History Lexington – Keeneland – Kentucky Horse Park – Henry Clay / Ashland Park – Lexington Bourbon Trail – Hotels / Restaurants
History of Lexington, Kentucky
The main Native American tribes in Kentucky and the Ohio Valley –were the Shawnee, the Cherokee, and Chickasaw. The Shawnee had settled in the Ohio and Cumberland valleys, they came to Kentucky to hunt for game, and traded the skins and fur. Most of the indigenous population was removed from Kentucky by early 1800’s through warfare or resettlement.
Lexington was named in June 1775 after the colonist’s victory against the British in the battles of Lexington and Concord in April. The settlers that occupied Fort Lexington signed the Articles of Agreement in 1780, which allocated land ownership.
By the end of the Revolutionary War, there were 72 settlements were in the Lexington area.
Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all share the distinction of being known as commonwealths. Kentucky declared a Commonwealth in 1891. The commonwealth title does not confer any special legal significance, but it highlights that the states’ governments were intended to serve the well-being of the people.
Lexington is famous for horse farms and thoroughbred racetracks like Keeneland. The Kentucky Horse Park features the International Museum of the Horse, the Hall of Champions and many equine breeds. Ashland, the estate of 1800s politician Henry Clay, includes a mansion and formal garden.
Keeneland Racetrack
The Keeneland racetrack opened to the public in October 1936 and is a thousand acres of bluegrass country. Central Kentucky is ideal horse country precisely because of its fertile land, and “because of the rolling hills that helped foals build the strength they’d need to become champion racehorses”. It is also ideal breeding ground for the thoroughbred horse.
Keeneland has the world’s largest Thoroughbred auction house. To date 19 Kentucky Derby winners, 21 Preakness Stakes winners, and 18 Belmont Stakes winners were at Keeneland Sales.
We arrived at Keeneland recently seeking to make our fortune at the Spring Meeting. While we left with depleted funds we enjoyed another great day of racing excitement with close friends and proudly contributed to record “betting” at the 2024 Spring Meet. “Keeneland’s 2024 Spring Meet concluded Friday April 26th with all-sources wagering exceeding $218 million, the third-highest handle in track history”.
Boomer Alert: We recommend reserving a table in one of the three Dining Rooms available. It can be your base for the day and rest breaks between races. But book early as they usually sell out on the day tickets become available. Be careful to visit only the Official Keeneland Ticketing Online
Also note that there are strict dress codes for each restaurant:
Casual – Equestrian Room
Business Casual – Phoenix Room
Business Formal – Lexington / Kentucky Room
Lexington has 4 Sister Cities with Horse Breeding connections
Deauville, France
County Kildare, Ireland
Shinhidaka, Japan
Newmarket, England
I have visited County Kildare in Ireland many times as family lived nearby in Stradbally. The area is has 3 racecourses The Curragh, Naas and Punchestown and over 100 stud farms on forty shades of green rolling hills.
Horse Mania 2022
“Maker’s Mark and Keeneland went on to be presenting sponsors of Horse Mania 2022 with Breeders’ Cup as the major underwriter of the four Sister Cities’ horses representing Deauville, France; County Kildare, Ireland; Shinhidaka, Japan; and Newmarket, England.”
Lexington Horse Farms
There are around 450 horse farms in the Bluegrass region—150 in Fayette County.
If you want to plan your own tour of specific horse farms there are plenty to choose from. Here is a good place to start contacting the different farms directly with Lexington Horse Farm Directory
If you would prefer an organized tour Visit Horse Country provides a central booking outlet for member horse farms and medical equine clinics. You can book your tour online by category and experience. We have not experienced a tour yet so can’t comment but the website looks impressive, and it’s something we plan to do during our next visit, we are fortunate we live an hour & half away.
Kentucky Horse Park
We visited the Kentucky Horse Park during the winter and Lynn enjoyed getting up close with the horses as there were few other visitors.
Don’t miss the Parade of Breeds Show. Every Parade of Breeds Show includes 4-6 breed representatives, an opportunity to take photos, pet the horses, and chat with our riders.
