Within nine months of purchasing the 793-acre Pin Oak Stud near Versailles, Ky., Jim and Dana Bernhard have acquired an additional 465 acres from Adena Springs, bringing the total size of the farm to just over 1,250 acres.

Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs, which has been honored with eight Eclipse Awards for outstanding breeder and four outstanding owner titles, started its Kentucky operation in Woodford County in the late 1990s, before moving to Bourbon County. The property connects to the existing Pin Oak land on the east side of U.S. 60—commonly known as Versailles Road—with an entrance on Old Frankfort Pike.

“Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs and Josephine Abercrombie’s Pin Oak Stud are two legendary farms. Both were champion breeders focused on raising the best racehorse possible, and that’s what we aim to do as well,” said Jim and Dana Bernhard in a joint statement.

In recent years, the Adena annex property was used primarily for yearlings. The Bernhards plan to renovate the farm so it is suitable for mares and foals and will connect the two farms into one cohesive property. The long-term plan is to have mares, foals, and weanlings on the east side of U.S. 60, with yearlings and training horses at the main farm off Grassy Springs Road.

The Bernhards purchased Pin Oak last November after the passing of Josephine Abercrombie, who founded the farm in the 1950s. Abercrombie’s Pin Oak Stud breeding and racing operation produced more than 100 stakes winners and was named national breeder of the year by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association in 1995.

Although new to the Thoroughbred industry, the Bernhards have already enjoyed enormous success with one of their first racehorses, Geaux Rocket Ride, a son of Candy Ride, the Bernhards acquired for $350,000 at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton July Yearling Sale. The colt has won three of five lifetime starts, including this year’s Haskell Stakes (G1).