I see the lawn jockey has the light blue and yellow colors…
[QUOTE=Glimmerglass;6737734]
As expected … Kat Clark (the late Mrs. Stephen Carlton Clark, Jr.) estate of Woodbox in Middleburg, VA is listed for sale following her death earlier this year.[/QUOTE]
And just two days later it is already listed as under contract.
CVPeg I don’t think Stephen & Kat raced any horses under those noted silks. I have a picture of Stephen Jr. with his uncle Ambrose Clark taken in Middleburg. ‘Uncle Brose’, who was a gentleman jockey back in youth, actually rode in the first Virgina Gold Cup back when it was raced in Warrenton, VA as opposed to today’s running in The Plains at Great Meadow.
FLASHBACK to 2008 …
And now that Padua Stables in Lexington, KY has been sold. Per the Paulick Report an unsolicited offer came from Brazil’s Borges Torrealba family in January 2013
Three Chimneys Farm managed the Padua property for the Sanan family. Updated with DRF reporting a sale price of $8.8 million
Sanan also continues to own the white elephant farm in Central Florida that has been on the market since he purchased the Kentucky property. He has tried unsuccessfully to sell that farm, including putting it up for auction. Nobody has purchased that as of yet.
A curious aspect is that Borges Torrealba owns and runs in Brazil TNT Stud. He purchased - and continues to hold - the silks of Calumet Farm. Borges purchased them in the 1992 auction of the farm - although it’s unclear if TNT Stud secured them for NYRA tracks.
No activity as of yet with Upperville’s Lazy Lane Farm.
Bunny Mellon was successful in selling her Cape Cod (Oysterville) MA 26-acre estate for $19.5 million at the end of 2012. Her Antigua compound is still on the market and sadly when she passes one would expect the 3,000 acre +/- Rokeby Farm in Upperville would be sold too. A few hundred acres have been sold in the last decade with protective covenants but don’t expect Tim Mellon to emulate his stepfather.
And Calumet Farm returns vis-a-vis new owner Brad Kelley who has raced under the banner of Bluegrass Hall until now. That will cease Feb 7th when all his horses will be identified under Calumet Farm although not with the famed devil red & blue silks as has been noted a few times on these boards as not Kelley’s 
The Bluegrass Hall silks (black/yellow) will be employed.
“Every horse that was Bluegrass Hall now [races as] Calumet Farm,” said D. Wayne Lukas, the primary trainer for Kelley.
The list includes Oxbow, a leading Kentucky Derby candidate set to run later this month in the Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star at Fair Grounds. The name change also extends to Kelley’s breeding operation, as the horses produced will show the breeder as Calumet Farm.
Kelley will continue to race in the black and gold colors of Bluegrass Hall. Calumet’s red and blue silks were purchased at auction in 1992 for $12,000 by a Brazilian businessman. They are carried by TNT Stud’s runners in South America.
Lukas coincidentally trained the last champion for Calumet Farm, 1990 Horse of the Year - Criminal Type.
Interesting although it may mean little with unsold homes being taken off the market just to be relisted later more aggressively: Tapeta Farm - “off-market or withdrawn”
Sold - the aforementioned Clark property of Woodbox in Middleburg, VA on Valentines Day. I incorrectly said the farm was built for the late Mrs. Stephen C. Clark Jr. (Kats), rather she acquired it and had it renovated and expanded. The property was originally built for M/M Charles M. Greer in 1958.
Per the Wall Street Journal Feb 12, 2013 - Payson Park in FL has dropped in price by 25%
The Property is being offered for $8,950,000 - cash. The facility’s website
The owner of Payson Park, a 405-acre equestrian training center in Indiantown, Fla., where Queen Elizabeth II and Kentucky Derby winners have trained their horses, has lowered the property’s price by 25% to $8.95 million.
The property was originally listed at $12 million in May 2012. It includes a one-mile dirt track, an irrigated turf track, nearly 500 stalls, 21 barns, 76 paddocks, an electronic six-horse starting gate and European-style galloping trails.
The park originally was built in the early 1950s by horseracing pioneers including Michael Phipps and Bull Hancock.
