A statue of 1919 Triple Crown winner and Horse of the Year Sir Barton was unveiled in front of the Audley Farm stallion barn where the son of Star Shoot began his stud career in 1921. The statue, by Jan Woods, is an anniversary gift from Erich von Baumbach Jr., whose family’s association with the Berryville, Va., farm goes back 30 years.
Sir Barton, who came along a year before his celebrated rival Man o’ War, entered stud at Audley at the time the farm was owned by brothers B.B. and Montfort Jones. While standing at Audley, Sir Barton sired such stakes winners as champion Easter Stockings and multiple stakes winner Nellie Custis, who was named after president George Washington’s ward. Easter Stockings, champion 3-year-old filly of 1928, scored major wins in the Kentucky and Latonia Oaks.
Bred in Kentucky by John Madden in partnership and produced from the Hanover mare Lady Sterling, Sir Barton won the Triple Crown for J.K.L. Ross. Following his stallion days at Audley, Sir Barton went on to serve as a U.S. Army Remount stallion. Later on, he was transported to Wyoming, where he died in 1937.
