Horses, Breeding and Racing

The Bluegrass State - "United we stand, divided we fall"

Kentucky Horses - Breeding, Raising, Training, Racing, Riding, Enjoying

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Kentucky Horses

The Kentucky Horse Park

Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, owned by the Commonwealth of Kentucky, opened in 1978 on land which has been a home for horses and horse breeding for over 200 years.

The land on which the Horse Park now stands has a very chequered history since it was granted to Colonel William Christian in 1777 in recognition of his service in the French and Indian War.

William Christian established a farm on part of the land but he was killed by Indians nine years later and the land began to change hands. A long succession of owners, one even a relation of Daniel Boone, developed the land and its farms and houses and turned the area into a successful center of horse breeding and training for standardbreds, trotting horses and eventually thoroughbreds.

The Kentucky Horse Park is now THE place to come to get to know horses and tour the world famous Bluegrass horse farms and visit the many equine attractions and activities in the area.

The Horse Park is home to the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2010. This will be the first year the games will be held outside Europe since they began in 1990.

The Kentucky Derby

The 137th Kentucky Derby takes place at Churchill Downs in Louisville on May 7th 2011.
This world famous horse race has been run on the first Saturday in May since 1875 and every year attracts more than 140,000 horse racing enthusiasts.
In addition to Saturday's Derby, the Kentucky Oaks is run on the Friday of this fabulous horse racing weekend programme, where the atmosphere in the infield is of one long party.