VERSAILLES, Ky. (WDRB) -- Horse country is where watching a foal grow is part of the daily drive, where Derby talk lasts for far more than a weekend, and where the homes of the best horses are painted on the side of buildings.

Coolmore's Ashford Stud is one of them.

"The facilities here are second to none," Stallion manager, Richard Barry, said.

"It's like a five star hotel for horses," Robyn Murray from Coolmore America added.

It sits deep in Woodford County and is a Hall of Fame for modern day Derby stars. Each of which is worth "more than all of our lives put together," as Murray put it.

American Pharoah and Justify are probably the most famous horse faces at the farm.

"They don't race anymore," Murray explained.

However, the Triple Crown winners are putting in plenty of work away from the track.

"It's a different sort of work," Barry said.

From February to June, it's a lot of breeding. Barry keeps the animals on a strict schedule.

"Routine is very important to a horse, and we try to keep them in the same routine every day," he said.

Before sunrise, they're up getting their first meal.

It consists of the following:

- Sweet Feed

- Vitamins

- Fish oil

- Minerals

- A healthy snack

"Pharoah, he'll do anything for a carrot," Barry said.

Around 7 a.m. is the first breeding session. A little light exercise and grooming follows.

"To a degree, it's kind of like spa like treatments," Murray said.

Then it's back to breeding at 1:30 p.m. and 6 p.m., with a meal in between, before the horses and the crew call it a day.

"American Pharoah probably has close to a thousand offspring around the world," Murray said.

"Without stallions, you don't have foals," Barry said. "Without foals, you don't have horse racing."

“Stud status” doesn’t go to every horse that goes for the gold.

"Funny Cide was kind of a long shot," Robert Willis from the Kentucky Horse Park said. "He was 12 to 1.”

He defied the odds in 2003, winning the Run for the Roses and the Preakness, before falling short of horse racing’s top prize at a rainy Belmont.

"I like to say he's the most famous resident here at the horse park," Willis said.

Lexington is his home after having a little trouble being a "stable pony."

"When you've got a saddle and you put a person on top of him, got next to another horse, I think he was more interested in racing and competing rather than guiding young horses," Willis said.

Funny Cide took off one too many times, but became more chill when he began entertaining at the Kentucky Horse Park.

"Funny Cide has his own personal show, and it's quite the hit here," Willis said.

The path to greatness was sort of similar for each of the Derby winners, life after the glory was not.

One constant through it all is the respect and love for the powerful animals celebrated year-round in horse country.

Copyright 2023 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.