The following is the first of three DRF Live! installments to be posted over the next few days covering a recent tour of farms in Arkansas, coordinated by Jennifer Hoyt of Oaklawn:  

Keene Thoroughbreds, Hot Springs: 

Texas Chrome embarks on a new phase of his career soon with the start of the breeding season. The horse who last year became just the second Texas-bred millionaire behind champion Groovy will stand in Arkansas. He is the featured attraction when arriving at owner Danny Keene’s farm in Hot Springs. 

But the facility that boasts a training center, rolling pastures and a foaling barn that cleverly sits underneath a two-story home on the property, will not be his permanent residence. Keene has made a slew of upgrades to the farm, but is building a special facility for the best horse he’s owned at a nearby property. For next year’s breeding season, it will be the base for Texas Chrome.

This year, Texas Chrome will stand for a fee of $3,000 to approved mares, said Keene. The owner will support the new stallion with many of his mares. He started buying lines that crossed well with Texas Chrome before the horse retired in 2017.

The farm’s front pasture on Tuesday afternon was dotted by three mares with their newborn foals. There are expecting mares on the property, too, and they were turned out in a pasture near the foaling barn.

Jeanette Milligan, whose husband, Allen Milligan, is a private trainer for Keene based at Oaklawn, gave the tour of Keene’s facility in Arkansas on Tuesday. She said the farm is managed by Brett Creighton, who trained the popular Humble Smarty, a four-time stakes winner who earned $582,985. Humble Smarty, now 14, shares a pasture on the farm with a pony owned by Jeanette Milligan.

Video and still images from the farm visit can be found at the following link: https://twitter.com/DRFRampellini/media