Hillenmeyer Named KY Farm Manager of the Year
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Walter M. Hillenmeyer III has been named the 2016 Ted Bates Farm Manager of the Year, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers' Club announced Oct. 14.
The annual award will be presented at the KTFM's dinner dance Dec. 2 at the Oasis Reception Facility in Paris, Ky. The award is for excellence in farm management, involvement in KTFM, community service, and industry leadership and dedication.
Hillenmeyer in 2007 founded Ashland Park Stable and Management, where he serves as a racing and breeding consultant and manages a racing partnership. His 40-year career in the Thoroughbred industry began while he was attending the University of Kentucky, and throughout his career he has been involved in a long list of Thoroughbred industry and community organizations.
During the summer months when a student, Hillenmeyer worked for Richard Thompson at Dinnaken Farm near Lexington and in the summer of 1975 worked as a hotwalker and groom for Hall of Fame trainer Mack Miller on the New York circuit.
Before graduating from the University of Kentucky in 1978 with a degree in agriculture economics, Hillenmeyer also worked stints at Pin Oak Stud and Waterford Farm. After college, his positions were at Hedgewood Farm and Bwamazon Farm before being hired by Brereton Jones to manage Willow Spring Farm in Versailles in 1981. He later moved to Buck Pond Farm and Rosemont Farm before becoming the managing partner at Woodlyn Farm in Lexington for 13 years.
During his tenure as managing partner of Woodlyn Farm, the operation bred many top-class racehorses, including grade I winner and successful dual hemisphere sire More Than Ready and multiple graded stakes winner Guided Tour, and raced grade I winner Mahogany Hall.
"When I hear the name 'Walter Hillenmeyer,' I think of integrity," said Bill Wofford, 2012 Farm Manager of the Year. "A lot of people do not realize how much time Walter spends volunteering."
The organizations that Walter has served include: Thoroughbred Club of America, board member; 1986 KTFMC president; board secretary of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association; Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, board member; Junior Achievement of the Bluegrass, board member; Fayette County Farm Bureau, past president; Lexington-Fayette Rural Land Management, board member; UK Alumni Association member, and St. Joseph Hospital Foundation, board member.
"Mr. Hillenmeyer is the epitome of what the "Ted Bates Farm Manager of the Year" award strives to recognize," said KTFMC president Gus Koch. "He has had a well-respected and successful career within the Central Kentucky horse industry and has shown dedication to improving the industry and community. On behalf of the club, I would like to congratulate him and thank him for his years of service to the club and the industry."
Walter and Terri, his wife of 38 years, have two sons and five grandchildren.
Live music at the Dec. 2 black-tie dinner dance will be provided by the Tim Talbert Project. Along with music and dancing, there will be a bourbon tasting and open house at Frames on Main Gallery, a silent auction benefitting the Bluegrass Farms Charities, and a raffle for a season to Tapiture. Proceeds from the Tapiture raffle will benefit the veterans programs at the Life Adventure Center in Versailles, Ky. Cocktails will start at 6 p.m. ET, dinner at 7:30, and the Tim Talbert Project will play from 9 until midnight. Open bar to be provided by Hagyard Equine Medical Institute.
A limited number of tickets will be available at www.ktfmc.org beginning Nov. 1. For a list of sponsorship opportunities, please contact Dinner Dance chairman Carl McEntee or KTFMC President Gus Koch.