Xalapa Training Center Becomes Stony Oak

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Larry Richardson and Jim Phelps have closed on their purchase of Xalapa Training Center in Bourbon County, Ky. The two men, who paid $2,805,920 for the 539.6-acre property formerly owned by descendants of Lillie Webb, renamed their land Stony Oak Farm and Training Center.
The remaining 960-plus acres of Xalapa are still owned by Webb’s descendants and will retain the farm’s name.
Richardson said he and Phelps, a Lexington businessman with interests in manufacturing, will focus on recruiting horses of training age to fill the facility. Richardson, who previously managed Nelson Bunker Hunt’s Bluegrass Farm and still has ties to the Texan, said his operation is completely separate, though he hopes to have Hunt’s horses among those at Stony Oak.
“We’re going to concentrate on breaking and training, and racetrack layups,” Richardson said. “We’re building new paddocks, and doing a lot of fencing for turnouts. The capacity will be around 120 to 130 horses. My goal is to be set up by the September sales. That was our goal from the beginning—to accept horses after the sale.”
The centerpiece of the purchased property is the 28-stall stone training barn which, until recently, housed tenants on a lease basis. Nearby is a one-mile track. The property has a history of success and well-known tenants. Mrs. John D. (Fannie) Hertz bought 1,076 acres of the farm in 1942, and in the 1960s and 70s, Claiborne Farm leased the training center and broke, among others, champions Buckpasser and Ruffian on what is now Stony Oak. At least a portion of the current Xalapa has been in the Webb family since 1897.

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