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Should Calumet Farm be allowed to be in the Stallion business after the horrific fate suffered by Alydar?

2:24,

Ownership has changed since Alydar's death. Henryk de Kwiatkowski bought the farm in 1992. Since de Kwiatkowski's death in 2003, the farm has been operated by his family. Click here for a story on the Calumet purchase in 1992.

2:24, As Ian said, Calumet is no longer owned by the Wright Family heirs who were in control when Alydar suffered his fatal injury. Actually the Wrights heirs were never in control, that position belonged to JT Lundy alone and I hope some day he has to answer for the dirty deeds he commited in the name of the Wright family. There is a book called Wild Ride: the Rise and tragic fall of Calumet Farm by Anne Auerbach. The amount of money that went through Lundy's hands is staggering, as is the amount of debt left in the wake of the Calumet bankruptcy.  Calumet im my mind is the most historic farm in Kentucky and should get a chance to rebuild it's stallion services. People breathed a big sigh of relief when De Kwaitkowski steped in and bought Calumet when it was auctioned off, the locals were terrified the land would be developed, given its close proximity to Keeneland. I did not know this for years after but Henryk De Kwaitkowski was not new to the race horse business...He campaigned the great Danzig and Conquistedor Cielo. I fell in love with Alydar in 1977 and followed his offspring once he was retired. I was furious when he died and It broke my heart when my favorite son of his , Criminal Type, was sent to Japan, all because of one mans greed.

It IS great to hear that Calumet is back in the stallion business.  Calumet has been a favorite farm of mine since 1957 when I saw their Iron Leige beat a world-class, if not small, field in the Derby.  Heartbroken that Gen. Duke was withdrawn the day before, my hopes were pinned on the "other" son of Bull Lea and he did not disappoint me.  Iron Leige was always a hard-hitter.  I learned he is not actually buried at Calumet, but a headstone is erected in his memory.  Tim Tam was the very first racehorse I ever saw in person, but I didn't see him at Calumet.  I saw him recuperating at the University of Pennsylvania.  He was my very favorite Calumet horse.  Calumet had its Glory Days back in the 1940s and 1950s and hasn't been the same since.  I visited the farm in 1989 when their stallion roster would rival that of any other farm in the area.  I still have their stallion booklet from that year.  I wish Calumet the best in his climb back up the ladder!

Calumet is so much horse history, I hope to hear more about them in the future.  I have missed them.  I hope things go well for them.

Hi Alan,

Yes, I agree; Best Turn is the tallest really high class horse I can recall. The *Turn-To-line would sporatically produce horses of great height-seemed to somewhat contradict what is known about height inheritance, at least in humans...Ewell Rice once told me that Best Turn was a near give-away. As a young horse, they couldn't get him to even approach breezing speeds until one day they hit him with the "stick" and he took off. He is buried at Calumet, but last time I was there I looked all over the cemetary without finding the grave of his great daughter, Davona Dale.

Criminal Type: As you must be aware, J.T. did serve a prison sentence. But, don't be so quick to paint him all black. He was very motivated to return Calumet to its glory days. While at its helm, J.T. implemented many physical improvements to the farm. In retrospect, he did go overboard with his horse purchases, and may not have been as selective as he should, but the breeding-to-race business isn't known for its "black ink". Perhaps, J.T.'s main sin was that he wasn't the best businessman... Criminal Type (the horse) was still in the US standing at stud when De Kwaitkowski purchased the farm.  

To all:

Let's keep the comments on topic. Alydar's death is obviously a hot-button issue, but it's really not relevant to today's Calumet and their future with these new stallions.

It's nice to see that stallions will be at Calumet again. Although it's highly unlikely that the farm will ever achieve the success it had during the 1930s, 40s and 50s...at least the land isn't being sold for development.  Calumet's glory days came at a time when many owners bred their own and had their own family bloodlines.  Yes, potential race horses were sold at auctions sales back then,  but there were far more family-owned racing dynasties and bloodlines.  For example, there was Wheatley stables, owned by O. Phipps mother and the stallion that powered that farm was the great sire Bold Ruler.  The Phipps Family, obviously, is still in the racing business but not the way they used to be.  Also,  sires back then were not bred to as many mares as they are today and certain bloodlines were retained by the family, like Riddle did with Man O' War. Calumet bred, raised and raced their own,  which is something you don't see too often anymore.  Perhaps the family is thinking of going in that direction and developing a champion broodmare band and stallion roster.  After all,  MOST of the triple crown winners came from a family-owned and operated breeding farm.  I believe Seattle Slew was the only triple crown winner purchased at a sale. That's just off the top of my head.  But,  glad to see stallions on the premises again.

HOORAY i am very glad Camulett farm is back to breeding horses. I agree as I LOVED ALLYDAR AND AFFIRMED. i ALSO THINK THAT THE NEW OWNERS CARE ABOUT THE HORSES with that said they need every ones morale support and breeders support. I HOPE TO SEE THEM BACK AS MAJOR BREEDERS OF CHAMPIONS.I know alot of the older farms are all disappearing to bigger farms and to be sold for malls we as a racing commitee has lost a lot of legacy.I got a chance to see the trophies this year at the horse park and read about the great farm so it would be nice after this long to see them add to the trophys in years tocome. thanks to the owners of the stallions for moving them to the farm.  

Hi,

I wish Calumet well. Don't blame the "farm name" for what one person did. I hope they do come back and attract more quality stallions in the future.

I urge posters to pay attention to what Ian Tapp has said about Alydar's death and staying on topic. With that, I am THRILLED that Calumet is back in the business of standing stallions.  Back in 1969, Mom and Dad took my sister and me to Kentucky horse country and we visited Calumet and saw Citation. He was a very old horse. I think he died seven months later. I felt very honored to lay eyes on such greatness. Kwiatkowski's purchase of the farm was a Godsend. He truly enjoyed his horses for who they were, and deserved such a fine horse as Conquistador Cielo (Conquerer of the Skies), a horse whose name was right in line with the fine Polish man's love of aviation.

Anyway you spin it Calumet will have a work in progress.

Do they still give tours? I heard that they stopped it..does anyone know?

I have been a Calumetfan since Hill Gail fired my boiyhood imagination with his jet  fast Ky Derby win in 1952. For years, Mrs. Glass would kndly forward  me each years list of Calumet  2-yera olds so I could search them out in the owrkouts printed inthe Morning Tekegraph. Each of calumet's stakes  horses and winners became  my personal stable and enriched my childhood and  continued  beyond . I  look forward to the new chapter beginning with  the new ownership announced during this year's derby week, the 60th since Hill Gail's sparkling win! Does anyone know the story of Before Dawn since her retirement?

Jason R,

I see what you're saying, but the breed needs distance-oriented sires as well as sprinter-miler sires. There were sprinters in the 1940s as well.

Times at Churchill Downs slow down when it's sloppy. Excluding sloppy Derbys, there hasn't been one run as slow as 2:03 since 1999. Compare that to the 1940s, when 9 of the 10 Derbys were run 2:04 or slower.