THE DERBY DOZEN, a weekly list of the most likely horses to win the Kentucky Derby, was posted at Taylor Made’s Diamond A Farm division this week. (Photo by Scott White)
TAYLOR MADE FARM’S Katie Taylor, vice president of the farm and president of Taylor Made Farm Tours, welcomes visitors to the farm’s open house at its Diamond A Farm division, located in northwestern Woodford County. (Photo by Scott White)
The internationally known Taylor Made Farm, located in Jessamine County, was established in 1976 as a small equine boarding operation by Duncan Taylor and Mike Shannon, continuing the equine legacy of Duncan’s father Joe Taylor, the long-time farm manager of Gainesway Farm.
But, thanks to a relationship begun five years ago with Diamond A Farm in northwestern Woodford County, Taylor Made Farm has moved beyond its Jessamine County location to join the stellar constellation of a Woodford County horse farm.
On Monday, Taylor Made’s Diamond A Farm division held an open house to kick off a new hospitality program to welcome visitors. The nonprofit equine industry organization, Visit Horse Country, is working with Taylor Made Farms to promote this new tourism experience.
According to Vice-President of Operations Katie Taylor, Diamond A Farm is a working farm: its barns house world-class mares, foals and yearlings. One of the superstars living there is 2023 Broodmare of the Year Indian Miss. The “babies” remain at Diamond A until they reach about 18 months old, when, as the consignor, or sales agent, Taylor Made moves along in the process, culminating in their sale, either privately or at a sales company like Keeneland.
“(Taylor Made Farm is) basically a service company,” Katie explained. “We care for horses like broodmares, stallions, and their offspring (through the breeding shed to the sales pavilion). Diamond A is like a nursery farm, which is part of our overall operations.” As a consignor, Taylor Made sells approximately 1,200 horses a year.”
The success of Taylor Made is regularly proven on the turf. In the upcoming 2026 Kentucky Derby, Taylor Made has five strong connections to the “Derby Dozen,” a weekly list of the top 12 contenders for the Derby compiled by Byron King, the news editor of BloodHorse Magazine. And, the horses represent the panoply of Taylor Made/Diamond A’s operations: Renegade and Commandment were foaled, raised and sold by Taylor Made Sales Agency; Silent Tactic was sired there; and So Happy and Albus were sold by the sales agency. A pretty impressive group.
And, this is not new. Taylor Made, and now Diamond A, have been providing these key Thoroughbred industry services since 1978, when Duncan sold his first yearling at Keeneland.
“We raise and sell fast horses,” Katie said. “We set up Taylor Made Tours as a separate entity to help promote our industry. Our goal is to bring more focus on welcoming visitors to a working farm to grow fans and even possible future customers to our sport. We literally want to open our doors. I think the most impactful way I know of is when a person gets up close and personal with a horse.”
Being a part of Visit Horse Country (VHC) is also an important part of this piece, and Katie
explained that Taylor Made’s Director of Tourism Robert Osbourn will work closely with VHC to realize the farm’s vision.
“At the end of the day, VHC lays out the welcome mat for people,” said Hallie Hardy, VHC’s executive director and a native Kentuckian. “The farms we work with are all actual working farms. It is a collective effort of the horse farms to showcase our industry, and (equine tourism) is vital for scalability and viability.”
Katie explained that the farm is now open for tours twice a day, at noon and 2 p.m. To schedule a visit, as well as to add other Woodford County horse farms to a multi-farm tour, go online to visithorsecountry.com or call VHC at 859-963-1004.