Iconic Shadwell Farm Stallion Complex Listed for $20 Million in Kentucky

Ken Donworth of Bluegrass Sotheby's International Realty has placed the 530-acre Shadwell stallion complex at 3661 Military Pike in Lexington on the market for $20 million, setting a price benchmark for one of the most significant pieces of Thoroughbred infrastructure to reach the open market in the Bluegrass in years.

The property, formally known as Nashwan Stud, includes seven dedicated barns, 90 stalls and a full maintenance complex built to support an active stallion operation. Stallions have not stood at the facility in several years, but the infrastructure remains intact and ready to use. "Opportunities like this, with this location, acreage and quality, do not come along too often," Donworth said in announcing the listing. The offering describes a turn-key foundation for a complete Thoroughbred operation on limestone-rich land at the heart of the Central Kentucky breeding corridor.

The $20 million ask is the fourth significant Kentucky disposal the Shadwell estate has made since Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum died in March 2021. The first wave saw Shadayid Stud, an 839-acre auxiliary property, sell for $15 million, and Erhaab Stud's 525 acres change hands for $10 million. Land was also conveyed to John Stewart in 2023. The pace accelerated in February 2026 when Coolmore acquired roughly 1,100 acres of Shadwell Farm near Ashford Stud and Keeneland for close to $50 million. Nashwan Stud is the next parcel to clear.

Those prior sales establish a useful price ladder. The raw acreage of Shadayid and Erhaab transacted at roughly $17,000 to $19,000 per acre. Coolmore's purchase of the main Shadwell tracts ran closer to $45,000 per acre for land positioned adjacent to two of the industry's most powerful addresses. At $20 million for 530 acres, Nashwan Stud is priced at approximately $37,700 per acre, reflecting precisely the premium seven barns and 90 operational stalls command above bare pasture.

A buyer at that price inherits immediate capacity. The stall count is sufficient to support a meaningful stallion roster from day one, with room for broodmare and yearling consignment traffic alongside it. An operation targeting Keeneland or Fasig-Tipton sales consignment could redirect the barns to that model without construction delays. A boarding-centered buyer could activate the property for outside clients within a single breeding season.

The sale will also shape employment across the surrounding Fayette County economy. Properties at this scale sustain veterinary, farrier, transport and feed businesses that depend on consistent occupancy, and whether incoming ownership runs the complex at full capacity or folds it into a neighboring holding will determine how much of that infrastructure survives the transition.

Shadwell established its Kentucky presence in 1985 on the limestone soils that have underpinned Bluegrass Thoroughbred breeding for generations. The $20 million listing of Nashwan Stud closes the stallion chapter of that story and sets the terms for whoever opens the next one.