Jonabell Farm is an 800 acre horse farm out in Lexington, Kentucky. The name Jonabell came from the original owner, Jon A. Bell who started the farm in 1954. In 2001, the farm was sold to Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, also known as Sheikh Mohammed. Sheikh Mohammed has a long history with horses, along with owning Darley, which is his horse company. He also happens to be the ruler of Dubai and worth 18 billion bucks, but that's neither here nor there.
You can come out and visit the horse farm. They have tours at 2:30pm most days. The cost is 20 bucks for adults and 11 dollars for children. We stopped by to tour the farm on the Thursday before Derby. The tour starts off with a history of the farm, along with information about the new owners. The tour moves into the trophy room, tons of shiny trophies line the wall. A brief history of the different ones and who won what. Then the tour goes outside to the stables.
The property is beautiful. The deep green grass, the rolling hills, just gorgeous. The stallion stables are cleaner than most people's homes. The stallions are kept in their stables overnight, then in the morning, they are let out into their respective paddock. They aren't able to be together because they will fight. The horses will also bite, so don't put your fingers in the stables when looking at them. They bring out a few of the stallions and show them off. We were told what the stud fee was, along with what races they won and who their parents were/who they fathered. It's so interesting to hear about the history of the horses and the politics that go into who they breed with.
When the walk the horses back and forth, they ask that you stay on the grass and not the black pavers. We got to learn that the stallions breed 3 times a day. Talk about a full day! We got to see Medaglia d'Oro who currently is the 3rd highest earner in the world, with a commanding $150,000. We also got to meet Bernardini, who earns $100,000. Those prices are only paid if the offspring "stands and nurses". read more