The number one thing we wanted to do in Lexington was take one of the horse farm tours. There are three or four from which to choose, and we had settled on Thoroughbred Tours. They pick you up right at your hotel and take you to several working farms, locations for movies like Secretariat, and get you up close with the horses. Online booking was also a plus.
After the rain last night, we were a little concerned about the weather, and with good reason. It was still pretty cloudy and drizzled quite a bit. Not exactly the sunny day for which we'd hoped, but since we were spending a lot of time in the tour van, we figured it would work out.
The bus was actually running a little late picking us up, and we were getting concerned. After I called to check on it, I was reassured that they hadn't forgotten us. We soon found that they were just a little laid back and didn't stick to a strict schedule. For example, our three-hour tour actually ran four hours. Our tour guide, Daniel, was a retired schoolteacher and just excellent at keeping us informed and entertained.
Our first stop (or rather, pass-through, since we didn't actually stop) was Calumet, one of the largest farms in Lexington. It has acres and acres of land corralled off with white wooden fences. The next farm had black fencing, which was seemed to be the most common color. It also helped for neighboring farms to have different colors. And in addition to all the many corrals, they also put fences around the trees to keep horses from being struck by lightning if it hits a tree.
Horses are huge business in Lexington. Fence construction seems to be right behind it. We saw many more farms with thousands of acres. Unbelievably beautiful. Lexington seems to be mostly sprawling acres of horse farms with just little pockets of human civilization.
The farms are so large, local families can't afford to run them anymore. Many are owned by people who made their millions elsewhere and bought into the business. There was an oil sheik, the CEO of Cobra golf clubs, and a builder. Only a couple of farms were owned by people actually from Lexington.
Next up was one of the major highlights of the tour, Keeneland race track. This is where they not only race horses, but auction them off as well. In fact, the auction scenes in Secretariat were filmed there.
Keeneland was built in the 1930s, and despite some modern upgrades (like drive-through betting), you can feel the history there. Much of it feels like you've stepped back in time. On our way to the track, we also saw the station where the jockeys weigh in, saddle and all.
The first thing that grabs your attention is the sound of constantly shrieking hawks in the stadium. It's actually a recording triggered by motion sensors to scare off any birds. Of course, they turn it off during races.
We were also told that the track was a special earth blend created by the University of Kentucky. Previously, they had an "Astro-turf" polyurethane track that would get too hot and was bad for the horses. After spending millions to put it in, they spent millions more to replace it.
We also learned about the origins of the lawn jockey, of which there are many at Keeneland. Supposedly, there was a young African-American boy named Jocko Graves who froze to death caring for the horses and holding a lantern while Washington crossed the Delaware. He was so moved that he had a small statue made in the boy's honor. For this reason, lawn jockeys were originally black. The ones at Keeneland are all painted to match actual racing uniforms.
From there we drove through more farms and actually got out to see some horses just out grazing and trotting around. A couple of them came up close so we could pet them, which was great.
Our next major stop was the Kentucky Horse Park, which has a great entrance and huge gift shop. Though we weren't entirely sure what it was at first. Outside is an amazing horse sculpture that gallops in slow motion. The movement is absolutely perfect, all done with chains and gears.
Across from that is a statue of Secretariat. He's not actually buried there, but definitely holds a place of honor, since it's one of the first things you see when you arrive.
Down a pathway to the left in the center of a round garden is a statue of Man o' War, who is actually buried there. Along with many of his progeny: War Admiral, War Kilt, and several others, all with "War" in their names. Man o' War was buried whole, while the others just have the head, heart, and hooves buried (for both symbolic and practical reasons).
In the gift shop, we got some famous Bourbon Balls, made with chocolate and Kentucky's other famous export: bourbon. Needless to say, they were quite tasty.
Found out later it's kind of a theme park (makes sense) with horse shows, rides, and all sorts of horse-related exhibits (but no rides). You can't actually see the park part from the outside and the park entrance is understated. Especially compared to the gift shop. They built it because most of the farms stopped allowing tours and visitors. They used to years ago, but as Lexington grew more popular and people (sadly) weren't always on their best behavior (this is why we can't have nice things). The park allows people to learn about racing and get up close to the animals.
We were surprised to learn that most people make money in the selling and breeding of horses. You can spend thousands and thousands on a thoroughbred and there's no guarantee he'll ever run a single race. It's all a big crap shoot with every horse. While they make a lot when they win, they make a whole lot more on stud fees.
By this point, the tour was running long, so we had to take some folks back. The rest of us didn't have any prior commitments, so we spent another hour on the very best part of the tour.
Our final stop was McPeek, a small breeding farm that is actually open to visitors. Here we really got to see several horses up close.
The vast majority of these were males and all there for breeding. Every one of them had a number in their name, such as "Cry Baby XVI. (they were all around the 15-16 range). This indicates the sire and how far down the line they are. Actual racing names come later and have to be approved, and no more than 18 letters, including spaces.
By the time we got back to the hotel, we were getting pretty hungry. We opted for an early dinner at J.J. McBrewster's, which our tour guide recommend, and had been featured on Diner's, Drive-Ins, and Dives. They're known for their many flavors of BBQ sauce, which were all excellent.
Finally, we went downtown to the historic Kentucky Theater mainly because we love old theaters. It was a choice between Sing Street, about a high school kid in Dublin who starts a band to impress a girl, and Blue Velvet. Marsha really hates Blue Velvet, so we opted for Sing Street simply because it wasn't Blue Velvet. We enjoyed the movie so much that I bought Marsha the soundtrack. Ended up a great choice after all!
