Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice lived on and operated a 1,350-acre working farm located just a few miles to the north of where the Benedictine University campus stands today. The farm was purchased by Mr. Rice in 1929 and was blanketed with a beautiful apple orchard, wheat and corn crop rows, and numerous livestock. But it was the thoroughbred racehorses that won the pride of the Rices at the aptly named Danada Farms...

In the mid-1940s, the couple added a 26-stall Kentucky-style barn to their property and a 1/2-mile oval race track was constructed just west of Naperville Road. In 1949, Ada Rice entered her first horse in the greatest race of all. Model Cadet finished 7th in the 1949 Kentucky Derby.

Sixteen years later, Lucky Debonair (1965) crossed the finish line first at Churchill Downs with the third-fasted time in Kentucky Derby history. It was the third of four Derby wins for hall-of-fame jockey Willie Shoemaker. Another Danada horse, Advocator (1966), garnered second place honors at the Derby the following year.

By the early 1970s, the Rices had sold their horse racing interests. The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County purchased 753 acres of their property in the early 1980s and still maintains it today in nearby Wheaton, IL.

Danada Forest Preserve and Equestrian Center

As generous philanthropists, a sizable donation by Dan and Ada Rice was instrumental in the project for constructing a community and athletic center for campus use. The Dan and Ada Rice Center was dedicated on the campus of Benedictine University (then called Illinois Benedictine College) on October 16, 1977.

 

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