Hello all - taking the crew down through Kentucky towards Asheville in a few weeks. We will be stopping over in Lexington on Wednesday, August 4th.

I have an idea of what I'd like to do, and was wondering if anyone was in the area, or had some advice on the best way (or perhaps you know someone who can help) to facilitate a horse tour at one of the farms.

I'm not really concerned about which farm (but of course there are preferences), but are there any connections here that might help me get a leg up on the effort? I'm thinking this would be better for me personally than visiting the Horse Park.

I've heard great things about Old Friends, but was wondering if I can aim a little higher, for lack of a better word.

I'll have my wife, two teen daughters and my 2 year old colt.

TIA


And heck...if it doesn't work out, I'm taking them all on a distillery tour and will make Sally drive from there!!

Ski:

I would highly recommend heading out to Paris and getting a tour of Claiborne...they'll show you the original (and still in use today) breeding shed, they'll bring out a couple of stallions, and of course the "graveyard of champions" which includes Secretariat, Mr. Prospector, etc. And while in town, make sure you have lunch or dinner at Clay's Steakhouse at 8th and Main (Claiborne is just a mile or so down 10th Street from there, plus the drive out the Paris Pike from Lexington is gorgeous). You can schedule the tour in advance (suggested): 859-987-2330.

Also, if you've not been to Keeneland, it's worth stopping by, even though there'll be no racing or sales going on at the time. It's simply God's Country and particularly beautiful when it's NOT crowded, plus you can hammer a couple at the simulcast upstairs! Also, Calumet is the adjacent property.

I have a good friend who works out at Crestwood Farm, but that's on the other side of Lexington in Midway. Lane's End (also in Midway) will also do tours if you arrange them in advance.

I would love to hook up with you all but unfortunately that's the week I'll be out of town on my own vacation...Enjoy your trip!!!

P'Bob

Try to get to Keeneland in the morning for the workouts, then have breakfast at the track kitchen. Best bang for the buck you'll ever get anywhere.

Then do what I do. Pretend you have a mare and that you are looking for a prospective match. For instance...go to Gainesway Farm for the purpose of seeing Smoke Glacken, and then asking..."hey, do you mind if I see Afleet Alex while I'm here?"

Ski, a number of the farms give tours. You can find most of them on the internet.

I second P'Bob's recommendation to see Claiborne for the reasons he stated. Another one I really liked was Winstar. It's smaller and gets fewer visitors - they pretty much gave my son and I liberty to roam wherever we wanted and to stay as long as we liked.

If they still offer it, when I was there a few years ago there was an organized tour that took you to three farms. It was pretty good but it was a long day and you're on a schedule. I can't rememember now how to reserve this.

Thanks all...appreciate the advice!

Ski, I haven't visited any other farm in Lexington besides Hill N'Dale, so I can't draw a comparison to any other. But I wanted to give a shout-out for them anyway.

I don't know if they even do tours. I went there twice just to visit Theatrical, and they were very accommodating with just a phone call on the morning of my visit. Theatrical was shown to me both times by Aidan O'Meara, the Stallion Manager himself, and he even remembered me on my 2nd visit (a year apart), which I thought was pretty impressive. Of course that might have had something to do with me crying that first time when he led Theatrical out of his stall! LOL!

Seattle Slew is buried there, and his grave site is pretty special.