Our History

Price Headley Bell Jr.

Price Bell began his working life in the stables of Mill Ridge Farm as a twelve-year-old –  cleaning stalls, working yearlings, and weed-eating fences. He continued to work at Mill Ridge throughout his teenage years.

Price has always been passionate about deepening people’s connection to horses, and about the betterment of the thoroughbred industry. In 2015, he and a small group of industry leaders established Visit Horse Country, a nonprofit with the mission of fostering an appreciation of the horse and the land through authentic behind-the-scenes tours of Kentucky farms and equine facilities. Until the establishment of Visit Horse Country, the public was not welcomed into Kentucky’s horse farms. In its first ten years, Visit Horse Country grew to welcome more than 500,000 guests. The Mill Ridge farm tour has been rated the #1 “Thing to do in Kentucky” for the last several years by TripAdvisor.

Price has been heavily involved in initiatives to improve the horse industry and the greater Lexington area. He has served on boards for Light Up Racing, Amplify Racing, Kentucky Thoroughbred Association (KTA), and Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP). He has also served on several nonprofit boards in Lexington supporting economic development, tourism, and preservation, including Fayette Alliance for 10 years, and currently serves on the Greenspace Trust for LFUCG. Price co-founded the NoLi CDC, and is a partner in Frontier Highway, which received an award of excellence in residential design for its goal of infill redevelopment in Lexington.

 Today, as General Manager of Mill Ridge, you’ll often find Price zipping around on his e-bike and a Mill Ridge cap, working closely with his team on the grounds of the farm. Price, his wife, Beth, and their children, George and Caroline, live in Lexington on Mill Ridge Farm.

Background:
Price earned his BS in Economics from Vanderbilt University in 2004 and later his MBA from Vanderbilt Owen School of Business. He began his career in real estate in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2005 before transferring to Nashville, Tennessee, where he made an impact on the revitalization of Nashville’s downtown community, serving on the Executive Committee of the Nashville Downtown Partnership. He was also a member of the Education Committee for the Nashville Chamber of Commerce and Nashville ULI District Council. He returned to Lexington to work for Mill Ridge Farm and Nicoma Bloodstock in 2011. In 2020, he was named General Manager of Mill Ridge.

Headley Bell is fifth-generation horseman and Managing Partner of Mill Ridge Farm and its consulting company, Nicoma Bloodstock, which was founded in 1979. With his focus on Nicoma throughout much of his career, Headley has been fortunate to have worked with many clients and friends, regularly providing guidance that has lasted as long as 40 years.

Headley’s consulting success began as early as 1983, with the mating that produced Trempolino, who won France’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1) in 1987 – a race many consider the world’s most prestigious. Trempolino was crowned Champion 3-year-old. In 1987, another remarkable mating under Headley’s guidance produced Suave Dancer, who won the 1991 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1) and was crowned French and Irish Champion.

 Mill Ridge Farm has an extraordinary history of raising the highest level of racehorse, and Nicoma contributes to the farm’s continued prestige by providing invaluable guidance on matings and management. Since 2000, Mill Ridge and Nicoma have collectively raised, sold, and/or mated (56) Grade 1 winners (the highest level of racing). Among these are (4) Horses-of-the-Year (recognized as the BEST horse racing that year)- Point Given ’01, Symboli Kris S (Japan-’02,’03), Havre de Grace ’11, and Bricks and Mortar ’19. America’s most prestigious race; (3) Kentucky Derby- Giacomo ’05, Barbaro ’06 & Street Sense ’07. And other Classics: (2) Preakness Stakes winners- Point Given ’01 & Seize The Grey ’24, and (1) Belmont winner-Point Given ’01. And too, for the Championship Days of racing; (11) Breeders’ Cup winners- Nobals ’23, Bricks and Mortar ’19, Oscar Performance ’16, Ria Antonia ’13, Life Is Sweet ’09, Street Sense ’06, Round Pond ’06, Artie Schiller ’05, Sweet Catomine ’04, Johar ’03, Spain ’00.

