​Old Mill Farm

 

A Rich History...............

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  Old Mill Farm, a 175-acre facility steeped in history, has been nurtured and developed for the last three decades by fourthgeneration horseman Billy Wright.  Formerly a mining operation, the Cartersville, Ga.-based Old Mill was purchased by Wright’s great-grandparents and converted into a Thoroughbred facility. Wright, formerly served as a Thoroughbred trainer in New York and Florida and took over Old Mill in the 1980s. He now handles the breaking and conditioning of the horses boarded at the facility.

Old Mill employs a handful of longtime workers, including a regular exercise rider. Its amenities include a five-eighths mile track, four-horse hot walker, round pen, cinderblock stalls, indoor jogging track, quarantine facility, and custom feed program. Old Mill is historically known as the former home site of the late prominent Argentine trainer Horatio Luro, who was married to Wright’s grandmother, Frances.
Luro trained the likes of Kentucky Derby winners Decidedly and Northern Dancer, plus multiple stakes winner and champion sire Princequillo. Following in Luro’s successful footsteps, Wright trained and owned multiple grade I-winning millionaire El Senor, back-to back victor of the Sword Dancer Handicap (gr. IT) in 1989-90. He also conditioned Bailrullah, winner of the 1987 Diana Handicap (gr. IIT).
Old Mill currently has three major clients with plans to expand its business in the future. One of the best horses bred by the farm in recent years is Ambitoness (by Action This Day), a multiple winner in 2010 and 2011. Another homebred, Hurling, 3-year-old gelding by Prime Meridian, races for Old Mill and scored a win at Saratoga in Augusteasy.  Wright owns a handful of additional horses in partnership with a longtime friend, trainer Billy Cesare, including an unraced juvenile filly named Londoness, for whom he has high hopes. One of Wright’s best mares, Numerous Ambition, is the dam of both Ambitoness and Londoness. Wright, who serves on the board of directors of the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association and as a member of the Georgia Horse Racing Commission, said even though Georgia does not have its own Thoroughbred racetrack, legislation is getting closer to allowing racing in the state. “I think (racing legislation) could actually pass this year if everybody understands how many jobs it will provide,” said Wright. “There have been little obstacles throughout, but we’ve worked on it very hard, and I think we’re a lot closer than we’ve ever been.”
In spite of the struggling economy, Wright remains optimistic about Old Mill and its rich history. “It’s a beautiful farm, and it’s been here longer than most farms in America, and I’m very proud of it,” he said. “I enjoy seeing the horses I trained having babies, and then watching them win. It’s cool watching multiple generations you’ve bred become winners. “