Woodburn is the oldest of a group of iconic farms representing distinct eras in the history of the pure-blooded horse farm and the only one still owned and operated by the founding family, which established this internationally significant farm in 1790. At Woodburn Farm, Spring Station, Kentucky, the Standardbred originated, and the farm became the first establishment in America devoted to systematic, thoroughly planned, and carefully conducted racehorse production for both Standardbred and Thoroughbred horses. Brothers Robert Aitcheson Alexander and Alexander John Alexander developed the modern Thoroughbred horse farm, and Woodburn influenced every Thoroughbred horse farm in Kentucky in some way. Born at Woodburn in 1819, Robert Aitcheson Alexander inherited the farm in his twenties, and, educated at Cambridge, devoted himself to the scientific improvement of livestock and agricultural practices. For decades, Woodburn served as a working laboratory where he systematically applied his knowledge of genetics to breed superior horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs, and his detailed stud books became among the earliest records of blooded horses and livestock in America. Woodburn's Thoroughbred legacy rests on stallions including Lexington, Asteroid, and Australian. From the 1850s through 1900, Woodburn also ranked as a premier national breeder of Standardbred horses, Shetland ponies, Alderney, Ayrshire, Durham and Shorthorn cattle, and Southdown sheep. For forty years, Woodburn's annual Livestock Sale in the Sale Woods at Old Frankfort Pike and Woodlake Road brought thousands of buyers from America and abroad to the farm's railroad stop, Spring Station, where international buyers and local farmers bid on some of the finest livestock available. After R.A. Alexander died in 1867, Alexander John Alexander inherited Woodburn and, with farm manager Lucas Brodhead Jr., expanded its success in horse and livestock improvement. During his tenure, Woodburn covered almost 3000 acres on both sides of Old Frankfort Pike and included numerous stables and barns, two one-mile oval race tracks, several springs, a saw mill, the Spring Station Railroad Depot and warehouse, a school, grist mill, woodworking shop, brick kiln, orchards, wood lots, gardens, greenhouse, and numerous houses. Dry-laid limestone walls still encircle the farm perimeter and define interior fields, and for two miles between Aiken and Steele Roads, Old Frankfort Pike passes through Alexander's Woodburn along a stretch known locally as Shady Lane. Woodburn Farm produced five Kentucky Derby winners, four Preakness winners, and ten winners of the Belmont Stakes. Today Woodburn consists of Airdrie Stud, Lanark, and Woodburn Farms, all owned by Alexander descendants, and Airdrie Stud continues the Woodburn legacy as a breeder of stakes-winning Thoroughbreds.