The Bluegrass Region's Equine Legacy

Few places in the world can be defined by a single commodity: the Champagne region of France; California’s wine country, and St. Andrews, Scotland, the birthplace of golf, come to mind.

  Add to that list the Kentucky Bluegrass Region.  Home to the world’s largest concentration of Thoroughbred horses, the region conjures up images of red and blue-trimmed barns and emerald hills ringed by fences behind which mares and their wobbly-legged foals cavort.

  The counties of Fayette, Bourbon and Woodford rank 1, 2 and 3 in the number not only of Thoroughbreds, but of attractions devoted to them.

  Lexington, Kentucky’s second largest city, is an equine lover’s paradise, the acknowledged “Horse Capital of the World.”  It’s home to legendary horse farms, Keeneland Race Course, the Red Mile and the Kentucky Horse Park.

  To understand Lexington’s commitment to horses, make your first stop downtown’s Thoroughbred Park, one of the city’s most instagrammable spots.

In this 2.5-acre oasis, seven magnificent bronze horses look as if they had just burst from the starting gate.

 Farms

  Fabled Lexington farms such as Calumet, Darby Dan, Dixiana, Mill Ridge, Gainesway, Godolphin at Jonabell and Spendthrift evoke images of a rarefied world known to few.

Visitors can get a peek into this world, as the farms lure thousands every year, and while not all are open to the public, many offer tours through Horse Country Kentucky (visithorsecountry.com).

    Lexington is surrounded by some 450 of these Thoroughbred farms, a veritable patchwork quilt of equine Edens.

  The drive from Lexington to Paris in Bourbon County is one of the most scenic in the Bluegrass with Thoroughbred farms lining both sides of the road.

  Bourbon County is home to leading farms such as Adena Springs and Denali Stud, but is best known for Claiborne, the home and burial place of 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat.

  The farm has as rich a history as any in the Bluegrass.  Among the storied champions - either foaled or retired to stud at Claiborne - were Seabiscuit, Bold Ruler, Riva Ridge, Unbridled and Mr. Prospector.

  To pay respects to Secretariat, the greatest of them all who still holds the record for fastest time in the Kentucky Derby, visit his gravesite where the headstone is often adorned with flowers, apples and peppermints left by fans of “Big Red.”

  On the other side of Lexington is Woodford County where visitors flock to tour farms such as Lane’s End, Stonestreet, Godolphin at Gainsborough, WinStar and Three Chimneys (don’t miss this farm’s lovely statue of 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew).

  Two Woodford County farms, however, hold particular distinctions. 

  Coolmore Ashford Stud gives visitors a double dose of equine pleasure as the home of 2015 Triple Crown winner and fan favorite American Pharoah, and 2018 winner Justify.

  Fun facts about Justify:  he is the only Triple Crown winner to retire undefeated, and the first since Apollo in 1882 to win the Kentucky Derby without having raced as a two-year-old.

  Airdrie Farm, which doesn’t have organized tours, but does allow visitors to take a self-guided peek at its stallion barn, holds a unique spot in Kentucky’s Thoroughbred history.

  Airdrie occupies part of what was Woodburn Farm which many consider to be the birthplace of the American Thoroughbred breeding industry. 

During the Civil War, the owner of Belle Meade Plantation outside of Nashville sent his prized Thoroughbreds to Woodburn to save them from being confiscated by both the Union and Confederate armies.

  Had he not done that, Central Tennessee and not Central Kentucky might be the Thoroughbred Capital of the World today.

  While horse farms might be the biggest draw in Thoroughbred country, they are far from the only one.

 Race Tracks

  Keeneland Race Course in Lexington is considered by many to be the most beautiful race track in America.  If you’ve ever been to one of its two three-week racing meets (April when the redbuds and dogwoods are in bloom) and October (when a riot of fall colors provide the backdrop) you would find it hard to disagree.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Keeneland’s motto since its opening in 1936 has been “racing as it was meant to be.”

  Both Thoroughbred fanatics and casual observers who just want to show off their fashionable attire pack the grandstands, private boxes, and clubhouse.  In Lexington, the most commonly heard phrase in spring and fall is “I’m off to Keeneland.”

  One of Keeneland’s most popular attractions doesn’t require anything but a love of horses and a willingness to get up before dawn.  Yes, it’s free.

  That’s when the early morning workouts take place, when hoofbeats provide the soundtrack and a gauzy mist often provides the background.

  Workouts – even if you’re just watching – require fuel for the body, and the Keeneland Track Kitchen is just the place to get it, courtesy of its bountiful breakfasts.

  However, if you have money burning a hole in your pocket, the September yearling sale and the November breeding stock sale have helped make Keeneland the most prestigious Thoroughbred auction company in the world.

