Pioneering horsewoman who helped lead ‘Europeans over here for Keeneland’ dies
Pioneering horsewoman and legendary Thoroughbred breeder Alice Headley Chandler died on April 6 at the age of 95. Mrs. Chandler died in her home in Lexington.
The news was announced by her son, Headley Bell, managing partner of Mill Ridge Farm, which his mother founded in 1962.
Mrs. Chandler was the oldest of three children born to Keeneland co-founder Hal Price Headley and Genevieve Molloy Headley. She built Mill Ridge, which was part of the original Headley farm, into a major Kentucky breeding farm and was respected world-wide in racing.
She had held many leadership roles in the horse industry, including serving as chairperson of the University of Kentucky Equine Research Committee and president of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association. She also served as director of the Breeders’ Cup, Keeneland Association, and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association.
In 2009, Mrs. Chandler received the Eclipse Award of Merit, and in 2006 was recognized by the Kentucky State Senate for her service and contributions to the racing and breeding industry.
Alice Chandler achievements
After the death of her father in 1962, Mrs. Chandler founded Mill Ridge with four broodmares. She bred one, Attica, to multiple stakes winner Sir Gaylord.
“I was short on money because I had just built a new barn,” Mrs. Chandler said in 2009. “I thought it would be a good match, but didn’t expect how good.”
The foal, named Sir Ivor, sold at Keeneland’s July 1966 sale for $42,000 to Arthur “Bull” Hancock, who purchased him on behalf of Raymond Guest. Sir Ivor went on to win the 1968 Epsom Derby for Guest and later was named England’s Horse of the Year.
With Sir Ivor, she became the first American woman to breed an Epsom Derby winner. In 1979, with the mare Nicosia, she became the first woman to win a $100,000 stakes race, at Arlington Park.
Over the decades, Mill Ridge and Mrs. Chandler cared for mares and foals owned some of the biggest names in racing, including Queen Elizabeth II, Saudi Prince Fahd Salman and Dubai’s Sheik Mohammed Al Maktoum, among others.
But Mrs. Chandler said at the time that she considered Sir Ivor as one of her most meaningful achievements “because he’s done so much for getting the Europeans over here for Keeneland.”
“Sir Ivor’s influence provided a major turning point in opening up the American market to the European market,” said Keeneland’s then-president Nick Nicholson in 2009. “It convinced foreign buyers that North American pedigrees could be adapted to European training methods and win Classic races.”
In addition to Sir Ivor, Mrs. Chandler’s farm bred, raised, raced or sold horses that have won some of the biggest races in the world, including the 2005 Kentucky Derby, won by Giacomo.
Among the others: 2001 Horse of the Year Point Given, 1998 Kentucky Oaks winner Keeper Hill, Japanese Horse of the Year Symboli Kris S, and Breeders’ Cup winners Artie Schiller, Sweet Catomine, Round Pond, Spain and Johar.
In 2005, Mrs. Chandler saw a Storm Cat colt that she raised and consigned sell for $9.7 million, a record at the time for the September yearling sale.
Kentucky Derby win
The Derby win by Giacomo was particularly sweet. Mrs. Chandler, who watched from her farm, said at the time that she had to go for a walk with her two Jack Russell terriers to have a cry and pull herself together. Her father, an industry titan, raced eight runners in his silks and bred five more at his Beaumont Farm, but never came closer than second place.
After his death, the daughter he called “Al” got the piece of the enormous farm farthest from the city because Headley thought she would be the one to stay in the business.
Influence on horse racing
In 2000, Mrs. Chandler was honored by the Lexington chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners with the 2000 Winner’s Circle Award.
“If this was a man’s game in the beginning, it isn’t any longer,” Mrs. Chandler said in her acceptance speech. “Women are so good with horses, and we are at every level now.”
She served on Keeneland’s board for 23 years.
Keeneland president Shannon Arvin, the first woman to hold the position initiated by Mrs. Chandler’s father, said in a statement: “Keeneland mourns the passing of Alice Headley Chandler, Racing Hall of Famer and owner of nearby Mill Ridge Farm who served as a guiding light that helped shape the success of Keeneland. Mrs. Chandler was an exceptional horsewoman who devoted her talents to caring for her beloved Mill Ridge, its horses and clientele, and her dear friends and family. Respected by horsemen internationally, she was a tireless ambassador for the Thoroughbred industry and applied her leadership skills to make extraordinary contributions for the betterment of the sport.”
Her goal, according to a 2000 column by the Herald-Leader’s Don Edwards: “I want to be like my father. I want to die with my boots on.”
She was an early and ardent advocate for educating people about the horse industry and the value of preserving the farms.
“I can recall my father betting my mother that there’d never be a stoplight in front of our house on Harrodsburg Road. That’s where Turfland Mall is now,” she said in 2000. “I wish I could live 200 years. I’d defend the horse country with my life.”
Mrs. Chandler was inducted into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame in the category of Pillars of the Turf for 2020, which recognizes people “who have made extraordinary contributions to Thoroughbred racing in a leadership or pioneering capacity at the highest national level” and also includes her father.
When Mrs. Chandler stepped down from her leadership position at Mill Ridge Farm in 2008, she said, “I have lived a blessed life, doing just what I want to do: associate with the finest horses, clients, friends, and an industry that I love.”
Mrs. Chandler is survived by her husband of 49 years, Dr. John Chandler; her children Patricia, Mike, Reynolds and Headley; eight grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
This story was originally published April 7, 2021 at 1:03 PM.
