Kinghaven Farms

'''Kinghaven Farms''' is a [[thoroughbred]] [[horse racing]] [[stable]] founded in 1967 by [[Donald G. Willmot|Donald G. "Bud" Willmot]]. Located in [[King City, Ontario|King City]], [[Ontario]], north of [[Toronto]], the success of the stable would see it expand to the [[United States]] with the acquisition of a {{convert|660|acre|km2|sing=on}} farm and training center near [[Ocala, Florida]]. Kinghaven became a father/son operation in 1974 when Bud's son [[David S. Willmot]] began managing the farm's racing/breeding program's. One of the most decorated racing stables in Canadian history, on five occasions it won Canada's most important horse race, the [[Queen's Plate]]. American [[John J. Tammaro, Jr.]], one of the [[Big Four of Maryland Thoroughbred racing]], was head trainer from 1976 to 1985. He conditioned five [[Sovereign Award|Canadian Champions]] for Kinghaven, including the 1979 [[Queen's Plate]] winner [[Steady Growth]] and [[Eclipse Award for Outstanding 2-Year-Old Male Horse|U.S. Champion 2-Yr-Old Colt]] and [[Sovereign Award for Horse of the Year|Canadian Horse of the Year]], [[Deputy Minister (horse)|Deputy Minister]]. Trainer [[Roger Attfield]] succeeded Tammaro in 1985. En route to being inducted into the [[Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame]], Attfield won numerous prestigious races for Kinghaven in [[North America]] including four editions of the Queen's Plate. Since inception, Kinghaven Farms has bred or raced more than 150 [[stakes race]] winners, including back-to-back [[Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing|Canadian Triple Crown]] champions [[Izvestia (horse)|Izvestia]] and [[With Approval]] in 1989 and 1990. At its peak, Kinghaven Farms had 250 horses including nearly 100 [[Mare (horse)|broodmare]]s and owned syndicate shares in close to two dozen top [[Stallion (horse)|stallion]]s standing at [[Kentucky]] [[stud farm]]s. The stable has earned 30 [[Sovereign Award]]s including champion breeder on nine occasions plus another five as champion owner. Following the death of Bud Willmot in 1994, his son David, current Chairman and [[CEO]] of [[Woodbine Racetrack|Woodbine Entertainment Group]], has been in charge of Kinghaven Farms. ==Employee fraud at Kinghaven Farms== On February 20, 2007 Kinghaven Farms' bookkeeper, Christiane Krohn, turned herself in to police to face fraud-related charges stemming from allegations that she stole more than $500,000 from the organization over a period of 7 years. She appeared before the [[Ontario Court of Justice]] in [[Newmarket, Ontario|Newmarket]] on March 29, 2007, and was sentenced to 15 months in prison. ==External links== * [http://www.woodbineentertainment.com/thoroughbred/raceevents/lbw/news-notes.asp?art=75AL5UU6VOOX3 Woodbine Racetrack "Meet the Owners" website] * [http://www.canadianhorseracinghalloffame.com/builders/1991/bud_willmot.asp Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame] {{coord missing|Ontario}}