Vessels Ranch in California listed for sale

Vessels Ranch, a 1,390-acre Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse breeding farm in Bonsall, Calif., has been put up for sale with a $55.6-million price tag.

The farm has undergone a significant downsizing since the death of owner Frank “Scoop” Vessels III in 2010, shifting its focus from standing stallions to owning mares. Vessels Ranch currently stands Thoroughbred stallion Square Eddie and offers frozen semen for the late Quarter Horse sire First Down Dash.

The property has been listed with Sotheby’s International Reality.

"The Vessels Ranch property is extremely valuable due to its overall size and location within ten miles of the Pacific Ocean in the county of San Diego, Calif.,” said Bill Thread, the LLC manager at Vessels. “The upland portions of the property above the horse facilities have excellent residential development potential. It has been determined that it is in the best interests of the family to seek to realize the value of this property now rather than continuing to hold it for investment.”

Though the property is for sale, Thread noted that the farm will remain open for business, with more than 260 horses boarded on the property. He said it is not unusual for a property of the magnitude of Vessels Ranch to require an extended period of time to sell, and that a completed deal would require several months to wind down operations and relocate horses.

To view the listing, click here.