1889 - 1962
Thoroughbred Farmer.
Hal Price Headley was born in Lexington on the family's farm during 1889, the son of Hal Pettit Headley. During 1908, he returned from Princeton University to take over the family's farms, La Belle and Beaumont, after his father suffered a stroke. In 1912, Mr. Headley began to actively purchase thoroughbred horses for his own stable and during the next fifty years, he became one of the foremost breeders in the nation. He was an organizer of the Keeneland Racetrack and Breeders Sales Company (now part of Keeneland). He served as the President of the Keeneland Race Track from 1935 to 1951.
Mr. Headley served on the Board of Directors of the Phoenix National Bank and Trust Company from 1922 to 1929 and First National Bank and Trust Company from 1929 to 1961.
In 1954 he slowly began cutting back his thoroughbred operations and dispersing his thoroughbred stock. From 1922 until his retirement, horses bred by Mr. Headley won over nine million dollars at the track (an outstanding record for the times). He died on March 22, 1962, while watching one of his horses work out at Keeneland.
