by Jeff Lowe

Mike Moreno, one of the top new buyers in the Thoroughbred market over the last few years, has purchased the Roach family’s Parrish Hill Farm in Midway, Kentucky.

Moreno, who operates as Southern Equine Stables, said the deal would close in September, following the Keeneland September yearling sale.

“We’ve allowed them to stay through the sale because they have horses they’re preparing,” said Moreno, who owns an oil and gas business based in Houston, Texas. “We certainly don’t want to disrupt their operation.

“We’re going to completely renovate it, from A to B, with new barns, new fencing, and probably put a significant amount of capital into it,” Moreno said.

Moreno said the bulk of his broodmare band would eventually move to the 300-acre facility. Moreno’s top mares currently reside at John G. Sikura’s Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms in Lexington, and he also has mares at a farm he owns in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Either outright or in partnership, Moreno owns 2007 Broodmare of the Year Better Than Honour; Irish Cherry, the dam of Grade 1 winners Daaher and Spun Sugar; 2007 champion sprinter Maryfield; and Grade 1 winners Point Ashley and Spoken Fur.

Parrish Hill founder Dr. Ben Roach died in September 2005. Roach operated the commercial breeding facility with his son, Tom, and daughter, Helen Roach Rentch, on land that was owned by his uncle, Jim Parrish, in the early 1900s.

Parrish Hill bred 1999 Horse of the Year Charismatic in partnership with William S. Farish, 1984 champion older female Princess Rooney, and Grade 1 winners Cormorant, Storm Tower, and Millennium Wind.

Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer