Jimmy Bell & Benny Bell Williams

As the third and fourth children of Jessica and John A. Bell III, Jimmy and Benny grew up immersed in farm life. The youngest Bell children, born in 1954 and 1958, respectively, came onto the scene just as their parents were establishing a footing with Jonabell Farm (the couple purchased their first 273 acres in 1954). While the farm and its associated ventures eventually achieved countless successes (Damascus, Never Say Die, Affirmed), the formation of Jonabell called for hard work and sacrifices from the whole family. Jessica recalls the rough state of the house upon the family’s purchase. “We lived in one room at first,” she explained. Her father used to remark that she and John’s house was “the only house in the world where you wiped your feet before you went outside.” For the children, it was often an adventure; playing in haylofts and exploring near creeks, the Bell children had the countryside at their fingertips but like many children, they sometimes longed for city life where rules appeared lax, television was readily available, and you could “drink cokes and eat cookies.” Though by the time each Bell reached adulthood, any youthful hesitance regarding the family farm was firmly filed away.

In 1973 John IV began working with the farm’s cattle; Jimmy headed up the maintenance department in 1976; in 1979 Benny went to work at Cromwell Advertising Agency, the family-owned firm; and Jessica stayed involved via her husband Joe Browne Nicholson. To any outsider, John’s legacy appeared perfectly positioned to continue well into the future. Yet, each child’s interest, the very aspect that secured his life’s work, also complicated it. A solution that would appease most—split everything down the middle—didn’t sound right to the Bell children or their parents. Instead, in 1986 they hired consultants to help advise what was best for the farm, the various businesses, and more importantly the family. The solution? The creation of a holding company, John A. Bell III Enterprises, which maintained the farm, as well as the bloodstock and advertising agencies.

For 15 years the holding company model worked but by the end of the century, John, then 83, began realizing the cash burden he was leaving his family, particularly his children. Jimmy, who at the time was stallion manager, explained the family’s predicament in an August 2001 ESPN interview: "It's a pro-active approach to estate planning," said Jimmy, "All of us would rather not deal with reality, the unpleasantness, the nuisances that can occur when it (death) happens. We have three generations of family involved, 18 people, that when the time comes it would be hard to be equitable in dividing up the business then. We felt it would be best to be on top of the wave than under it."

The family had no trouble finding a buyer. On October 1, 2001 the farm sale closed and Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley Stud took over. Mohammed, who already owned a horse farm in Paris, Kentucky, is no stranger to the industry. His brothers, Sheiks Hamdam and Maktoum own Shadwell and Gainesborough. While the sale marked the end of an era for the Bells, it didn’t completely close the book on the Bell's Jonabell Farm story. At the time of sale John and Jessica remained living on the property and Jimmy continued to manage the stallions Cherokee Run, Gold Legend, Holy Bull, and Old Trieste. In 2005 Jonabell was consolidated with the Gainsborough Farm and together the properties became Godolphin at Jonabell Farm

Today Jimmy remains at Jonabell, serving as president. Benny Bell, who was Jonabell’s director of sales from 1980-2001 remains involved in the family advertising agency, The Bell Group, serving as president and owner. She is married to horsemen John Williams. The couple own and operate Elmwood Farm.

John A. Bell III died in 2007 at the age of 88 and upon his death, Ted Bassett may have summed it up best, “If one would write a job description of the perfect owner, breeder, and representative of the Thoroughbred industry, John Bell would be the epitome.”

Jonabell by the numbers:

1954 Bells purchase 275-acre cattle farm, located on Bowman's Mill Pike, for $110,000 and rename it Jonabell Farm; John is named president of Thoroughbred Club of America

1970 winter fire destroys main barn and takes the life of Damascus's full brother

1978 Interstate Horseracing Act is passed; Bell III is infuential in this process

2001 Sheikh Mohammed purchases farm 

172 present-day horse capacity

More than 200 stakes winners

Resources:

Duke, Jacqueline. "Bell breeds thoroughbred acclaim." Lexington Herald-Leader, February 8, 1988. 

Kirkpatrick, Arnold. "The Epitome Of A Racing Man." Keeneland Magazine, Spring 1991, pp 7-20. 

Maggitti, Phil. "All For One & One For All." Spur, January/February, 1986, pp. 34-43.

Wall, Maryjean. "Jonabell founders honored for addiction edowment." Lexington Herald-Leader, September 9, 2006. 

Jimmy Bell & Benny Bell Williams