Pride of Kentucky

Tuesday, May 9…

Horses and bourbon - definitely been a Kentucky day!  This morning we were up early for an 8:30 tour of Keeneland, a beautiful track and horse sales facility west of Lexington. Impressive on many, many levels, but what we liked best was the spirit of the place. We paid a small fee (everything’s small compared to Biltmore, but this really was cheap) for a guided tour (early b/c that’s when the horses are being exercised), but anyone can visit the track at any time to watch the workouts, have a picnic, or whatever. It’s a top-tier track but a relatively small venue (8000 viewer capacity vs 50K at Churchill Downs), and the race-day entrance fee ranges from $5-$50 (uncovered benches to glass-fronted upper viewing w/ full buffet).

View from $50 section. (Turf track in
foreground; dirt track in front of that.)

Most of the track’s revenue is generated through sales – and we got to sit in the auction room. Horses – which may be runners or studs/mares – have gone for as little as $6K and as much as $13 million. Bidding appears anonymous. Several Keeneland “spotters” on the floor know the subtle bidding styles (scratching an ear, adjusting a tie…) of participants and relay these bids verbally to the auctioneer. Now that’s a job I’d never want!

Grandstand

Poetry in Motion

Dirt track... more than
meets the eye.

The dirt track is about 2 feet deep. The upper 6" is a mixture of sand (87%), clay and silt - much of it from the Kentucky River bottom. Under that is a high-tech drainage system so the horses virtually never run in mud. 

Other random facts...

1. 30% of all Thoroughbreds foaled in the U.S. each year are from Kentucky.

2. Kentucky horses account for 76% of Kentucky Derby winners, 75% of Breeders’ Cup winners, and 8 of the 11 winners of the Triple Crown.

3. It’s believed that Kentucky’s pure-filtered LIMESTONE water gives the state’s Thoroughbreds the competitive edge to reach the winner’s circle so frequently. 😃

After a forgettable lunch at Bojangles' (local chicken place), we headed even farther west to the Wild Turkey Distillery. I didn't follow all of the process, but just the size of the fermentation tanks is impressive. Everything is done onsite. We stood next to fermentation vats, and half a dozen warehouses hold barrels of aging bourbon. I skipped the tasting (not a taste I've ever acquired) but enjoyed the tour (and appreciated the effort that goes into creating the "perfect" blend).

Ingredients...

Fermentation tanks (very bubbly on top)

Sensory Lab (sniffing & tasting)

Aging (gracefully, of course)

Ready for bottling

View from the terrace (the RR bridge
is now a bungee platform)

Parting Thought... Kentucky’s LIMESTONE water is perfect for bourbon. It has a high pH, which promotes fermentation. The limestone adds minerals, like calcium. And it filters out impurities, most importantly iron, which gives liquor a bad taste.