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Count Fleet's Grave/Stoner Creek

Racing
#1

What happened to this farm? Is the land incorporated into another farm now?

I will be going to WEG in late September/early October and was thinking of a few other things to do on the rare slow days. One thing I’ve always wanted to do was visit Count Fleet’s grave and see “his” land. IMHO, Count Fleet ranks only behind Man o’ War in racehorses of the 20th Century. He and Secretariat are TIED for cumulative Triple Crown victory margin for all 3 races, and CF raced on tracks that were skimped on maintenance due to the gas rationing and wartime conditions. CF won his Belmont by 25 lengths while suffering a career-ending injury and with his jockey attempting to pull him up during the race, and Hertz always blamed the Belmont track condition for the injury. Watching the video, you can see the dust puffs from each footfall and tell how little watered/harrowed it had been. CF had obstacles to overcome that most other TC winners did not due to being mid WW2, and he was still utterly dominating on tracks far from their best possible condition. I’ve seen Man o’ War’s birthplace and also of course have seen his grave at the Horse Park. I’d like to pay homage to Count Fleet.

Anyway, all I can find on internet searches is historical data on Count Fleet, no current info on the farm. Is the farm still around under another name? Is the grave still there? Is it visitable?

Thanks.

#2

[QUOTE=dressagetraks;4637302]
What happened to this farm? Is the land incorporated into another farm now?

I will be going to WEG in late September/early October and was thinking of a few other things to do on the rare slow days. One thing I’ve always wanted to do was visit Count Fleet’s grave and see “his” land. IMHO, Count Fleet ranks only behind Man o’ War in racehorses of the 20th Century. He and Secretariat are TIED for cumulative Triple Crown victory margin for all 3 races, and CF raced on tracks that were skimped on maintenance due to the gas rationing and wartime conditions. CF won his Belmont by 25 lengths while suffering a career-ending injury and with his jockey attempting to pull him up during the race, and Hertz always blamed the Belmont track condition for the injury. Watching the video, you can see the dust puffs from each footfall and tell how little watered/harrowed it had been. CF had obstacles to overcome that most other TC winners did not due to being mid WW2, and he was still utterly dominating on tracks far from their best possible condition. I’ve seen Man o’ War’s birthplace and also of course have seen his grave at the Horse Park. I’d like to pay homage to Count Fleet.

Anyway, all I can find on internet searches is historical data on Count Fleet, no current info on the farm. Is the farm still around under another name? Is the grave still there? Is it visitable?

Thanks.[/QUOTE]

if im thinking correctly isnt this the farm that is 2 seconds from the horse park? If so i do remember seeing what looked like a corporate building built in one of the fields and it didnt look much like a farm anymore but thats all i have for ya. hope someone else here knows!!

#3

Stoner Creek/Clearview Farms disappeared entirely several years ago, not sure why, but it is gone and missed. http://wikimapia.org/12845789/Woolworth-s-Clearview-Farm-Race-Course

Did you know that Stoner Creek had both a Kentucky Derby winner (the aforementioned Count Fleet) and a Hambletonian winner (Tagliabue and Giant Victory)? Beyond the link above which is sketchy, there isn’t much but a mishmash of misinformation save a relatively accurate list of some Stoner Creek Standardbreds such as French Chef, Bocuse, Panty Raid, Peridot, Lime Time, Hot Canary

#4

I knew they had some great Standardbreds. Heard that Count Fleet and Nevele Pride were actually buddies in their post-racing days.

Discouraging to think how many great old farms aren’t farms anymore and how much land has been swallowed up.

I remember that Man o’ War’s birthplace had a marker beside the highway. No barn there now. Just a highway.

#5

<<Is the farm still around under another name? Is the grave still there? Is it visitable?>>

The graves are still there, and well maintained the last I heard. Some photos of the cemetery can be seen on Grave Matters, here:

http://www.tbheritage.com/TurfHallmarks/Graves/cem/GraveMattersStoner.html

The farm is located outside Paris, Kentucky, and I believe now operates under the name Hunterton Farm at Stoner Creek Stud. A quick search yielded the following contact information:

500 North Middletown Road
Paris, KY 40361-2141
Phone: (859) 987-3983

I’m sure if you called and inquired about the cemetery, they’d be able to tell you more. I have visited and photographed many central Kentucky horse cemeteries, but unfortunately I haven’t gotten around to this one.

