We are grateful to have a staff of many who have found a home at Chime Bell Farm. We could not do what we do without our loyal staff of grooms and riders who care so much for the horses that come to us.

Back Home

Owners of Chime Bell Farm:

Iris Winthrop Freeman: Iris has been involved with horses all her life. Fox hunting, showing and 3-Day Eventing have all been in her repertoire. She was responsible for bringing a 3-Day Event to the United States at Groton House Farm. Iris has turned some of her attention towards the preservation of open land. She joined the Board of Directors of the American Farmland Trust
www.farmland.org in 2002 and is playing an active role in farmland preservation here in South Carolina. Mike and Iris have a son, Michael, who likes to spend his time on the slopes in New Hampshire.

W.C. (Mike) Freeman: Mike has been a race horse trainer since the 1950's and has had many great horses in his barn. Some of the horses were BUCKHAR, GALA PERFORMANCE, HODGES BAY, SHOW OFF, SHUVEE and UNDERSTUDY. Mike continues to train horses for the track spending his summers in Saratoga Springs, NY and wintering in Aiken. These two locations also offer him the opportunity to enjoy the game of golf.

Chime Bell Staff:

• Todd Turner - Farm Manager
• Jill Thomas - Lay-up Manager
• Bernadette Clayton - Administration
• Grooms: Raul Cerda, Ernesto Maldonado, Jose Moreno Hernandez, Manuel Moreno, Javier Negrete, Carlos Rodriquez, Manuel Zambrano

Farm Manager: Todd Turner came to the farm in May of 1998 when he decided to make Aiken his permanent home with his wife Amy and their boys Phillip and Kyle. With many years of experience on the racetrack and having worked for Mike Freeman in the race barn, Todd was put at the helm of the farm. He has been extremely instrumental in the upgrading and maintenance of the operation as we see it today. Todd has the important duty of seeing to the yearlings as they get their start for a race track career. His incredible patience and knowledge makes for the smooth transition from yearling to racehorse. We get nothing but positive feedback as the horses leave the farm and head to the tracks to start running.

Lay-up Manager: Jill Sterling Thomas's background with horses goes back to her birth - she was born in a car because her father was late coming home from the barn! She grew up galloping horses on the farm along with showing horses. She also taught riding at Ronnie Mutch’s Nimrod Farm in Connecticut. She married Charles Thomas and has 2 children, Brooke and Sterling. After tiring of the cold and snow in Vail, CO they moved to Aiken, SC in 1987 and managed August Moon Farm. She came to Chime Bell Farm in the spring of 1996 and took over the Lay-up barn when the farm expanded to its present size. Jill was then able to focus her expertise on resting and rehabilitating injured horses as well as “freshening” horses that needed a break from the racetrack. Jill’s duties
include being our liaison with trainers and maintaining all of the horse records.

Administration: Bernadette Clayton has been an active participant in the horse industry since her youth in New York where she competed horses as well as attaining the A rating with the United States Pony Club. She came to Aiken with her children, James and Ashleigh, after the death of her husband in 1991. In November of 1998 she joined the staff of Chime Bell Farm taking over the administrative duties for the farm as well as Mike's race stable operation.