Kentucky - Frankfort & Lexington - Horses & Bourbon!

[The OB]

Thanks Johanna & Andrew - I have no idea why I typed in 'Nellie' knowing that 'Nessie' was the correct nickname - can only plead that it was late and I did not do my usual proofing - correction made to the post w/ your help. Dave


P.S. Hey - maybe I was thinking about the old song Wait Till the Sun Shines Nellie? We took that boat tour on Loch Ness in the morning, and as I recall, the fog over the water was so dense that we could not see much at all - hoping for some sunshine, I guess - Below, Mary Martin & Bing Crosby from the film Birth of the Blues (1941) - Dave

Just thinking Dave (I sometimes have that tendency) that if it had not been for that foggy day you and Sue may well now be household names as the first to have sighted Nessie.
Andrew

 

[giradman]

Those stables are fantastic! They look better than the Queen's stables at Buckingham Palace.

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

Calumet Farm is history. It is a name recognized around the world for great Thoroughbreds such as Whirlaway, Citation and Alydar. It is a name marked with tragedy and sadness, following the controversial death of Alydar and the demise and sale of what once was a thriving operation. It is forgotten that the farm influenced more than just Thoroughbreds. A Standardbred gelding Peter Manning in 1922 he set a mile record trotting in 1:56-3/4. It was this Standardbred gelding that brought William M. Wright to purchase the farm. In the early days of Calumet it was Standardbred trotters that ruled. Mr. Wright passed away in 1931 and the farm passed to Warren Wright, the same year Calumet Butler won the Hambletonian Stakes. It would be two years before Hadagal became Calumet’s first Thoroughbred stakes winner and Nellie Flag became their first champion. In 1936 Blenheim II and Bull Lea came to the farm and the 1940s ushered in the glory days for Calumet. Whirlaway and Citation became Triple Crown winners. Twilight Tear, Coaltown, Barbizon and Real Delight were named champions. In 1950 Mr. Wright passed away, and Mrs. Wright took over the farm. In 1964 Bull Lea and in 1968 Forward Pass became Calumet’s eighth Kentucky Derby winner. Calumet’s involvement in Thoroughbreds was secure as was the farm. In the late 1970s came arguably the most famous reserve Triple Crown winner in history, when Alydar pushed Affirmed to become the last winner at this writing. (Source)

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[scifan57]

Those horses live better than some people, with barns like that. There's certainly a lot of money to be made.

 

[giradman]

Just thinking Dave (I sometimes have that tendency) that if it had not been for that foggy day you and Sue may well now be household names as the first to have sighted Nessie.

Hi Andrew - well, we also took a trip from Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh, then a brief ferry to the Isle of Skye for a bus tour - one of the most foggiest experiences in our lives (the one exception was our day tour to Hilo on the big island in Hawaii - not only foggy but rainy, and for a reason looking at the Wiki quote below - surprisingly the sun did come out when we arrive in the city - believe for an hour or so).

But, the Isle of Skye was beautiful and the location of the Talisker Distillery (one of my favs when I was drinking single malts - not as much 'iodine flavor' as in Laguvulin for a seaside Scotch whisky); plus, I had a delicious freshly caught trout for lunch! Dave

Hilo features a tropical rainforest climate, with substantial rainfall throughout the year. Hilo's location on the eastern side of the island of Hawaii makes it the fourth wettest designated city in the United States behind the southeast Alaskan cities of Whittier, Ketchikan and Yakutat and one of the wettest in the world. An average of around 126.72 inches (3,220 mm) of rain fell at Hilo International Airport annually between 1981 and 2010, with 275 days of the year receiving some rain, which is the most rainy days for any place in the Northern Hemisphere and exceeded only in parts of Aisén and Magallanes in Chile. Rainfall in Hilo varies with altitude, with more rain at higher elevation. At some other weather stations in upper Hilo the annual rainfall is above 200 inches (5,100 mm).

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[giradman]

Lexington, Kentucky - Our Second Full Day

Our second day in the Lexington area was quite a varied experience: 1) Mary Todd Lincoln House in the downtown area on Main Street; 2) Woodford Reserve Distillery; and 3) Fasig-Tipton Yearling horse auction. We started out at 9 AM w/ a visit to the Mary Todd Lincoln House - the first quote below from the official house website w/ a little bio of Mary Todd and brief look at Lexington at that time. The house started out as an inn in the first decade of the 19th century (see second quote) before being purchased by Mary's father.

