winter 2015 PracticeLink.com 65
T
here may be only one American city that can credit
its growth and prosperity to the color of its grass.
In fact, the Lexington area has a "triple threat"
of benefts, as University of Kentucky animal and food
sciences professor Laurie Lawrence explains. "A limestone-
based soil [produces] pasture grasses high in a balance of
calcium and phosphorus that provides an almost perfect
amount of [nutrition] for growing horses," she says. "The
climate is very amenable to grasses that do well, and we
have a long growing season. Horses can live outside for
a longer period of the year. The terrain is very rolling, so
they can get a lot of good exercise running up and down
the hills."
Currently there are 450 dedicated farms in the region,
including 150 in Lexington/Fayette County. (The two
governmental entities were consolidated in 1974.) Their
offspring join the world's best race competitors and
become preferred stallions in many another setting.
Today, Lexington's Keeneland Association track is
where some
of the world's
b e s t T h o r -
oughbreds run
for the money.
" W e a l s o
get the best
jockeys," says
communica-
tions associate
Amy Owens.
S h e c i t e s
t he bi g ge s t
fall race, the
million-dollar
Shadwell Turf
Mile, won in
2014 by Wise Dan, whose prize accumulation of $7.5
million made him the USA Horse of the Year. Many
millions of dollars also change hands four times a year
when Keeneland hosts the world's leading Thorough-
bred auction, attracting buyers from all 50 states and
50 countries.
Horse-related events crowd the local calendar and
PHOTO BY MARY LAWSON
A day at the Kentucky
Horse Park is one way
Robert Bratton, M.D.,
and his family enjoy life
in the Bluegrass State.
Horse capital of the world
Lexington, Ky.
Continued
Lexington's home to more than 150 horse farms.
Photo
by
David
Ohmer
