Mammad Huseynov, who purchased the sale-topping Don Gato at the 2008 Keeneland April 2-year-old in training sale, has purchased a near 100-acre farm near Lexington with plans to launch a breeding operation.
Huseynov finalized the purchase of the former Brookhill Farm on Yarnalton Road in early July. Brookhill formerly operated as a Saddlebred farm and Huseynov plans to base his North American Thoroughbred broodmare operation at the facility. At the moment, the farm will remain named Brookhill.
In his native Azurbijan, Huseynov maintains a large breeding and racing operation, including a newly built racetrack in Azerbaijan’s capital city of Baku.
According to Hanzly Albina, who will serve as Huseynov’s chief of North American operations, Huseynov currently does not have broodmares in the United States, but has plans to personally attend and purchase mares during the Fasig-Tipton and Keeneland November breeding stock sales. “He will begin placing mares on the farm after the November sales,” said Albina. “He is looking to increase his broodmare band.”
Huseynov's primary business is real estate, but has been a fan for horses for most of his life. While visiting Keeneland Race Course in 2004, Huseynov was taken by the beauty of the land and devotion to the horse in the Bluegrass State. After that visit, Huseynov decided to abandon plans to start a racing and breeding operation in France and decided to come to Kentucky.
The first steps toward this goal were taken when he burst on to the auction scene with the purchase of two colts at the Keeneland April sale. Don Gato topped the sale on a bid of $800,000 and Huseynov also purchased a Smarty Jones colt for $75,000. Both colts are in training with Ian Wilkes and Hall of Fame trainer Carl Nafzger.
No race debut has been planned for Don Gato. “We gave him some time off after the 2-year-old in training sale and we are waiting for him to tell us that he is ready to go,” Albina said.
