Lexington

Lexington, KY - Spendthrift Farm opened the doors to its new B. Wayne Hughes Visitors Center on Tuesday, Nov. 1 as part of the lead-up to the Breeders' Cup World Championships. Named in honor of the farm's late founder, the 7,000 square-foot, two story facility will serve as the home for Spendthrift's tourism. The building is located between the farm's stallion complex and main office and features a trophy room, which showcases Spendthrift's collection of trophies, artifacts and racing memorabilia, as well as a gift shop.   Spendthrift owners Eric...

The 2022 Breeders' Cup Festival Week in Lexington features a series of events aimed to bring together locals and visitors alike in the days leading up to the main event at Keeneland. The week-long celebration kicks off on Sunday, Oct. 30, with the Isaac Murphy Art Garden Party and Family Stroll. Participants have the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of legends as they stroll from the Isaac Murphy Art Garden to Oliver Lewis Way along the newly-completed Town Branch Commons, a public-private trail system that follows Town Branch Creek...

Augustin Stable's Delight (Mendelssohn) became the first black-type winner for her freshman sire (by Scat Daddy) with a dominant score in Keeneland's GII J.P. Morgan Chase Jessamine S. The race was a "Win and You're In" for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf S. to be held in Lexington Nov. 4. Hustling up to contest the pace through a :24.32 opening quarter, the 7-2 shot gained a clear lead after that point, clocking a half-mile in :49.61. Showing the way into the lane, Delight rolled clear with ease for...

The Jockey Club Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.) Is hosting two championship shows in 2022, both held this month. The T.I.P. Championships & Eastern Dressage Championships are taking place Oct. 6-9 in Aiken, South Carolina, and the T.I.P. Western Championships & Central Dressage Championships are scheduled for Oct. 12-15 in Lexington, Kentucky, in conjunction with the Retired Racehorse Project's Thoroughbred Makeover. Nearly 350 Thoroughbreds are slated to compete in 38 divisions. Each division will be awarded $2,000 in prize money with awards through 10th place and special classes will be held...

Was it divine intervention? As the story goes, sometime in late 1923 or early 1924, a Kentucky pastor, Rev. Dr. Thomas Settle, convinced some state legislators in Frankfort not to end legalized gambling in Kentucky by repealing parimutuel wagering, much to the relief of the Kentucky Jockey Club and other concerned horsemen. Most ministers may have taken the opposite tack at the time, but not Dr. Settle, and this made him stand out. A well-travelled Englishman who'd found his way to a small congregation on Main St. and Bell Ct....

What do an award-winning chef, a rising young country music star and a reigning champion trainer have in common? All three are featured in the Common Wealth of Kentucky Project, an exhibit going on now through Oct. 1 at LexArts Gallery in Lexington, Kentucky. Along with chef Ouita Michel and singer Walker Montgomery, trainer Brad Cox is one of 70 Kentuckians who shared their life story for the collection, which is the culmination of a year-long project for impressionist painter Kelly Brewer and partner Beth Pride, a writer and digital...

With a little less than a month to go before the 2022 Thoroughbred Makeover kicks off Oct. 12 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, connections of retired racehorse entries planning to attend may be wondering how to find more information on their particular horses. With that in mind, Erin O'Keefe, Development Director for the Retired Racehorse Project, spoke about a new feature at this year's event: Connections Corner. "Former connections of competing horses will be able to come to the booth, located in the TCA Covered Arena, to find...

FanDuel Racing will showcase the breeding and sales sectors of the horse racing industry with a special broadcast of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The all-day coverage of Book One--presented by Runhappy---will air Monday, Sept. 12 and Tuesday, Sept. 13 from 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. ET each day. As the sale continues, there will be daily sales reports on FanDuel Racing. The coverage begins with a special "Rising Stock" feature that is scheduled to air Saturday, Sept. 10 at 9:00 a.m. ET/6:00 a.m. PT. It will feature expert insights...

In the ongoing concern over approval for a soccer complex in an agricultural-rural zone of Lexington's Fayette County, the Fayette Alliance, Greg Goodman, Don Robinson, and Lisa Lourie have appealed the Board of Adjustment's approval of a conditional use proposal by Anderson Communities in conjunction with and on behalf of Lexington Sporting Club to develop commercial soccer facilities on land that was once Ashwood Training Center on Russell Cave Road. Fayette Alliance, a non-profit of citizens dedicated to achieving equitable, sustainable growth in Lexington-Fayette County through land-use advocacy, education, and...

In response to the approval for a soccer complex in an agricultural-rural zone, once home to Ashwood Training Center on Russell Cave Road just outside of Lexington, Ky., members of the equine and agriculture communities in Fayette County came together for a meeting, hosted by the Fayette Alliance at Greg Goodman's Mt. Brilliant Farm, the evening of Wednesday, July 13, to discuss the implications and potential next steps. Fayette Alliance, a non-profit of citizens dedicated to achieving equitable, sustainable growth in Lexington-Fayette County through land-use advocacy, education, and research, addressed...

By Christie DeBernardis & Jessica Martini    LEXINGTON, KY--Yearling sale season started with a bang Tuesday at Fasig-Tipton's July Selected Yearling Sale. The auction house saved the best for last with the final horse through the ring, a son of Curlin (Hip 302), topping the day on a $600,000 bid from the Green family's DJ Stable. Last year's leading freshman sire Gun Runner accounted for the day's second-highest seller, a $430,000 colt (Hip 153) sold to de Meric Sales. Both colts came from the Gainesway consignment, which was responsible for...

In 1958, Lexington became the first community in the U.S. to institute an Urban Service Boundary to protect the farmland that is our identity. Last week, the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Board of Adjustment approved a 12-field soccer complex and 750 parking spaces in the Agricultural-Rural zone. This decision threatens the historic precedent set by those who had the foresight and determination to safeguard this community's most important resource with potential consequences that would negatively impact generations to come. The land in question is immediately adjacent to equine and agricultural...