In the late 1840s, the now married Lincolns visited Lexington and stayed in the guest room (pic below). The bannister of the stairs to the second floor is original and can be touched by visitors (as it was when Mary was growing up in the house and of course by Abraham Lincoln on their visit). The house was scheduled for demolition but fortunately was saved and restored - what a loss that would have been - the pics are pretty self explanatory (most w/ labels) - the wedding picture of course is a 'colorized' B&W photograph. Dave

P.S. the final pic is the back of the house and the exit leading to the parking lot - this would have been part of the property in Mary's time where the out buildings, stables, and slave quarters were located.

Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of the sixteenth president of the United States, was born in Lexington, Kentucky, on December 13, 1818. The fourth of sixteen children, Mary was daughter to one of the town’s wealthier and more prominent men, Robert Smith Todd. A businessman and politician, Todd provided his children from two marriages with the social standing and material advantages Abraham Lincoln lacked in his own youth.

Although a town of less than seven thousand residents in the 1830s, Lexington was compared to Philadelphia and Boston in its wealth and cosmopolitan sophistication. Mary moved in the highest levels of Bluegrass society and acquired an extensive education from Frenchwoman Madame Charlotte Mentelle. At her father’s large home on Main Street, maintained by household slaves, Mary mingled with influential political guests. The most prominent of these was Senator Henry Clay, three-time presidential candidate and leader of the young Whig party. Clay, a family friend, resided less than two miles from the Todds. He once promised young Mary she would be among his first guests in Washington should he become president. Mary Todd’s path to the White House, however, ran in a different course (Source).

This simple two story brick building on West Main Street was home to Robert S. Todd and his family, including his daughter Mary, wife of the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Mary Todd was not born at this house but moved here with her family in 1832 when she was 14 years old. For four years Mary attended boarding school during the week but returned home on the weekends. She continued to live at the West Main address until 1839, when she moved to Springfield, Illinois, to live with her sister, Mrs. Ninian Edwards. It was here that she eventually married a young lawyer named Abraham Lincoln in 1842.

The house was built c.1803-1806 as an inn and was called "The Sign of the Green Tree" before its purchase by the Todd family. A contemporary of Henry Clay and John Wesley Hunt, Robert S. Todd was a Lexington businessman and politician. Todd was the president of the Lexington Branch of the Bank of Kentucky and also served in the Kentucky General Assembly for 24 years. He was actively involved in the grocery business in Lexington as well as a cotton-manufacturing firm (Source).

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[scifan57]

Lexington, Kentucky - Our Second Full Day

Our second day in the Lexington area was quite a varied experience: 1) Mary Todd Lincoln House in the downtown area on Main Street; 2) Woodford Reserve Distillery; and 3) Fasig-Tipton Yearling horse auction. We started out at 9 AM w/ a visit to the Mary Todd Lincoln House - the first quote below from the official house website w/ a little bio of Mary Todd and brief look at Lexington at that time. The house started out as an inn in the first decade of the 19th century (see second quote) before being purchased by Mary's father.

In the late 1840s, the now married Lincolns visited Lexington and stayed in the guest room (pic below). The bannister of the stairs to the second floor is original and can be touched by visitors (as it was when Mary was growing up in the house and of course by Abraham Lincoln on their visit). The house was scheduled for demolition but fortunately was saved and restored - what a loss that would have been - the pics are pretty self explanatory (most w/ labels) - the wedding picture of course is a 'colorized' B&W photograph. Dave

P.S. the final pic is the back of the house and the exit leading to the parking lot - this would have been part of the property in Mary's time where the out buildings, stables, and slave quarters were located.




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I'm glad the house was saved. Too many old buildings are demolished for the needs of the moment, without regard to the history that will be lost.

 

[giradman]

I'm glad the house was saved. Too many old buildings are demolished for the needs of the moment, without regard to the history that will be lost.

Agree! Some of my travelogues would be non-existent or much shorter w/o these many historic preservations.

For those interested - found a couple of more 'colorized' B&W photos of Mary Todd Lincoln - Dave
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[giradman]

Woodford Reserve Distillery

For our second stop, we drove west to the Woodford Reserve Distillery located in the beautiful Kentucky countryside w/ plenty of horse farms, fences, rolling hills, and horses of all kinds. This was our third distillery visit and my favorite - we even had headsets w/ ear buds to better hear the guide (these places can be quite noisy).

