Hamburg Place Horse Cemetery

Today’s field trip took me to Hamburg Place Horse Cemetery.  This is perhaps the final resting place of 18 great horses.  I say perhaps, because the horses were buried between 1908 through 1995, but they were moved to the current location in the summer of 2005.  These horses belonged to the Madden family.  The property where they are now buried stands where the great farm Hamburg Place in Lexington, KY  once was, and within view of the former cemetery, where there is now a Wal-Mart.

John Edward Madden was born in 1856.  He made his way to Lexington in 1889.  By 1896 he had a great Thoroughbred named Hamburg.  He sold that horse a year later and with that profit he bought the farm which he named Hamburg Place in 1898.  He was a top trainer and breeder from 1901 thru 1928. Madden had many fine horses including Standardbreds and Thoroughbreds.  He had 5 Kentucky Derby winners, including 1 Triple Crown Winner, 4 Belmont Stakes winners and many other famous winning horses.  Sir Barton was the first ever Triple Crown winner. He created his horse cemetery in a horse shoe shape in 1908.  In my opinion the current layout is more beautiful.  Madden died in 1929.

The 5 Standarbreds on the property are: Nancy Hanks, Silicon, Major Delmar, Hamburg Belle, and Siliko.  Nancy Hanks is the horse buried in the center with the large horse moment marking her grave.  She was a Harness Racing  Hall of Fame horse that ran undefeated and carried a record for speed.  Hamburg Belle held several world records herself.

The 13 Thoroughbreds on the grounds are: Ida Pickwick, Ogden, Imp, Plaudit, Star Shoot, Lady Sterling, Sir Martin, Miss Kearney, Princess Mary, Springtime, T.V. Lark, Pink Pigeon, and Bel Sheba.  Plaudit was a Kentucky Derby winner. Madden’s grandson bred a Derby winner, Alysheba, using his grandfather’s dam, Bel Sheba. Each of these horses were great.

If you are local to Lexington, or if you are lucky enough to visit, come see the horse cemetery.  It is free and quite peaceful.  A small park with stone walls, a lighted path, and a bridge over a creek surrounds the graveyard. You will recognize that many of the roads, in the area, are named for the property and the horses.  It is nice to have such a sweet little sanctuary in the middle of a shopping center to take us back to where the great bloodlines once grazed.