The Quintessential Kentucky scene: rolling green pastures dotted with mares grazing, foals by their side. This is the drive along Paris Pike from Lexington to one of the most storied stud farms in Kentucky - Claiborne Farm. It’s not hyperbole to say that the horses that have called Claiborne Farm home over the last century have changed the face of modern horse racing. Legends like Secretariat, Mr Prospector, Ruffian, Danzig and countless more continue to dominate the bloodlines of the best thoroughbreds running today. Case in point: the 2026 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Golden Tempo.
“Golden Tempo from day one was kind of one of those horses we all want to be around, where there was no news is good news kind of thing. He's just doing what he needs to be doing. and obviously still doing that today!”
Wesley Purcell is broodmare manager at Claiborne Farm; like Golden Tempo he was born and raised here. His dad worked on the farm for 40 years, and his brother is farm manager,
“I graduated college 2000. I worked here part-time in high school, started that in 94.
Not a lot of people can say this is the only job you ever had in your life, but part-time and full-time this is the only job I've ever had. My dad started here in the early 70s.
My brother and I kind of did the same thing - worked hand in hand throughout high school and college. I started back in 2000, I believe he started back in 1997/98.
It's just all we know, you know. So a lot of these horses we have been a part of, or my dad has as well. Mr. Hancock used to always tell me, he says, when you start calling these horses by their mother, their grandmother, their great grandmother you know you've been here a while, and I catch myself doing that sometimes.”
Carrumba, Golden Tempo’s dam, is a beautiful flea-bitten, or freckled, pale grey. She’s solid looking and quite large, but with a feminine head and beautiful, kind eyes. She stands regally, gazing into the distance while I admire her, then gently dips her head into my arms to say hello.
“She may have gotten a few more peppermints in the last 7 or 8 weeks from all the visitors and the publications and anybody else that has come by to see her. But, you know, for the most part we treat them all the [broodmares the] same. They deserve that attention. They deserve that care. That's why we have a solid team that works with them, whether it's the foreman, the owners of the farm, the veterinarian. That way each horse is treated the same. They deserve it. They're living on Claiborne Farm, they deserve the right to be treated top notch.”
Carrumba is descended from racing royalty: her great great grandmother, Blitey who is buried behind the nearby hedges in the mares’ cemetery counts Flightline amongst her progeny. There’s something magical in the air here, or maybe it’s deeper down in the soil. With Golden Tempo’s win, Claiborne have now bred an astounding 11 Kentucky Derby winners, more than any other farm in the world.
“There's a lot of limestone in this area and, you know, limestone is great for bone production, strong, healthy horses. So a lot of the old school people will say, you know, the limestone's very strong. And it's been, we've soil tested here, obviously, and it's been known to be very stout in this area. This farm's produced 11 [Kentucky Derby winners] but in about a 5 mile radius of this area, Bourbon County and Highway 627. I think there's upwards of like 25 to 30 Kentucky Derby winners that have been in this area so it's pretty phenomenal what's going on on Claiborne and close by. But yeah, definitely 11 here and for us to be - myself, my dad, and brother - be part of 5 of those is pretty special.”
Carrumba spends nights and the better part of her days in a forty plus acre pasture with about eight other pregnant mares. They come in tqo the barns every morning to eat breakfast, to be checked over by their grooms, then brunch, and then they’re led back out to the field in pairs. As the gate shuts behind them they wander over to the automatic waterer for a drink, then amble towards the shade under the trees. It’s an idyllic scene, it’s horse heaven.
As he can for so many milestone races of these horses he’s personally connected to, Purcell can remember exactly where he was when Golden Tempo won the Derby this Spring.
“I was with my brother at his house here on the farm. You know, when he hits the top of the stretch he still had to pass every horse but our eyes were focused on him. But as he's coming down the stretch not only am I, you know, cheering him on or calling for him to hit the finish line, but my mind is reminiscing back to when he was that baby in that field over there. And that's what's happening. It's like your child is doing something, you know, getting ready to achieve something pretty successful because you are around them from day one at birth till they leave the farm to go to training. So that's what was going through my mind as he was passing horses. I was like, you know, it felt like he was passing them in the field out there reminiscing back to, you know, when he was 3 or 4 or 5 months of age. So I think the girls may have been at their houses too, watching the race.”
“When I watched Golden Tempo win the Kentucky Derby, I started crying. I was like, I can't believe I knew that horse. I remember my oldest brother texted me. He's like, ‘Was that the horse you raised?’ And then he went and did it again at the Belmont.
I was pretty excited too as well. I just couldn't believe how quickly everything happened in just a short time because you never know what's going to happen when you see him as a baby to now a few years later!”
Groom Alicia Bruder had just graduated from UK and started working at Claiborne the year Golden Tempo was born; she remembers him as a foal fondly, although that’s not what he was called when she looked after him!
“I gave him the nickname Bart Simpson an account of his characteristic. It kind of worked because on the TV show, the Simpsons, Bart Simpsons catchphrase is Aye Carrumba, her name is Carrumba so it kind of worked out. And I still refer to him as Bart Simpson because that's just what I know him as and I've done that with other foals. I knew that he was cheeky. I know sometimes the more personable and cheeky they are they can end up going to do great things, like Secretariat was known to be quite the ham himself and Man O War had quite the temperament on himself as well. But I just never thought how quickly, like, all of a sudden, Kentucky Derby winner from your 1st crop of horses you get to work with. So that was really great that he got to do so well for himself already.”
As broodmare manager Purcell will oversee roughly 150 foals born each year on the farm, but he too remembers Golden Tempo well.
“He was a little bit of a standout. Now, these horses are grouped together by their age, so all of the February babies were together. He had quite large ears so we were like, ‘Oh, there's Big Ears!’, but he was a standout colt, and we kind of got to see him because he was born early, so we saw him, you know, all of February, March, April, and he would go to the yearling division in the fall. He kind of was a standout colt the whole time, but, you know, realistically, you're not looking at saying, oh, that horse is going to win the derby or the Belmont, but you're thinking, you know, he might be a pretty nice racehorse. But there's a lot of a lot of luck involved.”
Luck definitely, but also Purcell explains, a long history of Claiborne working with stellar clients to create an unparalleled broodmare band, the knowledge to breed them to their best matches, the patience and of course an enormous financial investment . But equally important, he tells me, Mr Hancock believed in treating horses like horses - a daily routine that maximizes time out grazing in the fields and minimizes stress; generally speaking, relaxed, happy mares will tend to deliver strong, healthy foals. He believed hay, oats and water creates a racehorse.
The converted tobacco barns have remained largely unchanged over the years, except for meticulous upkeep, the stall doors freshly painted in the farm’s signature yellow.
Claiborne’s long and continued success proves that tradition has value. Carrumba will foal again in one of the same barns that Golden Tempo was born in four years prior, and her babies will run and graze the same land as Secretariat once did years before.
Steeped in history, stroking Carrumba’s neck, I wonder what the foal growing inside her will achieve. Being at Claiborne feels like straddling the past, present and future of racing lore, but the next story has yet to be written.
They say three time’s a charm, and Golden Tempo was Carrumba’s third foal. Since then she’s had another colt, a 2 year old by Nyquist called Imperial Tempo who is in training with Cherie Devaux, and a yearling filly by Liam’s Map. She’s in foal to GunRunner and due early next year.
“Let’s hope lightning strikes twice! She’s already proven herself, that’s for sure!”
