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[Judge]

On Monday we decided to visit the Belle Meade Plantation…. which really isn’t a plantation but the birthplace of Thoroughbred horse racing stud farms and built in 1819 by the Harding family.

In June of 1871, William Giles Harding and his son, John Harding Jr., traveled to Glen Flora Farm in Illinois and purchased a stallion named Bonnie Scotland for $450. Foaled in England in 1853, the bay horse was by Iago and the great broodmare Queen Mary. Bonnie Scotland was the greatest sire to ever stand at Belle Meade and his descendants represent more than two-thirds of all Kentucky Derby winners to date, including 11 Triple Crown Winners..... hard to believe all of those winners can be traced back to one horse.

What’s interesting is that gambling was eventually strictly outlawed in Tennessee after the civil war and that is why Kentucky has become the epicenter for horse breeding, racing and the Kentucky Derby.

We took a 45-minute guided tour of the main home, which was beautiful. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the home but it was interesting to see how they lived back then.... and it was clear the Harding family was very wealthy. I’m still amazed at the structures they built back in the 1800’s without the equipment and technology of today’s world.

We then walked the grounds to see the various buildings, including the stables and cabins where the slaves lived who maintained the farm. Many of them stayed on after slavery was abolished because they had nowhere else to go. There is also a wintery onsite and a wine tasting was included in the tour.... we ended up walking out with a couple bottles of their wine. It was 90 degrees so pretty hot for walking the grounds but they did add air conditioning to the house so the tour was very comfortable.