Sandy Hatfield, stallion manager at Three Chimneys Farm, was chosen as the 2011 Kentucky Farm Manager of the Year.
The annual award will be presented at the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers Premier Event Sept. 30 at The Red Mile. The criteria for the award are excellence in farm management, and service to the KTFMC and the community.
“'Humbled’ is the best way to describe how I feel," said Hatfield. "That’s a very esteemed group to be a member of. Some of the previous recipients of this honor are people I hold in the highest regard. I’m just so thankful and flattered that my peers and friends have extended this honor to me. My life and career are so intertwined and both revolve around my love and respect for horses. It’s one of the highlights of my career and a milestone in my life.”
Hatfield, although born in Colorado, spent most of her youth in Oklahoma. During the time on her father's ranch, she developed a love of horses while working around their racing and ranching Quarter Horses.
Hatfield attended Oklahoma State University, and then earned her degree in Animal Science from Murray State University in Kentucky. She married Greg Magruder in 1985 and they are very active in the community.
Hatfield is the past president of both the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers' Club and Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bluegrass. She serves as secretary for the Kentucky Equine Management Internship Program and president of Life Adventure Center of the Bluegrass.
In her current position at Three Chimneys, Hatfield provides stallion care, as well as serving as a breeding supervisor and press agent for the Three Chimneys stallions and an ambassador for the horse industry to Three Chimneys’ thousands of yearly visitors.
Working eight years as stallion manager at Gainsborough Farm, two years at Calumet Farm, and seven years at North Ridge Farm prepared Hatfield for the wide range of responsibilities she assumed at Three Chimneys in January 2000.