Kentucky - Frankfort & Lexington - Horses & Bourbon!

[giradman]

Thanks, I've never seen how high end thoroughbreds were auctioned before. It was quite interesting.

Well, my first experience, too - I was pretty much a 'horse novice' before this trip but have become enamored w/ this equine culture - I'd like to return during the racing season - two famous race tracks are located in Lexington which we did not visit - one is Keeneland Race Track which is also a sales complex (see the aerial pic below w/ all of the white stables and the first quote).

The other is the Red Mile which hosts harness racing, which I love to watch (but has been many years!) - see second quote below. Just a few pics added. Dave

P.S. The famous Breeders' Cup will be held in a few days @ the Keeneland Race Track.

Keeneland includes the Keeneland Racecourse, a Thoroughbred horse racing facility, and a sales complex, both in Lexington, Kentucky, USA. Operated by the Keeneland Association, Inc., it is also known for its reference library.

In 2009, the Horseplayers Association of North America introduced a rating system for 65 Thoroughbred racetracks in North America. Keeneland was ranked #1 of the top ten tracks. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986.

Keeneland is the world's largest Thoroughbred auction house, conducting three sales annually: The September Yearling Sale, November Breeding Stock Sale, and January Horses of All Ages Sale. Horses sold at Keeneland sales include 82 horses that won 88 Breeders' Cup World Championship races; 19 Kentucky Derby winners; 21 Preakness winners; 18 Belmont winners; 11 recipients of the Eclipse Award as Horse of the Year; and five Epsom Derby winners. Graduates of Keeneland sales.

The Red Mile is a horse racing track located in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. The track hosts harness racing, a type of horse racing in which the horses must pull two-wheeled carts called sulkies while racing. It is one of harness racing's most famous tracks and is located in the heart of the Bluegrass region, an area of Kentucky famous for horse breeding and racing.

In 2014, The Red Mile announced it was partnering with Keeneland to build a $30 million historical racing facility, with 1,000 terminals, scheduled to open September 2015. In May 2015, Keeneland also announced that it would move most of its Off-track betting operations to The Red Mile beginning July 15, 2015, investing over $2 million upgrading The Red Mile's grandstand area.

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[giradman]

Enjoyed that auction video, Dave and all the foregoing of course. I found it amusing how they briefly stopped the auction for some people to get on their cell phones to make some quick calls. Maybe to their bank manager. or wealthy overseas "connections"? I could have sworn Havre de Grace looked up at the tv screen when the price hit $10,000,000.

Hi again Andrew - that was a great auction video - when a horse is sold, an employee immediately arrives at the side of the winning bidder, who has to sign a receipt along w/ a co-signer - that 10 million dollar receipt might have had some 'shaky' signatures - or not? Dave

Addendum: Susan & I have made three other trips to Kentucky over the decades, mainly to Louisville and the Mammoth Cave, so may put together a post on each just for completeness.

 

[scifan57]

Well, my first experience, too - I was pretty much a 'horse novice' before this trip but have become enamored w/ this equine culture - I'd like to return during the racing season - two famous race tracks are located in Lexington which we did not visit - one is Keeneland Race Track which is also a sales complex (see the aerial pic below w/ all of the white stables and the first quote).

The other is the Red Mile which hosts harness racing, which I love to watch (but has been many years!) - see second quote below. Just a few pics added. Dave

P.S. The famous Breeders' Cup will be held in a few days @ the Keeneland Race Track.




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Hi again Andrew - that was a great auction video - when a horse is sold, an employee immediately arrives at the side of the winning bidder, who has to sign a receipt along w/ a co-signer - that 10 million dollar receipt might have had some 'shaky' signatures - or not? Dave

Addendum: Susan & I have made three other trips to Kentucky over the decades, mainly to Louisville and the Mammoth Cave, so may put together a post on each jus for completeness.

There's certainly no mistaking that you're in horse country with all the tracks and stables dotting the countryside.

 

[giradman]

Louisville - Home of the Kentucky Derby

For completeness, I wanted to add just a few more posts for those who may be planning to pass through or visit this unique state. Louisville is the largest city in Kentucky w/ a population of just over 600,000 (see first quote). Susan & I have visited several times over the years, but on this trip we simply drove through on our way to and back from Indianapolis. The city is on the Ohio River (see first two images below) and from the maps not far from Lexington & Frankfort - Bardstown is less than an hour's drive, so visiting bourbon country is near; also, the famous Mammoth Cave National Park is just under two hours away (all marked on the maps).

