Darley Jonabell Farm

This summer Trey's scout group had the pleasure to visit one of Lexington's most prestigious horse farms. If you want to see Kentucky at her finest, all you must do is step foot in these multi-million dollar estates that house, breed and train some of the finest thoroughbreds in the world.Darley is HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s global breeding operation which currently stands stallions in six countries around the world. Darley America is based at the historic Jonabell Farm, located in the Bluegrass State of Kentucky and was purchased in 2001. Jonabell was founded in 1946 by renowned breeder John A. Bell III and it has occupied its present location on Bowman Mill Road since 1954 and now encompasses 790 acres. The current roster of 17 stallions includes three of 2007's best three-year-olds anywhere in the world in Breeders' Cup Juvenile and Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense (who joins his sire Street Cry); King's Bishop victor and Breeders' Cup Classic second Hard Spun; and Any Given Saturday, who took the Haskell by four-and-a-half lengths. Also new for 2008 is World Champion three-year-old Discreet Cat.The farm—which stood 1978 Triple Crown winner Affirmed until his death in 2001—is home to stallions Holy Bull, Cherokee Run, Gold Legend, and Old Trieste and ranks among the leading consignors of horses sold at auction at Keeneland.The farm was gorgeous.Picturesque Kentucky I will always think of rolling hills and black wood fences when I think of Lexington.The husband of the scout leader from the Pioneer Ward is the grounds keeper. What a never ending task it must be too keep up on the plants, grass, flowers and trees throughout the vast acres of the farm.We walked through the farm stopping at various trees and plants. He was a fountain of knowledge and the kids loved guessing what type of tree they were standing under.The Tulip Poplar is the Kentucky state tree. I had never seen its blooms before. This is a Ginko tree. It actually dates back to prehistoric times. When I was in 8th grade and had biology, I was assigned to make a leaf collection. If you found a Ginko leaf, you got extra credit. My dad and I were on a mission to find one. He remembered seeing one up on the University of Utah's campus. We headed up north and searched and searched to no avail. We did finally find one on BYU's campus. Now whenever I see a Ginko tree I think of my dad. Good memories.This is a Sugar Maple. In the fall they tap the tree and collect the precious sap. Matt and Josh love tagging along for Trey's cub scout adventures.Brynn loved the space to run free.Did I mention that she is a VERY fast runner?Though we were learning about plants, we did get to go into one of the many stables.The building alone costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. The boys were give explicit instructions to not touch anything.Inside we found many separate stalls. Each has its own air condition unit allowing the trainer to maintain a set temperature for each individual horse.We also saw a few horses, but the famous thoroughbreds were not part of our tour. This is a test mare. She was VERY jumpy. We quickly left the building.This was a lovely historic home that was purchase by the Sheikh and relocated onto the grounds. It is occupied by his buyer when he comes into town for the auctions.A perfect night together as a family learning and appreciating our beautiful surroundings.In fact Matt loved it so much, he was a man on a mission once we got home. He created this wonderful display of all the leaves we saw and labeled each. Great job Matt!