The Thoroughbred breeding arm of one of Chile's largest conglomerates has purchased Vinery, according to a real estate agent involved in the sale.
Haras Don Alberto, a subsidiary of Bethia Holding, purchased the entire 417-acre Central Kentucky breeding and boarding facility from international owner/breeder Tom Simon on Oct. 11. Simon, a retired corporate attorney who lives in Frankfurt, Germany, has had the Kentucky farm and a Florida training center on the market since August 2012. He also owns a breeding farm in Australia that is not being sold.
The Kentucky sale was handled for Vinery by Prudential agents Pam and Bill Michul. Realtor Bill Justice represented the buyer.
"Haras Don Alberto purchased the entire property but have not discussed with us what they would do with it," said Pam Michul.
The purchase price was $13.82 million, according to The Paulick Report, which also reported the asking price to be $13.97 million.
Haras Don Alberto was established in 1987 in the city of Los Angeles, Chile, and was the first commercial venture for the Heller-Solari family. The 500-acre farm is now home to about 180 mares, according to the Bethia Holding website.
With the addition of farming, dairy and a cargo transportation business, the family venture in 1994 became The Bethia Group, which is named after the company's first winning mare. The company became the limited public company Bethia Holding in 2001. Besides Haras Don Alberto, the company also owns the Club Hipico de Santiago racetrack, which runs about 1,500 races annually. Other business ventures include retail, agriculture, transportation, communication, real estate, a winery, health care, and water and sanitation utilities.
Thoroughbred breeding and racing is reportedly a passion of Bethia Holding chairwoman Liliana Solari. She has shuttled several North American stallions to her farm in recent years including Bluegrass Cat , Fusaichi Pegasus , Proud Citizen and Stevie Wonderboy.
Vinery's 220-acre training center near Ocala, Fla., was purchased in December 2012 by Barbara Banke's Stonestreet Farm operation and renamed the Stonestreet Training and Rehabilitation Center.