Louisville has many attractions and some excellent restaurants. Boat rides on the river are available and the famed Louisville Slugger bat factory is there and open for tours. BUT, the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs is the annual event in early May that brings the most fame to the town (see second quote below) - also known as the Run for the Roses, tours of the race track are available and a Derby Museum is an excellent MUST visit (been there twice).

Our last visit to Louisville was probably about a decade ago - we flew in and our son/DIL drove down from Indy, so we had some 'wheels' to tour - went to Bardstown and the Maker's Mark Distillery, and stayed at the historic Brown Hotel w/ a beautiful bar area (had my first flight of bourbons there). In addition to visiting the Louisville Slugger factory and Churchill Downs, we saw a musical, The Producers, at the fairly new Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts (last pic below). Dave

Louisville is the largest city in Kentucky and the 30th-most populous city in the United States. It is one of two cities in Kentucky designated as first-class, with the other being the state's second-largest city of Lexington. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County.

Louisville was founded in 1778 by George Rogers Clark and is named after King Louis XVI of France, making Louisville one of the oldest cities west of the Appalachian Mountains. Sited beside the Falls of the Ohio, the only major obstruction to river traffic between the upper Ohio River and the Gulf of Mexico, the settlement first grew as a portage site. It was the founding city of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, which grew into a 6,000-mile (9,700 km) system across 13 states. Today, the city is known as the home of the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Fried Chicken, the University of Louisville and its Louisville Cardinals athletic teams, Louisville Slugger baseball bats, and three of Kentucky's six Fortune 500 companies.[12] Its main airport is also the site of UPS's worldwide air hub.

The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of one and a quarter miles (2 km) at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds (57 kilograms) and fillies 121 pounds (55 kilograms).

The race is known in the United States as "The Most Exciting Two Minutes In Sports" or "The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports" for its approximate duration, and is also called "The Run for the Roses" for the blanket of roses draped over the winner. It is the first leg of the American Triple Crown and is followed by the Preakness Stakes, then the Belmont Stakes. Unlike the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, which took hiatuses in 1891-1893 and 1911-1912, respectively, the Kentucky Derby has been run every consecutive year since 1875. A horse must win all three races to win the Triple Crown. In the 2015 listing of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA), the Kentucky Derby tied with the Whitney Handicap as the top Grade 1 race in the United States outside of the Breeders' Cup races.

The attendance at the Kentucky Derby ranks first in North America and usually surpasses the attendance of all other stakes races including the Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes, and the Breeders' Cup.

The 141st running of the Kentucky Derby was Saturday, May 2, 2015 with a $2 million guarantee.

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[giradman]

Mammoth Cave National Park

Well, this will be my last post to my Kentucky thread (of course, I'll respond to questions) - our first trip to this state was in the late 1960s, mainly visits to Louisville and this natural wonder. Kentucky has some wonderful natural beauty from east to west into the mountains - Susan & I have not really visited this remarkable state enough, especially for its mountains, caves, rivers, etc.

Mammoth Cave is a National Park - below is a description from the first page on their website (click the link, if interested) - as I remember, the entrance is indeed MAMMOTH! The pics below are all from the web (don't believe I even had a camera on this late '60s visit), but should pique your interest if spelunking is one of your interests when traveling. We've explored the mountains and natural wonders of the Carolinas, Virginia, West VA, & Tennessee - maybe time to return to those type of sites in Kentucky - may be adding more to this thread in the future? Dave

A Grand, Gloomy and Peculiar Place
Mammoth Cave National Park preserves the cave system and a part of the Green River valley and hilly country of south central Kentucky. This is the world's longest known cave system, with more than 400 miles explored. Early guide Stephen Bishop called the cave a "grand, gloomy and peculiar place," but its vast chambers and complex labyrinths have earned its name - Mammoth.

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[scifan57]

Thanks for a wonderful travel thread. I really enjoyed reading all your posts.

 

[giradman]

Thanks for a wonderful trave thread. I really enjoyed reading all your posts.

Hi Scifan.. - thanks for your support and continual interest in this thread - much appreciated. Dave

 

[suenc]

Lexington, Kentucky - Arrival Day

We arrived in Lexington, KY by early afternoon and decided to visit Henry Clay's Ashland (next post) - Lexington is the second largest city in Kentucky w/ about the same population as our city of Winston-Salem in North Carolina - some description below. Our activities over 2 full days included: 1) Henry Clay's Estate; 2) Kentucky Horse Park; 3) Van Tour Into Kentucky horse countryside; 4) Mary Todd Lincoln House; 5) Woodford Reserve Distillery; and 6) Visit to the fall horse auction at Fasig-Tipton.

