TDN Weekend December 2016 Issue 9
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1045316
"Close your eyes." She did so. "Okay," said Beck. "Remember the first day you came to the farm. All that time ago. Understand that neither Harry Payne Whitney nor C.V. Whitney ever accomplished what you've just done today." And that venerable lady wept with joy. By this stage, Beck too has hoarded some indelible memories. And with each new adventure—with Tapit, with the repatriation of Em- pire Maker, with the Karakontie experiment—he does honour to the parents who embraced the daunting challenge of Gainesway. They did so, moreover, with the same instinct for the land that inspired them as viticulturists. From the covering shed to the arboretum, the Beck family has understood that you can only extend new branches by looking after the roots. "I think there's a remarkable similarity between what my parents started here, and what you have to do with wine," Beck reflects. "Vineyards tend to take quite a long time, 15-odd years, before they start producing their best fruit. It's a very long-term investment. And, yes, you can pinhook Thoroughbreds; yes, you can be in and out in a few months. But having a farm, and really looking after it, demands a very long-term approach. "My mother probably planted a couple of thousand trees on this farm. And I was never more grateful for that than when we recent- ly had that terrible storm come through Central Kentucky, and we lost at least 30 massive, ancient trees. But the trees she planted 25 years ago are the future. Hopefully they will be around for a thou- sand years. Probably when horses are forgotten about, those trees will be what this land is known for." He pauses, and smiles. "Though I hope it's still horses as well." From the covering shed to the arboretum, the Beck family has understood that you can only extend new branches by looking after the roots.