Walden of Pauls Mill teams with sales agents

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Pauls Mill Farm owner Ben Walden, Jr., has joined forces with selling agents Mark Toothaker and Jim Perrone to form a new consigning agency, Pauls Mill Sales.

Last month, Toothaker and his former partner Tommy Eastham dissolved their partnership in Legacy Bloodstock, which is continuing under Eastham's operation.

"We are three guys who love selling horses and love this industry," Toothaker said. "I have been blessed with great clients who possess great bloodstock, including Spendthrift Farm. When I looked at the opportunity to add to that existing clientele the kind of quality bloodstock that Pauls Mill owns, it became very exciting."

Perrone, who owns the North Carolina agency Perrone Sales, called the new partnership "the most exciting thing I've done in all my life."

Pauls Mill, near Versailles, Ky., stands four stallions, including 2009 champion 3-year-old Summer Bird, a first-year stallion in 2011. The new agency will be based at the farm, which Walden and his wife, Elaine, own.