Dan and Ada Rice - Thoroughbred Racing

Thoroughbred Racing

In 1929 the Rices bought a 152-acre (0.62 km2) farm located south of Wheaton which became named Danada Farm. Their house was located across from the farm and later was named Danada House which now is a museum and a place for social functions. It can house about 150 people for a party. Mrs. Rice was known to throw lavish parties at the house. Danada House is a 19-room estate that contains gardens, a greenhouse, a swimming pool, porch and atrium. Danada Farms had corn, wheat, sheep, hogs, cattle, chickens, turkeys and an apple orchard. Over the years the farm grew to over 1,350 acres (5.5 km2). The couple loved Thoroughbred horse racing and built a Kentucky-style stable that could hold 25 horses. A half-mile training track, which included a 4-position electronic starting gate, was built across the street from the stables. Later, a tunnel was built under Naperville Road for the horses to safely get to the stables. The track, starting gate, and tunnel still exist today.

In 1946, they acquired a part of the Idle Hour Stock Farm near Lexington, Kentucky that was also given the Danada name. Mr. and Mrs. Rice bred horses on the farm, and raced them exclusively under her name. In 1965, one of their colts, Lucky Debonair, won the Kentucky Derby. Heavily involved in the sport of thoroughbred horse racing, Dan Rice was a member of the Board of Directors of Arlington Park Racetrack.

In addition to the sport of horse racing, in the latter part of the 1940s Dan Rice was a shareholder in the Los Angeles Dons of the newly formed All-America Football Conference.