Some of the unique features of this operation include the use of limestone underground water, pot still distillation, and oak cooperage made on site. The 'mash bill' for their bourbons: Corn, 72%; Rye, 18%, & Malted Barley, 10%. Brief history below from their Wiki article - most of the pics are labeled and should be clear from the previous distillery discussions.

A light lunch of salads and sandwiches is available - we split two sandwiches which were quite good. The gift shop offers a variety of items, including clothing, glassware, chocolates (bourbon laced - Susan did buy a box), and of course their whiskeys (I bought the Double Oaked - aged twice in two new charred oak barrels); barrels (both new & old) are offered for sale (plenty of varied uses). Dave

The Woodford Reserve Distillery, formerly known as the Old Oscar Pepper Distillery and later the Labrot & Graham Distillery, is approximately eight miles from the town of Versailles off U.S. Route 60, between Interstate 64 and Versailles.

Distilling on the site began in 1780 and the distillery building itself was erected in 1838, making it the oldest of the nine bourbon distilleries in current operation in Kentucky as of 2010—although the site has not been continuously operational as a distillery during that history. In 1995 the distillery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 2000 it was designated a National Historic Landmark.

Originally established by Elijah Pepper, the distillery was passed on to his son and was known as the Oscar Pepper Distillery when Dr. James Crow worked there in the mid-19th century. During this time Dr. Crow went about a series of activities that improved and codified the understanding of, and quality of, key bourbon-making processes such as sour-mash fermentation, pot still distillation and barrel maturation. The Pepper family sold the property to Leopold Labrot and James Graham in 1878, who owned and operated it (except during Prohibition) until 1941 when it was sold to the Brown-Forman Corporation. B-F operated it until 1968 and then sold the then-mothballed property in 1971. Brown-Forman re-purchased the property in 1993 and refurbished it to bring it back into operation. The Woodford Reserve brand was introduced to the market in 1996 (Source).

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[scifan57]

Woodford Reserve Distillery

For our second stop, we drove west to the Woodford Reserve Distillery located in the beautiful Kentucky countryside w/ plenty of horse farms, fences, rolling hills, and horses of all kinds. This was our third distillery visit and my favorite - we even had headsets w/ ear buds to better hear the guide (these places can be quite noisy).

Some of the unique features of this operation include the use of limestone underground water, pot still distillation, and oak cooperage made on site. The 'mash bill' for their bourbons: Corn, 72%; Rye, 18%, & Malted Barley, 10%. Brief history below from their Wiki article - most of the pics are labeled and should be clear from the previous distillery discussions.

A light lunch of salads and sandwiches is available - we split two sandwiches which were quite good. The gift shop offers a variety of items, including clothing, glassware, chocolates (bourbon laced - Susan did buy a box), and of course their whiskeys (I bought the Double Oaked - aged twice in two new charred oak barrels); barrels (both new & old) are offered for sale (plenty of varied uses). Dave


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I like the combination of old and new technology in the production of the whiskey; the old style pot stills and wooden fermenting vats, combined with the latest in bottling equipment.

 

[giradman]

I like the combination of old and new technology in the production of the whiskey; the old style pot stills and wooden fermenting vats, combined with the latest in bottling equipment.

As already stated, this was my favorite distillery visit not only for the reasons you give above but for really a 'class act', which included a sit-down post-tour tasting room - couple more pics below of the tasting - two bourbons are pre-poured w/ a bourbon ball - the seating is U-shaped w/ the guide near the fire place giving commentary.

Oh, the copper stills were made in Scotland - Dave
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[giradman]

Fasig-Tipton Yearling Auction

After our visit to the Woodford Distillery, we headed back to Lexington via I-64 East, took the same exist as our hotel but headed north for five minutes to observe the yearling auction at the Fasig-Tipton complex which is basically across the street from the Kentucky Horse Park - a brief introduction below of the company which runs multiple auction houses - our guide from the tour the previous day recommended a visit but warned us if we sat in the auction room not to move, scratch, cough, etc., i.e. might be interpreted as a bid - YIKES!

We spent two hours there just observing - the fall yearling auction is a 4-day event w/ hundreds of horses up for sale although not all are sold - a huge catalog is published w/ much data on bloodlines, parents, and much more - the horses are paraded outside where we started, then moved to a covered area, and finally to a fancy inside auction arena w/ very comfortable seats - an auctioneer rattles off the bidding and a number of suited gentleman stand around the demonstration ring looking to the audience and checking for bids.