Ms. Payson, who also owns properties in Lexington, Ky., and Big Sky, Mont., says none of her four children is interested in the park. Brad Scherer, the listing agent at Atlantic Western Realty Corp., says the park generates approximately $350,000 a year.
Virginia Kraft Payson acquired the park in 1980 with her late husband Charles. The last year she had horses running (under her name alone) was 2010 with six starts. Borchure here (pdf)
Glimmer, I just returned from a trip back to Warrenton and a little birdy said North Wales sold. Any truth there?
[QUOTE=rustbreeches;6847266]
Glimmer, I just returned from a trip back to Warrenton and a little birdy said North Wales sold. Any truth there?[/QUOTE]
No inside info here. The term for the listing agent, based out of Charlottesville, ended so its not currently being represented for sale. Easily a deal could be negotiated behind the scenes but even if the buyer is a private trust and/or LLC it has to become public record of transfer. It will be one of the highest sales in Fauquier Co. when/if it occurs.
Prices do continue to drop for a lot of trophy farms in that area. The lovely former Sandra Whitney Payson estate (which served as a relocated Manhasset Stable) over in Delaplane - known as Ashleigh (although Ms. Payson intentionally spelled it Ashley) has been on and off the market for the last few years.
Sold in 2005 for $3,495,000 its been relisted this week for $2,900,000 - ouch. Hard to weep over that potential loss as its owned by an ex of an ethically challenged Congressman who was married to him during a few of his sweetheart deals.
Oh, did you ever want to live in Upperville, VA but didn’t think you could find a bargain? We’ll not that an auction will necessarily result in a “cheap” purchase but you never know 
Horsefields (farm) to be auctioned by Sotheby’s arm of Concierge Auctions - April 26, 2013
Was being marketed (without success) for as much as $14.9M and most recently $10M. It will be auctioned without reserve. In 2006 it was last sold for $6,700,000. The Miami, FL based owner stated this is the best way to move the estate.
[QUOTE=Glimmerglass;6629283]
Middleburg, VA located Mortgage Hall Farm (held by Middleburg Bank in foreclosure) which is adjacent to the Middleburg Training Track is now under contract for sale. Sold in March 2007 for $5,250,000 it will most likely close somewhere in the vicinity of just $2.5 million. The bank will take over a $1 million loss on the property.[/QUOTE]
I’m still amazed at the significantly below asking price many of these properties in the M’burg area finally close at.
121 acre Mortgage Hall next to the training track closed @ just $2M Mar 22nd … down from the $4.75M price asking in Dec 2010.
Tax assessment being $4,014,000, last sold for the $5.9M cited above; and the bank (after foreclosure) some $3,750,000 secured by it. After paying for property taxes, insurance, a cut of the sale back to the real estate agent that was a hefty loss.
Yesterday (4/23) at 5pm EST was the cut-off for bid registration (accompanied by a $250k certified check) on this non-reserve auction (FRI) of Horsefields Farm. Per the notice from Concierge - Attendance is limited to registered bidders and their representatives. With an additional hefty 10% auction fee paid by the buyer I’ll take a guess here at the a final bid being $4.3M pre-fee
Deleted because I should use my better judgment before speaking.
Poof - the Horsefield “auction” (4/26) never resulted in a sale and in fact the auction firm has effectively erased on their site any mention of it has been anticipated.
It returned 4/27 to being marketed in the traditional method with the same firm - TTR Sothebys International Realty - for $10 million. Best of luck with that.
It never resulted in a sale because they wouldn’t accept any bids under a certain dollar amount. Slightly misleading for an auction claiming to be “without reserve”.
WaPo May 3, 2013 follow-up on the Horsefield’s auction
As we reported last month, some real estate observers thought a plan by Miami home builder Sergio Pino to auction his 140-acre Horsefields Farm in Upperville without reserve or a minimum bid was just too risky.
It would have allowed the highest bidder, no matter how low the offer, to walk away with the property for which he paid $6.7 million in 2006 and was seeking $14.9 million.