The Kentucky Horse Park is owned by the Commonwealth of Kentucky and proudly promotes it’s Mission Statement on the website
Kentucky Horse Park – MISSION
The mission of the Kentucky Horse Park is to celebrate the history of our relationship with the horse through education, exhibition, engagement, and competition.
Based on our visit they are achieving their goal, the staff were knowledgeable and very professional and you could see they love their job role and their horses. We highly recommend visiting the park.
Bourbon – Lexington Bourbon Trail
The fertile soil and mild climate provides quality grains which results in 95% of the world’s bourbon comes from Kentucky. Bourbon by law must at least 51 percent corn and most bourbon brands use around 70 to 80 percent corn, with common secondary grains of wheat, rye, and barley.
Check out the other ingredients that make for a quality bourbon at Kentucky Bourbon.
Four distilleries along the Bourbon Trail, Four Roses, Wild Turkey, Woodford Reserve and Buffalo Trace, are within a 40 minute drive of Lexington.
Woodford Reserve and Buffalo Trace distilleries are located off the US60 route.
The Four Roses and Wild Turkey distilleries are just outside of Bardstown near Lawrenceburg.
Henry Clay – Ashland Park
Henry Clay, a lawyer from Lexington married into one of the wealthiest families of Kentucky and served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives in 1812. Clay helped to lead the War Hawks, and pushed for war with Britain to bolster the markets of American products.
He was known a the “great compromiser” and was a gifted politician, and he is credited for balancing state rights and national interests. As a horseman and lover of racing, Henry Clay played a major role in Lexington, Kentucky becoming “The Horse Capital of the World.”
Henry Clay portrait dated 1850-52
His role in putting together the Compromise of 1850, a series of resolutions limiting the expansion of slavery, delayed secession for a decade and earned him the nickname “the Great Pacificator.”
Clay owned 60 slaves. Yet he called slavery “this great evil…the darkest spot in the map of our country” and did not modify his stance through five campaigns for the presidency
Ashland Park his former home is impressive and worth visiting as it’s well maintained.
Mary Todd Lincoln House
The former home of Mary Todd Lincoln is close to the city center and worthy of the guided tour.
Mary Todd Lincoln served as the first lady of the United States from 1861 until the assassination of her husband, President Abraham Lincoln, in 1865.
Lexington Hotels / Accommodation
We generally use Expedia and Hotels.com to plan and budget our hotel accommodation. Lexington has a wide choice of Hotels being a University City and “the Horse Capital of the World”, during Keeneland Race Meets demand can outstrip the supply and rates increase accordingly.
Boomer Alert: The better rates can usually be found by traveling Mid Week during the Off Season, and avoiding the Event schedule in the Keeneland.
We have stayed at the following hotels during our overnight visits to Lexington:
Marriott Lexington Griffin Gate Golf Resort & Spa: Located just outside the city center, with outdoor swimming pool
Residence Inn City Center: Convenient location shared with Marriott sister hotel, has popular Skybar on 8th floor. Breakfast during the week finishes at 9am! Starbucks is a gew minutes around the corner from the hotel.
Marriott City Center: Convenient location with free on site parking.
Lexington Restaurants / Bars
When staying in the city center we have visited Bourbon on Rye (because its located opposite the hotel) on main street. It has an impressive list of Bourbons, which adds to the overall speakeasy atmosphere.
Short Street is a popular area with broad range of restaurants and bars, with fine dining such as Dudley’s On Short to craft beer bars like Hop Cat.
Our favorite eating place in Lexington is Carson’s Food and Drink located on Main. It’s good quality food, and the winning formula of a great menu and good service. Suggest you reserve a table.
If you fancy Italian fine dining check out Frank and Dino’s, we were impressed by the food and service and enjoyed people watching, sitting at the bar mid evening.
Lexington Trivia
Who is the most famous celebrity from Lexington KY?
George Clooney.
George Timothy Clooney was born on May 6, 1961, in Lexington, Kentucky, to Nina Bruce (née Warren), a former beauty pageant queen, and Nick Clooney, a former anchorman and television host (who was also the brother of singer Rosemary Clooney). He has Irish, English, and German ancestry.