Below, the first two pics are the entrance and driveway to the huge parking areas - the third is an aerial satellite view of the property; the curved arrows are on the outside and covered viewing areas, while the other arrow is the main enclosed auction room (note all of the white stables, where the horses can also be evaluated).

The next three pics show the outside and the intermediate demonstration areas followed by three images of the entrance to the final enclosed auction hall where the horses are paraded and bids are placed - well dressed guys w/ 'pooper scoopers' are attentive to clean up after the horses, if needed -

And finally, the tallies from the 4-day auction this year - we attended on Oct 20 where just over 200 horses were sold - the total for the event was nearly $30,000,000 - WOW! In one of the auditorium pics, I put an arrow where we sat and did NOT move our arms, heads, or scratch our noses - There is probably a YouTube video of the auctioneer - will do a search - Dave

The Fasig-Tipton Company, Inc. is an auction house for Thoroughbred horses founded in 1898 by William B. Fasig and Edward A. Tipton. It is the oldest auction company of its kind in North America. Its first headquarters were in Madison Square Garden in New York, and Fasig-Tipton initially sold high-class road and carriage horses in addition to Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing stock.[1]

The company has offices in Lexington, Kentucky, Elkton, Maryland, Grand Prairie, Texas, Saratoga Springs, New York, and Ocala, Florida. In 2008, Fasig-Tipton Co. was purchased by Synergy Investments Ltd., a Dubai-based company headed by Abdulla Al Habbai (Source).

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[giradman]

Fasig-Tipton Lexington Auction Company - Videos

A couple of videos below - the first is just a 30-second 'trailer' for the October auction that we attended, but the second is from November 2012 where a horse called Havre de Grace was sold for $10,000,000 - WOW! The second video shows the auctioneer at work - this is FUN! Dave

 

[giradman]

Havre de Grace - $10,000,000 Philly (or Mare)

BOY, I had to do some research after watching that 2012 auction of Havre de Grace - below the beginning & end of her Wiki article (click the name for more, if interested); also a pic of her Wiki bio information - early last year she produced her first foal, also a filly - the horse is 8 years old and is now a mare (seems that 4 years of age is the name change for the ladies, based on the second quote below).

According to the second source, "A healthy, well-managed mare can produce a foal every year into her twenties"; SO, Havre de Grace may produce another 10 or more foals - maybe the initial auction cost will be a bargain, but who knows? Dave

Havre de Grace (foaled on May 12, 2007, in Kentucky) is an AmericanThoroughbredRacehorse who was 2011 American Horse of the Year.[1] During her racing career, she was owned by Fox Hill Farms and trained by J. Larry Jones. Her sire is the 2005 American Horse of the Year, Saint Liam. Her dam is the mare Easter Bunnette, a daughter of Carson City. Her name derives from the city and racetrack of Havre de Grace, Maryland.

2012: Fasig Tipton Horse Sale
On November 5, Havre de Grace was sold in the Fasig Tipton November Sale in Lexington, Kentucky, by Taylor Made Sales Agency. She was labeled as Hip #76 and sold for $10 million. Mandy Pope, Whisper Hill Farm, of Citra, Florida, was the high bidder. Havre de Grace was bred to Tapit in 2013. On February 7, 2014, she produced her first foalL a filly by Tapit.[2]

In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse age three and younger. In Thoroughbredhorse racing a mare is defined as a female horse more than four years old, but the word can also be used for other female equine animals, particularly mules and zebras, though a female donkey is usually called a "jenny." A broodmare is a mare used for breeding. A horse's female parent is known as its dam. (Source)

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[scifan57]

Havre de Grace - $10,000,000 Philly (or Mare)

BOY, I had to do some research after watching that 2012 auction of Havre de Grace - below the beginning & end of her Wiki article (click the name for more, if interested); also a pic of her Wiki bio information - early last year she produced her first foal, also a filly - the horse is 8 years old and is now a mare (seems that 4 years of age is the name change for the ladies, based on the second quote below).

According to the second source, "A healthy, well-managed mare can produce a foal every year into her twenties"; SO, Havre de Grace may produce another 10 or more foals - maybe the initial auction cost will be a bargain, but who knows? Dave




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

 

[The OB]

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.
Andrew