We stayed at the Embassy Suites for 3 nights on the northern outskirts of the city near I-64 (convenient to a lot of the sites visited) - the hotel is beautifully situated on large landscaped grounds; the interior has a wide open appearance (see several pics below) - the bar offered 40+ bourbons to sample and a wide assortment of flights, if desired.

Lexington is the home of the University of Kentucky, which we did not visit - there is also a large medical center w/ the state's major medical school (I've had a half dozen colleagues who worked there in the Radiology Department). Of course, the U. of KY is most famous sports-wise for baskeball - they are second (behind UCLA) as having won the NCAA championship 8 times (and being in the final four a number of other years - see the image below of the basketball arena and the Wiki list).

So, our first 'full' day involved activities 2 & 3 listed above; and the remainder on our second day. Dave




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Well w/ WinStar's stud fees, there seems to be plenty of $$$ to maintain a neat and non-smelly stable -

There are so many large and beautiful horse farms seen while driving around this hilly countryside - just a few more pics below - we did not visit the Big Barn @ the Park (maybe we need to return?). One of the most famous is Calumet Farm - brief quote below - note the last bolded sentence - Affirmed won the Triple Crown in 1978, but in 2015 after a LONG time, American Pharoah is now the most recent winner of those three races - nearly a 30 year 'dry spell' - Dave


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Well, my first experience, too - I was pretty much a 'horse novice' before this trip but have become enamored w/ this equine culture - I'd like to return during the racing season - two famous race tracks are located in Lexington which we did not visit - one is Keeneland Race Track which is also a sales complex (see the aerial pic below w/ all of the white stables and the first quote).

The other is the Red Mile which hosts harness racing, which I love to watch (but has been many years!) - see second quote below. Just a few pics added. Dave

P.S. The famous Breeders' Cup will be held in a few days @ the Keeneland Race Track.




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[suenc]

The horse culture is a whole new world. Even though we took a couple of years of riding lessons, I had no knowledge of breeding, auctions or even horse racing. Like dave, I look forward gto learning more. Horses are good people.

 

[suenc]

Lexington, Kentucky - Arrival Day

We arrived in Lexington, KY by early afternoon and decided to visit Henry Clay's Ashland (next post) - Lexington is the second largest city in Kentucky w/ about the same population as our city of Winston-Salem in North Carolina - some description below. Our activities over 2 full days included: 1) Henry Clay's Estate; 2) Kentucky Horse Park; 3) Van Tour Into Kentucky horse countryside; 4) Mary Todd Lincoln House; 5) Woodford Reserve Distillery; and 6) Visit to the fall horse auction at Fasig-Tipton.

We stayed at the Embassy Suites for 3 nights on the northern outskirts of the city near I-64 (convenient to a lot of the sites visited) - the hotel is beautifully situated on large landscaped grounds; the interior has a wide open appearance (see several pics below) - the bar offered 40+ bourbons to sample and a wide assortment of flights, if desired.

Lexington is the home of the University of Kentucky, which we did not visit - there is also a large medical center w/ the state's major medical school (I've had a half dozen colleagues who worked there in the Radiology Department). Of course, the U. of KY is most famous sports-wise for baskeball - they are second (behind UCLA) as having won the NCAA championship 8 times (and being in the final four a number of other years - see the image below of the basketball arena and the Wiki list).

So, our first 'full' day involved activities 2 & 3 listed above; and the remainder on our second day. Dave




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Well w/ WinStar's stud fees, there seems to be plenty of $$$ to maintain a neat and non-smelly stable -

There are so many large and beautiful horse farms seen while driving around this hilly countryside - just a few more pics below - we did not visit the Big Barn @ the Park (maybe we need to return?). One of the most famous is Calumet Farm - brief quote below - note the last bolded sentence - Affirmed won the Triple Crown in 1978, but in 2015 after a LONG time, American Pharoah is now the most recent winner of those three races - nearly a 30 year 'dry spell' - Dave


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View attachment 68382 View attachment 68383 View attachment 68384 View attachment 68385

Well, my first experience, too - I was pretty much a 'horse novice' before this trip but have become enamored w/ this equine culture - I'd like to return during the racing season - two famous race tracks are located in Lexington which we did not visit - one is Keeneland Race Track which is also a sales complex (see the aerial pic below w/ all of the white stables and the first quote).

The other is the Red Mile which hosts harness racing, which I love to watch (but has been many years!) - see second quote below. Just a few pics added. Dave

P.S. The famous Breeders' Cup will be held in a few days @ the Keeneland Race Track.




