"What I like best about working at Three Chimneys is that the caring is so warm and genuine," says Gayle. "The concern extends not only to the horses, but also to our clients and employees."
Computer Resources
sherry@threechimneys.com
Sales Support
crystal@threechimneys.com
Human Resources
aimee@threechimneys.com
Financial
beth@threechimneys.com
Sales Assistant
guinness@threechimneys.com
