Nydrie Stud on Market for $8.75 Million

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National Thoroughbred Racing Association Commissioner and Breeders' Cup President D.G. Van Clief Jr. confirmed his family's 592-acre Nydrie Stud in Central Virginia is on the market for $8.75 million.

Van Clief, who owns the farm with his three brothers, said it was a family decision to sell Nydrie, which has been in his family for three generations.

"I have three brothers and none of them are presently in the business," Van Clief said. "Unfortunately it makes common sense from a planning standpoint looking forward. I can say it's not what I would have done if I had my preference, but it's part of the family planning process."

Nydrie is located near Esmont in Albemarle County. Offered in the sale is the farm's landmark covered barn and English courtyard built in 1891, as well as yearling and broodmare barns, fenced pastures, several homes, a pond, and mature forest land.

Nydrie is the central piece of 3,000 acres of farmland the Van Clief family acquired in the 1920s.The family plans to keep three farms contiguous to Nydrie as well as a couple of non-contiguous pieces of property, Van Clief said

Nydrie is steeped in racing history. The farm was home to Natalma, the dam of Northern Dancer, who Van Clief's father, Daniel G. Van Clief, co-bred in partnership with Mrs. E. H. Augustus.

Van Clief Jr. and his brothers and mother were in a partnership that dissolved after their mother's death in 1991. Van Clief and his wife then purchased a few mares and maintained a small broodmare operation. They sold those mares about three years ago when Van Clief became increasingly involved within the business side of the industry. They have been sidelined as breeders since.

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