Hal Price Headley
1888 - 1962
Hal Price Headley embodied the image of the Bluegrass horseman. He was sophisticated in business, but always a man of agriculture, raising tobacco as well as Thoroughbreds. His lasting legacy to Lexington was his instrumental role in formation of Keeneland Race course, which since the 1930s has typified the best traditions of the sport of Thoroughbred racing. He was president of Keeneland for some 15 years, after which son-in-law Louis Lee Haggin II took the reins. Succeeding generations continued the family's involvement and contribution to racing, among them a daughter, Mrs. Alice Chandler, owner of Mill Ridge Farm and breeder of the English Derby winner Sir Ivor.
Headley was the son of Lexington horseman Hal Petit Headley and launched his own career while a teenager, buying the mare Tweedledum with $420 he hadborrowed from his grandfather. Later, he was first president of the Thoroughbred Horse Association and of the American Thoroughbred Breeders' Association. Headley was the first owner to win 100 races at Keeneland and his best runners included Alcibiades and Menow.
Marker can be reached from the intersection of East Main Street (U.S. 60) and Midland Avenue (U.S. 60), on the right when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