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Frankfort, KY - State Capital - Day of Arrival

We arrived in Frankfort by mid-afternoon the first day, checked into our hotel and had time for a tour & tasting at an historic bourbon distillery, i.e. Buffalo Trace which is claimed to be the oldest continuous operating distillery in the bourbon area (even making 'medicinal' products during Prohibition in the USA). Below a short quote on Frankfort which is a small town located on the meandering Kentucky River and surrounded by rolling hills - the fall colors were beautiful.

Also, a second longer quote on the Buffalo Trace Distillery, a fun tour - some images below - aerial views of the city w/ an arrow on the State Capitol (more in a future post) and the distillery w/ a double-arrow on the Visiting Center/Gift Shop and the famous water tower, plus my own pics of the bottling line, a storage warehouse w/ aging oak barrels, and some of the many products made on the grounds - one of the most famous (and more expensive) is the Blanton's w/ the little horse on the top.

We stayed in Frankfort two nights, and had one full day which involved visits to the Frankfort Cemetery, the State Capitol and surrounding buildings and a drive to Bardstown (Bourbon Capital of the World!) w/ a tour of the famous Jim Bean Distillery - click on the links for more information - more later on our full day and probably a post about bourbon whiskey for those who have an interest - a unique American product made in a relatively small area in the bluegrass portion of Kentucky. Dave

P.S. Why Frankfort as the Kentucky State Capital? Well, there was tremendous debate between picking either Louisville or Lexington (the largest cities) - the compromise was a location 'in-between' and the choice was a place on the Kentucky River.




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Kentucky Bourbon and horses made for an interesting trip. I don’t drink hard likker, but it was fun to see how Bourbon is made and how passionate Kentuckians are about it.

 

[giradman]

The horse culture is a whole new world. Even though we took a couple of years of riding lessons, I had no knowledge of breeding, auctions or even horse racing. Like dave, I look forward gto learning more. Horses are good people.

Well, Susan has reappeared in this thread - we have both become more enamored w/ horses and wish to return to the Lexington, KY area in the near future!

On our recent trip to Blowing Rock (discussed in another of my travelogues), we watched the PBS documentary on Seabiscuit, a Kentucky native horse which is well done (first quote) - the movie w/ Tobey Maguire is also excellent (which I own - not sure that I've ever viewed the earlier Shirley Temple film?) - tonight, we also watched a recent blu-ray acquisition, i.e. Buck - about Buck Brannaman (second quote below) who was important in the film The Horse Whisperer w/ Robert Redford - Dave

Seabiscuit - Racehorse

Born: 1933
Died: 17 May 1947 (Natural causes)
Birthplace: Claiborne Farm, Kentucky
Best known as: Thoroughbred hero of the American Depression
A smallish horse with an ungainly stride, Seabiscuit became a public favorite while winning 33 of his 89 career starts and amassing a then-record $437,730 in career prize money. His stirring match race victory over Triple Crown winner War Admiral, on November 1, 1938, was one of the great sporting events of its day and made Seabiscuit a popular hero: according to Laura Hillenbrand's 2001 book Seabiscuit, the horse received the most newspaper coverage of any public figure in 1938. Hillenbrand's book was a huge hit and gave fresh life to the Seabiscuit legend, prompting a 2003 movie starring Tobey Maguire as hard-luck jockey Red Pollard and Jeff Bridges as owner Charles Howard. Seabiscuit was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 1958.

Extra credit: Seabiscuit's grandfather was the legendary thoroughbred Man O' War... His father was Man O' War's son Hard Tack, and his mother was Swing On... The 1949 Shirley Temple film The Story of Seabiscuit was a mostly-fictional tale based on the life of the famous horse.

Follows horse trainer, Buck Brannaman from his abusive childhood to his phenomenally successful approach to horses. A real-life "horse-whisperer", he eschews the violence of his upbringing and teaches people to communicate with their horses through leadership and sensitivity, not punishment. Buck possesses near magical abilities as he dramatically transforms horses - and people - with his understanding,...

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[giradman]

Southeastern Kentucky - Music Hall of Fame, Harlan County, & Cumberland Gap

Since my return to North Carolina, I've been re-watching the TV series Justified - Timothy Olyphant plays a U.S. Marshall stationed in Lexington, Kentucky who grew up in Harlan County - the series revolves around drug culture and is rather violent (Susan lasted through the first half of the initial season - of six) - but just another glimpse of Kentucky - plus, sipping on bourbon is a recurring topic -

On our way back home on I-75 into Tennessee, we passed a number of sites that I'd loved to visit for the first time (another vacation!) - one was the exit to the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame (would love to see - probably a great exhibit on Bill Monroe - the founder of bluegrass music) - another was for the Cumberland Gap National Park - this is where Daniel Boone (the guy buried in the Frankfort Cemetery) discovered a passage through the mountains for the early pioneers to migrate from east of the Appalachian Mountains into the Ohio valley area (famous painting below) (see quote below from the link).

