If you love horses, Lexington is your place. If you love bourbon, Lexington is your place. Heck, if you don’t like either but love beautiful countryside and a nice urban feel, Lexington is your place. We’ve spent eight nights here and it wasn’t enough!

First let’s talk horses! Lexington is considered the “horse capital of the world,” with the most well-known farms and horses on the planet. We stayed at the Kentucky Horse Park Campground, which is connected to the Kentucky Horse Park, home to the International Museum of the Horse and a massive show facility.

 

I was lucky enough to grow up around Arabian horses and often visited the barns of Lasma Arabians. *Bask++ was the king of the barn and to this day one of the most legendary Arabian stallions ever. So, imagine my surprise when we entered the museum to find a life-sized bronze of *Bask++ dominating the lobby!

Later we walked through the Al-Marah Arabian Horse Gallery and on the grounds found *Bask++’s grave. It may seem unremarkable to someone who doesn’t know Arabians, but for me it was like arriving to Mecca. 

Also at the Kentucky Horse Park we met several of the resident horses including Connor, a massive Belgian and Manny, a rare American Cream Draft. During the season there are over 1,000 horses of 100’s of breeds on the grounds. Unfortunately we arrived at the start of the winter season and only about 100 horses were in residence to meet.

The other cool thing about staying at the Kentucky Horse Park Campground was proximity to the show grounds. While Steve spent Saturday afternoon watching his beloved Nebraska Cornhuskers on TV, I wandered the grounds of the US Dressage Finals and caught some great horsemanship.

In Lexington, horse racing is based at Keeneland. While not as well known as Churchill Downs, the track has a legacy as the place to train and race if you are a Derby contender. We toured Keeneland on the second day of the fall breeding stock sale.

A staple on the industry’s calendar, the breeding stock sale brings the Thoroughbred world together under one roof to buy and sell the future of the sport. Over 3,500 horses are sold over a seven day period, with the most expensive horses selling earliest. On day one, two mares sold for $6 million each. Being there on day two meant we got to see some of the high dollar mares auctioned to those who hope to cash in soon. Check out the prices in the photos below. 

While Keeneland is the first stop for horse lovers who visit Lexington, number two on the list has to be Claiborne Farms, the industry-leading farm that was home to Secretariat. During our tour of the stallion barns we met two stallions up close. War of Will won the 2019 Preakness and earned almost $1.9 million while he was racing. His stud fee is now $25,000.  

We also met War of Will’s sire, the acclaimed War Front. As one of the top producing Thoroughbred stallions, his stud fee is $100,000, and he has been syndicated with a current value of $83 million. I fed him a candy and got a handful of drool that I wished I could have bottled! He also gives really good hugs!

Finally, a trip to Claiborne Farms always takes you past the personal pasture of Secretariat and to his final resting place. Secretariat, commonly known as Big Red, won the triple crown in 1973, setting and still holding the fastest time record in all three races. He is considered by many to be the greatest race horse of all time. Seeing his grave and hearing about the impact he had on so many choked me up, to say the least.

Claiborne is set just outside of Paris, KY, and the town was dedicating the Secretariat Park when we were there. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see the sculpture, but the park was stunning. We also had the opportunity to have our photo taken with Big Red.

Okay, enough about horses…how about some bourbon? Our multi-week exploration of Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail continued. In all, between our time in Bardstown, Louisville, and Lexington, we visited 15 distilleries. Some were big, name-brand operations and others were small craft distilleries where we met with the master distiller. Steve still doesn’t have a favorite…he says his favorite is the one in his hand! In case you’re curious, here’s the list of distilleries we visited while in Kentucky:

• Richter’s
• Evan Williams
• Bulleit
• Heaven Hill
• Bardstown Boubon Co.
• Maker’s Mark
• Woodford Reserve
• Town Branch
• Jeptha Creed
• Willett
• Limestone Branch
• James E. Pepper
• Hartfield & Co,
• Buffalo Trace
• Barrel House

Every distillery was unique, as was its process and final product. 

One interesting experience was at Buffalo Trace. We arrived at 11 a.m. on Sunday to a huge crowd waiting to get in. We figured it was just a popular place. Later we learned that they have a shortage of their specialty bourbons and when one is released, locals come to buy their allotment. The day we arrived, Eagle Rare, a bourbon aged for 10 years was available. Since we waited for 45 minutes to get through the doors, we figured we better buy a bottle in addition to our walk around the property and our tasting.

At Bulleit we skipped the tour and joined in a Bourbon Brain trivia contest. I guess we’ve now been on enough tours to know the ins and outs of bourbon because we won!!! Hats, mugs, and a cocktail made for a fun afternoon at Bulleit!

We’re beginning our travels southward, with some fun stops ahead before we reach the beach. We’ll keep you posted!