Throughout his life, Headley has found significant inspiration in the example set by his mother, Alice Headley Chandler, and grandfather, Hal Price Headley, both of whom are included in the Hall of Fame as Pillars of the Turf. Inspired by their legacy, Headley has worked to lead in both his industry and his community, and to give back in the way his mother and grandfather demonstrated. In 1989, Headley led the charge to define a code of ethics for bloodstock agents, who are not licensed, to abide by. Labeled the Thoroughbred Agent and Consultant Association (TACA), this code of ethics was considered voluntary in the industry. It now forms the framework in every sales catalog, through the conditions of sale. This is particularly beneficial for newcomers to the industry.

In addition to his service to the equine industry, Headley has also served in many community roles. He and his mother have both served on the Board of The Lexington School, the land for which was donated by Headley’s grandfather. Additionally, Headley served on the Board of the Rural Land Management – PDR program for eight years (two terms). Following his work with Lexington’s PDR program, Headley was asked by Mayor Jim Gray to serve on the Fayette County Planning Commission, which he did, again for two terms.

In 2015, Headley, Price, and several partners launched Visit Horse Country, designed to increase public access to Lexington’s horse farms. Over the course of its 10 years in business, Visit Horse Country has helped welcome 500,000 visitors to area horse farms. Mill Ridge Farm’s own tour has been recognized as the #1 experience in Lexington by TripAdvisor.

In 1962, Alice’s father, Hal Price Headley died and bequeathed to her four mares and 286 acres of the Beaumont Farm, with which she founded Mill Ridge Farm.

In 1968, Chandler became the first American woman to breed an Epsom Derby winner who was sold at auction, SIR IVOR, a stallion descended from ALCIBIADES, a champion bred by Chandler’s father in 1927. Sir Ivor was sold to Raymond Guest, an American businessman and U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, at Keeneland in 1966 for $42,000. After winning several major European races, Chandler’s stallion influenced a shift in horse sales, emphasizing the U.S. commercial market and Keeneland, specifically.

Mill Ridge Farm has raised and sold several notable horses since its founding, to include 2001 Horse of the Year POINT GIVEN, 2011 Horse of the Year HAVRE DE GRACE, and 2005 Kentucky Derby winner GIACOMO. Since 2000, Mill Ridge Farm has raised or sold nine Breeders’ Cup winners and 40 Grade 1 winners. 

Chandler’s most prestigious honor is her induction into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2020 under the category of “Pillars of the Turf.” Her father was inducted only two years prior in 2018. 

Chandler became a member of Keeneland’s Button Club in 2012, an award that honors individuals/farms who have “played a prominent role in the growth of the Keeneland Association.”

In 2008, Chandler was given the Eclipse Award of Merit, one of the industry’s highest honors, presented for “displaying outstanding lifetime achievement in, and service to, the Thoroughbred industry.”

In 2005, Chandler was the Honor Guest for the Thoroughbred Club of America’s Annual Testimonial Dinner, an event that honors “outstanding figures of the turf world.”

Upon her death in 2021, numerous organizations paid tribute to Chandler, well captured here in the Paulick Report article.

Beaumont Farm’s Hal Price Headley was perhaps the most influential player in bringing the dream of Keeneland Race Track to existence in 1936, and served as its President from that time until 1951.

The land that became Beaumont Farm was purchased by George Washington Headley in 1880, and handed down to his son, Hal Petit Headley. Hal Price Headley was born in Lexington, Kentucky in 1888 and went on to study at Princeton University before returning to Beaumont Farm following his father’s stroke.

Once his boots were back on the familiar soil of Central Kentucky, Headley went on to immerse himself in the business of Beaumont Farm, establishing Keeneland as a front-runner in the world of thoroughbred horse racing, and serving as the first President of the Thoroughbred Horse Association.

The most notable horses bred by Hal Price Headley include ALCIBIADES, APOGEE, MENOW, and ASKMEKNOW among a total of 88 Grade States winners from 1916 to 1953.

Upon his death in 1962, The Blood-Horse stated: “In all-around mastery of the various aspects of Thoroughbred racing and breeding, Hal Price Headley had no equal among his contemporaries.”  Alice Headley Chandler, his daughter, then inherited 286 acres and four broodmares. From this new beginning came Mill Ridge Farm.

In 2018, he was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame as a Pillar of the Turf and a tribute video here.