  Visitors are welcome to come watch – just don’t scratch your nose or tug at your ear unless your bank account is in the six- figure range.

  If Thoroughbreds are first in the hearts of Kentuckians, Standardbreds or trotting horses aren’t far behind.  In September, 1875, just five months after Aristides won the inaugural Kentucky Derby in Louisville, the Red Mile opened in Lexington.

  The track gets its name from the obvious – a surface of rich red clay measuring one mile in length.   Recognized as the world’s second fastest harness track, it is also the second oldest in the world, and the site of more world-record harness racing performances than any other track.

  The Standardbred season culminates here with the Kentucky Futurity, a stakes race for three-year-old trotters and the third leg of trotting’s Triple Crown. 

  In partnership with Keeneland, in 2015 the Red Mile built a $30 million state-of-the-art facility to allow for off-track betting on races around the world.

  In addition to racing, every June the Red Mile also hosts the Railbird Festival, a two-day celebration of music, bourbon and horses.

 Theme Park

  He stands there, forever frozen in bronze – the most gallant Thoroughbred in racing history – welcoming all to his kingdom.

  “He” is Man o’ War, and his statue towers above the cemetery where he is buried, along with his most famous offspring, Triple Crown winner War Admiral.

  “His kingdom” is the 1,200 acres of rolling bluegrass that make up the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, the only park of its kind in the world.

  Part working horse farm, part educational theme park and part international equestrian competition venue, it is a paean not just to the Thoroughbred and Standardbred, but to all breeds of horses.

  From March to the first week in November, you can make the acquaintance of some 50 of these breeds at the park’s twice daily Parade of Breeds.

    At any given performance, see breeds such as the sturdy English Shire and the dainty Spanish Paso Fino; the Appaloosa, beloved by the Plains Indians, and the stately Arabian, beloved by desert sheikhs.

  At the Hall of Champions, the stars are not in bronze, but flesh and blood, as legendary horses who have retired from the sport are brought from their barns to meet and greet the fans.

  The educational component comes in the form of two museums on Horse Park grounds. 

  The Smithsonian-affiliated International Museum of the Horse is the largest museum in the world dedicated to the history of horse/human relationships. 

  In addition to exhibitions featuring some 100 different breeds, the museum showcases the Calumet Farm Collection, an impressive array of the fabled farm’s racing trophies.

  One of its newest exhibits is entitled “Black Horsemen of the Kentucky Turf.”  Chronicling the contributions of Black Americans, the exhibit dispels the notion that the horse industry owes its existence solely to wealthy white males.

  The American Saddlebred Museum honors Kentucky’s only native breed.  Featuring both permanent and changing exhibitions, the museum traces the history and heritage of the breed through the world’s largest collection of Saddlebred artifacts.

  When it comes to the category of “largest”, the Kentucky Horse Park hosts the most comprehensive collection of equestrian events in the United States.

  From steeplechase and cross country to carriage driving and polo, the Horse Park offers it, along with the Land Rover Three-Day Event, the only four-star equestrian event in North America.

  Should you find yourself not wanting to leave after a day of activities, the park has a full service 260-site campground, equipped with bathhouses, grocery store/ gift shop, Olympic-sized swimming pool, fire rings and picnic tables.

 A Haven for Horses

  The Kentucky Horse Park is on the border of Fayette and Scott Counties, but travel farther into Scott County to find Old Friends at Dream Chase Farm.

  Old Friends is similar to many other retirement homes.  Some of the senior citizens can occasionally get grumpy and out-of-sorts.  All are past their physical prime – their knees long since given way to arthritis and their once-muscular bodies showing the ravages of time.

  Still, like most living in retirement communities, these old-timers welcome attention from visitors, but unlike most, they seem uninterested in long conversations, instead preferring a proffered carrot stick or sugar cube to nibble on.

  The 280-acre farm just outside of Georgetown holds the distinction of being the nation’s first facility of its kind - a safe haven where horses can live out their lives once their racing and breeding days are over.

  Old Friends is a labor of love for Michael Blowen, a former movie critic for the Boston Globe, and his wife Diane White, a former Globe columnist, who started the sanctuary in 2003 with one horse.

  Today, it has grown to 150 horses at any given time, because as Michael and Diane believe, all Thoroughbreds deserve a happy home whether they were industry superstars or bit players.

  Open daily March through November, Old Friends hosts a Homecoming event the day after Derby with tours, live and silent auctions, Bluegrass music and a barbecue buffet.

  In William Shakespeare’s play Richard III, the beleaguered monarch, unseated from his mount at the Battle of Bosworth Field, pleads, “A horse!  A horse!  My kingdom for a horse!”

In Kentucky’s Bluegrass Region, that could be paraphrased, “A horse! A horse! This is a kingdom for a horse!