Well, Pino decided to hedge his bets. By last week’s auction, he had changed his mind, opting for a minimum reserve of $5 million.
Seven bidders competed for Horsefields, but the highest offer was $4.2 million.
That rejected $4.2M bid ($100k off my suggestion of the highest offer they’d get) is reflective of the market. Even getting $5M would be impressive.
It’s back on the market, reduced to $7.9 Million. Of course there are more expensive properties in the area with almost no horse activity at all, nor historical context like the $20M+ “Fidelio” estate.
As has been rumored for a while the owner of the Middleburg (VA) Training Center has placed the entire facility on the market for $3.9 Million, June 29th, 2013:
The Middleburg Training Center on 148.14 acres has 11 barns, 220 stalls, 22 paddocks, 3 wells, a pond, and an impressive 7/8 mile track. There are tack rooms, grooms quarters, offices, machine shop, 2 BR tenant home and much more.
I just was there over Memorial Day weekend when it was on the stable tour and I snapped this.
Built in 1956 by Paul Mellon - and having several different owners over the years - it was acquired most recently by Randy Rouse in 2006 for a published $4M.
Well, its hard to keep a place going when nobody wants to pay the stall rent they owe. I’m surprised Mr. Rouse held onto it this long. It could be a great place again with different management and maintenance people
Wow and wow, what a place, but the upkeep, insurance and taxes, so where are all the super rich??
[QUOTE=Glimmerglass;6909811]
Oh, did you ever want to live in Upperville, VA but didn’t think you could find a bargain? We’ll not that an auction will necessarily result in a “cheap” purchase but you never know
Horsefields (farm) to be auctioned by Sotheby’s arm of Concierge Auctions - April 26, 2013
Was being marketed (without success) for as much as $14.9M and most recently $10M. It will be auctioned without reserve. In 2006 it was last sold for $6,700,000. The Miami, FL based owner stated this is the best way to move the estate.
Woolford Co (KY) based Hopewell Farm which had been asking $14,675,000 for the 587 +/- Acres farm was auctioned off July 16, 2013.
This was the promotional video for the farm when it was for sale
Hopewell Farm sits at the corner of Old Frankfort and Pisgah Pikes, close to major breeding operations such as WinStar Farm, Three Chimneys Farm, and Darby Dan Farm, among others. It is most well-known for being the farm where the great runner (1998 Horse of the Year) Skip Away stood at stud.
A portion of the farm was recently the site of horse neglect. The buyer of most of the farm at auction was PNC Bank with just 43.27 acres of the total not acquired by the bank.
In total PNC Bank paid $6,395,500 plus auction fees for the 541 acres they bid on.
Another recent PNC Bank acquisition (visa foreclosure) was of Melrose Castle in Casanova/Warrenton, VA. That 50-acre property is adjacent to the still-on-the-market Spring Hill Farm of the late Edward P. (“Ned”) Evans.
Melrose, which used to hold steeplechasing on the property before hundreds of acres were sold off, has been auctioned off a couple of times since 1980.
The aborted absolute auction property of Horsefields, relisted with Sotheby’s as a traditional listing, took yet another cut to the price: from $7,900,000 to $6,500,000 on July 13, 2013. Now below its last purchase price and inching its way closer to what is today’s market …
And a price tag for another Upperville, VA estate that effectively makes its non-starter for sale but does open the door for vastly lower bids: in a WaPo article (6/13/13) Sandy Lerner said she wants to sell Ayrshire Farm
In the article she said the fully restored mansion (which she’s never lived in) isn’t being listed via an agent but through her accountant. In 1996 she bought the 800 acre property, built in 1912 for Brig. Gen. James A. Buchanan of Washington, D.C., from his descendants at price well under $10M albeit in terrible shape. She’ll retain 200 of the acres …
Ayrshire Farm is surrounded by 14 miles of rock-wall fencing.
Lerner says the house isn’t listed with a real estate broker, but she’s letting people know it’s for sale through word of mouth. She says she would like $30 million for 600-acre property. Interested parties should contact her accountant, D. Brook Middleton, at 703-380-XXXX