#6

Thanks so much! Will call and find out if visits are available. I’m glad to know the graves are still there and maintained.

#7

if im not correct…dont the small stone pillars at the end of the drive still say stoner creek?

#8

[QUOTE=dressagetraks;4637549]
I knew they had some great Standardbreds. Heard that Count Fleet and Nevele Pride were actually buddies in their post-racing days.

Discouraging to think how many great old farms aren’t farms anymore and how much land has been swallowed up.

I remember that Man o’ War’s birthplace had a marker beside the highway. No barn there now. Just a highway.[/QUOTE]

Count Fleet and Nevele Pride buddies? I bet that was an interesting dynamic! Nevele Pride is legendary for having been one of the meanest horses ever (male or female), and Count Fleet was quite the handful as well!

#9

That isn’t likely or if it did happen, it was for a pretty short time. Nevele , Pride raced until he was at least 4, and was a foal of 1965. Count Fleet died in 1973

Mara - He was nasty, so was Stars Pride and on the bottom side, a double whammy of Scotland and Calumet Chuck, sire of the equally nasty Titan Hanover. I have dealt with a couple of grandsons of Titan Hanover, and they weren’t exactly nice to deal with. Also some of Scotland’s offspring were, well, unpleasant. I don’t know about Count Fleet - he raced at the wrong gait :winkgrin:

#10

Count Fleet was so hardheaded that Hertz nearly sold him as a 2yo out of fear for the jockey. Famous story, verified by Johnny Longden, of him riding a bicycle in a hurry to the nearest phone when he heard it to call Hertz and talk him out of the sale.

Not sure where I’d read it, seems like an old magazine, but I thought I remembered reading that they were buddies briefly. Not pastured together, of course, but paddocks near each other and that Pride kind of got attached to him. I do remember that the magazine had a picture of CF, and I was thinking while reading it that he looked great for an over-30, so yes, he was an old boy.

#11

this is quite interesting:

Count Fleet lived to the age of 33 at Stoner Creek Stud, near Paris, Kentucky. He is buried in the central place of honour in their cemetary, under a marker for the farm’s standardbred stallion, Nevele Pride.

After Count Fleet’s death, Stoner Creek Stud became a standardbred breeding farm, and it was felt that Nevele Pride should be in the central place of honour, so the headstones were swapped.

#12

Bing.com has some FANTASTIC aerial views of the farm. their maps/aerial views via satellite are much, much better than google earth. i just typed in the address i found for hunterton farm at stoner creek and up it came. it still looks very much like a farm :slight_smile:

#13

So they’re under each other’s gravestones?

#14

[QUOTE=WhiteCamry;4638407]
So they’re under each other’s gravestones?[/QUOTE]

apparently so. odd huh? i guess count fleet was buried as the center of the cemetery but once the standardbreds came in, when their famous stud was to be buried, he was buried next to count fleet. since they thought their standardbred should be the “focus” of the cemetery; they had the gravestones swapped.

#15

[QUOTE=farmgirl88;4638319]
Bing.com has some FANTASTIC aerial views of the farm. their maps/aerial views via satellite are much, much better than google earth.[/QUOTE]

They are a lot better than Google Earth, for some views, though not all. Thank you for the tip.

#16

Thats not exactly what happened. When I was, uh, very young, I went to Claiborne to see the stallions, I also made an appointment to go down the road and see Nevele Pride at Stoner Creek, as I had seen him race in Indianapolis, and he was a superstar at the time. When I got there, the groom asked me if Id like to see an old TB stallion they had, of course I said sure. This old swayback stallion came out of the barn with a high head and a very bright eye, surveying like he owned the place. Which he did, it was Count Fleet.

The farm was sold to the Standardbred owners with the stipulation that Count Fleet would be able to live out his days there. He died, I believe, a few months after I saw him.

http://pic80.picturetrail.com/VOL2087/9176722/17941869/280775355.jpg

#17

Neat picture, Halo. He still knew he was king!

I’ve found out on further research that there is a bed and breakfast right there now with access, and my visit to his grave during the WEG is arranged. Really looking forward to this. :slight_smile:

#18

…this is the B&B at Stoner Creek also Claiborne Farm

http://www.treehouseatstonercreek.com/accommodations.htm

#19

Stoner Creek and Claiborne Farm are/were 2 totally different entities.

#20

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