Owner-breeder Preston Madden dies at 85

Prominent Thoroughbred owner and breeder Preston Madden, who bred dual classic winner and Horse of the Year Alysheba at his family’s historic Hamburg Place, died Tuesday at his home in Kentucky. He was 85.

Ruth Ann Childers, a family friend, first confirmed Madden’s death to the Lexington Herald-Leader. Childers said Madden had been battling an illness and had a brief stay in the hospital before returning home; she added that his death was not related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. A celebration of life will be held at a later date.

Madden, a native of Lexington, was the grandson of John E. Madden, who founded Hamburg Place in 1898. The farm produced multiple American classic winners, the most famous of those being Sir Barton, the first Triple Crown winner in 1919. An intervening generation of the Madden family focused on polo horses before Preston Madden took over the property in 1956 and shifted the operation’s attentions back to Thoroughbreds.

The most famous horse born under Preston Madden’s watch at Hamburg Place arrived in 1984, as the homebred Lt. Stevens mare Bel Sheba delivered an Alydar colt. Madden sold that colt for $500,000 to the Scharbauer family at the Keeneland July selected yearling sale. Alysheba went on to win the 1987 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, and later that year finished a close second to 1986 Derby winner Ferdinand in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Alysheba won seven graded stakes in 1988, capped by the Breeders’ Cup Classic, to earn Horse of the Year honors. He also earned Eclipse Award trophies as the champion 3-year-old male of 1987 and champion older male of 1988. The Hall of Famer won nine total Grade 1 events and earned more than $6.6 million, a record at the time of his retirement.

In the 1990s, Madden, with the assistance of son Patrick Madden, sold the bulk of the 2,000-acre Hamburg Place, which had been bisected by Interstate 75, to developers. The area is now a large retail and residential development, and many of the streets in the area are named for Hamburg Place greats, such as Sir Barton Way and Alysheba Way. When a large retail development including a Wal-Mart was added to the area, the Hamburg Place horse cemetery was shifted in 2005 from its original location, with the existing remains and tombstones of horses buried from 1908 through 1995 exhumed. The cemetery, which is open to the public, includes memorials to Star Shoot and Lady Sterling, the sire and dam of Sir Barton; 1898 Derby winner Plaudit; and Bel Sheba.

Despite the development and winding down of his major operations, Madden remained an active Thoroughbred owner in the final years of his life. He owned and bred Miss Kentucky, who won 5 of 14 career starts, highlighted by the Grade 3 Winning Colors Stakes in 2018 at Churchill Downs. Madden purchased the Uncle Mo colt Borracho for $100,000 as a Keeneland November weanling. The colt was third, beaten less than a length, in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens Stakes last June at Belmont Park.

Madden was preceded in death by his wife of 62 years, socialite Anita Madden, who died in 2018 at age 85. The couple was known for their Derby Eve parties, which evolved into charity events. The couple, active in philanthropy, used the parties to raise millions for their favorite charity, the Bluegrass Boys Ranch. The Maddens are survived by their son, Patrick, his wife, Jennifer, and that couple’s two children, Caroline and Michael Madden.