OklahomaHorses Magazine January 2023

18 OklahomaHorses • January / February 2023 Where Champions Are Sold S ince 1978, Heritage Place in Okla- homa City has been the place where champions are sold. That is more than just a tagline — it’s the code of con- duct the founders built the facility on and exactly how it continues to operate today. When the gavel fell at the 2018 Heritage Place Fall Mixed Sale, the largest check cut was for a cool $2.1 million dollars. That shiny penny bought the late Moonin the Eagle and set an all-time racing quarter horse record for a stallion sold at public auction. Although both the sale and the horse are impressive, the setting is intriguing. Tucked into a quiet cove of southwestern Oklaho- ma City, Heritage Place has marched along to the auctioneer’s gavel for 45 years now. The foundation that Heritage Place was born and built on hasn’t changed. The industry and its demands certainly have changed over the years. “Heritage Place is the only facility that was built specifically for selling horses all under one roof that has multiple sales every single year,” said Phil Stewart, who is now a board member and second vice president of Heritage Place. His first encounters with the place came from working at Bob Moore Farms, where he is still employed and which he represents on the board. Getting off the Ground Oklahoma might be horse country, but most people don’t connect that with the racetrack. However, of the 7.2 million horses in the United States, an estimated 17 percent are involved in the racing industry. Some are on the track, and others make it to the breeding shed. Thoroughbred horse racing took center stage in the 1970s, and those who lived it will recall that decade as the glory days of the sport. Secretariat won the Triple Crown in 1973, and several other foundational sires left their hearts out on the track. During that boom, Dr. Charles Graham hatched an idea that he hoped would take quarter horse racing to the next level. “Dr. Graham was in Kentucky inspect- ing thoroughbred yearlings with Melvin Hatley,” said Spence Kidney, Heritage Place manager. “The gentlemen tossed around the idea that they should build a place in Oklahoma City like the one they were at [Fasig-Tipton] to sell quarter horses. By the next week, they were meeting with inves- tors to form the idea that became Heritage Place.” It took 12 individuals to get Heritage Place literally and figuratively off the ground. Once the money and land were set, everything moved faster than an auc- tioneer on his best day. “From the time they broke ground to the first day of full operation was only about six months or something crazy fast like that,” Stewart said. “It was a feat that a project that massive was completed in the given timeline. All the founders pitched in money, and they bought a new Cadillac for the contractor who got it done.” Building a Four-Acre Horse Mall The Heritage Place facility sits on 40 of the original 80 acres purchased, and the building itself hasn’t changed much since it opened. The building design is one of the most unique in the horse industry as a whole. D. Wayne Lukas, one of the 12 original investors, had a very specific vision in mind. “Lukas wanted to sit in the auditorium and walk to the farthest end of the barn and return to his seat and only miss two horses on the block,” Stewart said, explain- ing the nearly 4.5 acres all under one roof. “With about 650 stalls in there, buyers should only have to be outside in the elements walking from their cars into the building.” Keeneland sells more horses than Heri- tage Place, but it’s a trek from the sale ring to the barns if a buyer wants to look at a horse. And even though the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds keeps everyone under one Heritage Place, in southwestern Oklahoma City, is only a short drive from the airport and all the lodging and dining that consigners and buyers of quarter horses could need while in the area. Heritage Place Is a Unique Sales Venue for Quarter Horses by Lindsay Humphrey | Photos courtesy of Heritage Place