Jim and Susan Hill of Calgary, Alberta, Canada have formed a new partnership with Margaux Farm principals Dr. Joseph Fowler and his wife, Lynn, and Steve and Shelley Johnson, it was announced Aug. 7.
The entity will continue to operate as Margaux Farm, LLC.
"We've been considering getting involved with a farm in Kentucky for several years, but when the opportunity arose enabling us to get on board with Margaux Farm, all of the considerations for us to join with a Kentucky farm made sense," Jim Hill confirmed. "Susan and I love Kentucky and are excited at the prospect of being able to spend more time in the Bluegrass where we can watch our horses when they train and race."
Margaux Farm, initially formed in 1984 under the name Margaux Stud, was originally located on 615 acres in Woodford County on Old Frankfort Pike. In 1993 Margaux acquired its current 320 acres located in Woodford and Scott counties, surrounded and protected on three sides by the Elkhorn Creek.
This property has produced runners like Roses In May, Sara Louise, Sutra, Harvard Avenue, Howe Great, Bench The Judge, Cuentmelotoo, Kaweah Princess, Lady's Salughter, My List, and Rewritten, among others.
In 2011 Margaux acquired an additional 125 acres in Bourbon County.
Margaux has been "starting" youngsters for the last five years under the direction of Gene and Julie Vosler.
"This program has been successful beyond our initial hopes and plans," said Steve Johnson, Margaux's managing partner. "In 2011, our most recent crop of graduates that we started, 69% started at two and 33% won at two. Jim and Susan are predominately racing all of the horses they own, and they had a few babies with us over the last few years, and kept a close eye on how their babies performed after coming through our program. They have been wonderful to work with, and all of us at the farm are extremely excited to be involved with such wonderful people, both of whom are so passionate about Thoroughbred racing. I guess the Hills were pleased with the job we did for them to have made such a huge commitment to Margaux."
"We've gotten to know many of the young, dedicated staff that Steve has assembled, and that was a big determinant for us to want to get involved with an existing, on-going, well-managed operation," Hill remarked. "This way I don't have to be on the farm everyday worrying about the day-to-day operations, yet I still get the benefit of being directly involved."
Hill and Johnson have completed plans for the construction of a one-mile all weather synthetic gallop on Margaux.
"Jim is a visionary, and his vision has been for Margaux to be a first-class training and rehabilitation facility for Central Kentucky, and with the addition of the synthetic gallop to the existing turf course we will be able to maintain our training programs throughout the year," Johnson explained. "Further, because so much of our program is predicated on our turn-out capabilities, we will be able give all of our babies and lay-ups maximum time outside in our paddocks and fields."
Margaux Farm's expanded training and rehabilitation program will be fully operational by the end of September.