1859 - 1946

The activities of Col. E. R. Bradley ranged from operating Palm Beach's Beach Club casino to staging charity race days for orphans. A product of a burgeoning nation in the 19th century, Bradley worked in steel mills in Pittsburgh as a youngster, then roamed the nation as a cowboy, prospector and miner. By the time he testified before Huey long in a Senate hearing in 1934, Bradley proclaimed, "I an a speculator, race horse breeder and gambler." Asked what he gambled in, he replied "Almost anything."

When Col. Bradley's attention turned to horse racing, his first good horse was named, ironically, Bad News and Bradley thereafter made a practice of naming his horses with names beginning with the letter B. The Kentucky Derby was central to his ambitions in racing. He developed Idle Hour Stock Farm outside Lexington and won four runnings of the Derby, with Behave Yourself (1921), Bubbling Over (1926), Burgoo King (1932) and Broker's Tip (1933). Bradley also imported the foundation mare La Troienne from France. He died in 1946 and the split of his breeding stock nurtured years of success for Greentree Stable, King Ranch and the Phipps family.

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Show me all markers in:  Lexington, KY  |  Fayette County  |  40508  |  Kentucky  |  United States of America

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