Swaps did not compete in the latter two jewels of the Triple Crown due to inflammation in his right forefoot. In 1955, the great three year-old Nashua lost the Kentucky Derby (G1) by one and one-half lengths to the west coast superstar Swaps, but came back to capture both the Preakness (G1) and Belmont Stakes (G1). In 1955, he changed the Thoroughbred breeding world and the fortunes of Spendthrift Farm forever when he put together the first $1 million syndication for a horse. Combs would become a major pioneer in the racing industry-this was just one of several of his innovative actions. This created what we know today as modern racehorse syndication. In 1947, Combs brought together a group of 20 partners who invested $5,000 each in the stallion Beau Pere. The farm was named after the great stallion once owned by Comb’s ancestor Daniel Swigert of Elmendorf Farm. In 1937, 36 year-old Leslie Combs II founded Spendthrift Farm when he used a $600,000 inheritance from his grandmother to purchase 126 acres of land just north of Lexington, Kentucky. Today, the “Nashua Motel” symbolizes the spirit of a legendary horse, two visionary men, and a farm that rose from the ashes and overcame adversity to become one of the most successful Thoroughbred breeding operations in the world.ĭuring the Golden Age of American Thoroughbred racing, from the mid-1960s through the end of the 1970s, there were three farms who produced on both the racetrack and in the breeding shed that stood above the others: Claiborne Farm, Gainesway, and Spendthrift. In the late 1950s, the great racehorse Nashua was so valued as a stallion that Spendthrift Farm satisfied his insurance requirements by constructing an unprecedented U-shaped barn made of metal and sandstone. It is estimated more than 20,000 visitors came to see him each year. For 26 years, beginning in 1956, he was Kentucky’s star attraction.
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