While there are numerous backyard and medium-sized breeders in Illinois, the heyday of the populous breeding farms-those that feature full service broodmare care, multiple stallions and yearling preparation-has dwindled to two.
Cottonwood Farm, located in Big Rock, is owned and operated by Terry Hunt-a longtime fixture on the Illinois harness racing scene. Hunt, 52, has owned and/or bred over 1,300 horses since his first gig as a horse owner in 1983. Fox Valley Standardbreds is handled by the husband and wife team of Ken "Doc" and Pat Walker in Sherman, Illinois. The Walkers had previously plied their wares at their northern Illinois Maple Park farm before moving to the central part of the state in the mid-1990s. Fox Valley Standardbreds has owned and/or bred over 2,200 horses to date.
Breeders are-unlike a good many of their peers-some of the most positive thinking people in the Standardbred industry. They have huge financial stakes in their businesses, and when times are difficult, cannot just pick up and move their farms to a more lucrative state. "The quality of racing and breeding in Illinois has never been better, if you look at 2004 overall," Terry Hunt notes. "Obviously the current problem with the purse structure has caused several Chicago based trainers to move, at least part of their stables, taking many of our better horses to the Meadowlands. But to be in this business for the long run it is necessary to look for the positives as well as to be concerned with the negatives."
"There's definitely cause for concern right now, but we're pretty optimistic overall," Doc Walker said. "The racing really begins here, at the breeding farms. An increase or decrease in purses ultimately effects us in some fashion, but we feel that we will always have a good product that is worth something to someone, somewhere. As breeders we're always looking to increase the quality of our stock."
"The quality of the racing in Illinois is apparent from at least two perspectives," Terry added. "Balmoral, Maywood, Hawthorne and the State Fairs produced many outstanding and exciting races."