Finally, Harlan County which abuts the Virginia border and is near Tennessee (see map, black arrow) and is the site of much of the episodes in the above TV series mentioned was close by our route of return - the highest mountain in the state is located in the county - "Black Mountain, located east of Lynch, is Kentucky's highest point, with an elevation of 4,145 feet (1,263 m) above sea level." (Wiki source). Dave

The Cumberland Gap is a narrow pass through the long ridge of the Cumberland Mountains, within the Appalachian Mountains, near the junction of the U.S. states of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee.

Famous in American colonial history for its role as a key passageway through the lower central Appalachians, it was an important part of the Wilderness Road and is now part of the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park.

Long used by Native Americans, the Cumberland Gap was brought to the attention of settlers in 1750 by Dr. Thomas Walker, a Virginia physician and explorer. The path was explored by a team of frontiersmen led by Daniel Boone, making it accessible to pioneers who used it to journey into the western frontiers of Kentucky and Tennessee.

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[scifan57]

Southeastern Kentucky - Music Hall of Fame, Harlan County, & Cumberland Gap

Since my return to North Carolina, I've been re-watching the TV series Justified - Timothy Olyphant plays a U.S. Marshall stationed in Lexington, Kentucky who grew up in Harlan County - the series revolves around drug culture and is rather violent (Susan lasted through the first half of the initial season - of six) - but just another glimpse of Kentucky - plus, sipping on bourbon is a recurring topic -

On our way back home on I-75 into Tennessee, we passed a number of sites that I'd loved to visit for the first time (another vacation!) - one was the exit to the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame (would love to see - probably a great exhibit on Bill Monroe - the founder of bluegrass music) - another was for the Cumberland Gap National Park - this is where Daniel Boone (the guy buried in the Frankfort Cemetery) discovered a passage through the mountains for the early pioneers to migrate from east of the Appalachian Mountains into the Ohio valley area (famous painting below) (see quote below from the link).

Finally, Harlan County which abuts the Virginia border and is near Tennessee (see map, black arrow) and is the site of much of the episodes in the above TV series mentioned was close by our route of return - the highest mountain in the state is located in the county - "Black Mountain, located east of Lynch, is Kentucky's highest point, with an elevation of 4,145 feet (1,263 m) above sea level." (Wiki source). Dave


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The music hall of fame is a place I'd like to visit as well if I were in the area.

 

[giradman]

Hi Scifan.. - yep, when I saw the exit sign, we almost pulled off but was not sure of the hours and we still had a long drive back - the area would be a nice 3-4 night vacation for us, so likely will return to the sites mentioned previously.

As to the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame, the place is fairly new - below just a couple of pics - 2002 was the initial induction class of performers - recognized all but John Lair, who I did look up - a brief quote below from the link given - now Rosemary Clooney is a favorite of ours, but she was of course more of a pop & jazz singer, and of course made some movies - looking forward to a visit in the near future. Dave

This Kentucky native has had a perfectly respectable career as a songwriter and harmonica player. In fact, his credits would raise a few eyebrows to be sure. There are supposedly more than 500 songs written by this man. One of them, "Freight Train Blues," was recorded by a list of talent that includes none other than Bob Dylan, Doc Watson, Roy Acuff, Hank Williams, and the Weavers. And although the role of harmonica is much underplayed in country music compared to the blues, Lair performed regularly on the instrument for something like 60 years, starting with classic '30s tracks with the Cumberland Ridge Runners. But his real mark on country music has been as a manager, organizer, and promoter, and in this capacity made a massive impact on the Ohio and Kentucky music scene by founding the Renfro Valley Barn Dance in 1937 in Ohio, moving back to his home state a few years later.

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[giradman]

Well, I cannot add much more to this thread w/o revisiting the state of Kentucky, but I just noticed that there are nearly 3,000 views of this thread w/ responses from mainly my 'ole' friends, such as Scifan.. - I was hoping that some of our members who may have 'looked in' and live in Kentucky might put in a post or two, either to correct my mistakes or more importantly to add to the places to visit or other ones? I plan to return to Kentucky in the near future (likely to the area in my last post or back to Lexington if I can convince my son to drive in?); SO, for natives of the Bluegrass State, please chime in! Dave