Oaklawn Park: Brad Kelley to race, breed as Calumet Farm, rather than Bluegrass Hall

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Owner-breeder Brad Kelley will now race as Calumet Farm, rather than Bluegrass Hall, in a change that goes into effect on Thursday when his Wine Glow starts in the seventh race at Oaklawn Park. Kelley leases and operates Calumet Farm, the historic Lexington, Ky., nursery that bred and raced Triple Crown winners Citation and Whirlaway.

“Every horse that was Bluegrass Hall now [races as] Calumet Farm,” said D. Wayne Lukas, the primary trainer for Kelley.

The list includes Oxbow, a leading Kentucky Derby candidate set to run later this month in the Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star at Fair Grounds. The name change also extends to Kelley’s breeding operation, as the horses produced will show the breeder as Calumet Farm.

Kelley will continue to race in the black and gold colors of Bluegrass Hall. Calumet’s red and blue silks were purchased at auction in 1992 for $12,000 by a Brazilian businessman. They are carried by TNT Stud’s runners in South America.

Calumet Farm, a 798-acre facility, was privately purchased for $35.9 million in May 2012 by the Calumet Investment Group. The farm was then leased to Kelley. Prior to the sale, the farm was owned by the Kennelot Stables of the De Kwiatkowski Trust.

Calumet is the leading breeder of Kentucky Derby winners with nine, the latest being Strike the Gold in 1991. Citation won the Triple Crown in 1948, and Whirlaway, in 1941.

Lukas is a four-time winner of the Kentucky Derby. He trained the last champion for Calumet Farm, 1990 Horse of the Year Criminal Type.