Visit Horse Country

Celebrating 40 Years of the Breeders' Cup with Living Legends It wasn't so long ago that the magnificent sire Gone West held court at Mill Ridge Farm near Lexington. From 22 crops, all while at Mill Ridge, he netted a mouth-watering 9% black-type winners from starters, including Breeders' Cup winners Da Hoss (twice), Johar, and Speightstown, all back in the days when the Breeders' Cup was still a single day and there were far fewer races. The son of Mr. Prospector passed away in 2009, but his influence on the...

Anne Sabatino Hardy, Visit Horse Country's first Executive Director, will be leaving that organization to transition to new opportunities in early 2022. Hardy will remain through the transition as the board of Horse Country searches for a new Executive Director. "The equine industry is vital to the tourism infrastructure of Lexington and Central Kentucky tourism," said Gathan Borden, Vice President of VisitLEX and Visit Horse Country Board Chair. "[Hardy] has been a tremendous asset in helping develop and grow Horse Country to where it is today. As we embark on...

Gathan Borden, the vice president of marketing for VisitLEX, Lexington's convention and visitor's bureau, has officially been named the new board president of Visit Horse Country. Borden succeeds founding board president Price H. Bell, Jr., who served in the position for the first seven years of the organization. "Visit Horse Country has been a game-changer for the Lexington tourism product," said Borden. "The outreach from the horse industry into the community has been powerful and has allowed us to truly share the Bluegrass in a way we never could before....

The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation and Oldham County Chamber of Commerce will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the TRF's newly minted sanctuary farm, Chestnut Hill, in Prospect, Kentucky, Tuesday beginning at 11 a.m. Chestnut Hill is the permanent home of 11 horses from the organization's national herd of nearly 500 retired Thoroughbred racehorses. Located on nearly 30 acres of historic farmland in Oldham County and featuring a beautiful farmhouse restored to serve as an event venue, Chestnut Hall has been created for the express purpose of connecting Thoroughbred horses to the...

Visit Horse Country, like many others, suffered a serious financial impact from the COVID-19 pandemic. Several members of the industry, such as Fasig-Tipton, Keeneland, the Breeders' Cup and The Jockey Club, stepped into help. However, Visit Horse Country has now partnered with the Bluegrass Community Foundation to launch a charitable fund supporting initiatives like services for TAA-accredited aftercare members of Horse Country which receive a complimentary membership; scholarship and field trip visits; community outreach such as Meet the Neighbors; and a new workforce development partnership with the Kentucky Chamber of...

Breeders' Cup's Christopher McNamara has been elected to the Visit Horse Country Board of Directors by vote of the sitting board. The senior vice president, corporate partnerships for Breeders' Cup, McNamara has a long professional history working in creative and strategic marketing in New York with Havas Life and then in Lexington, Kentucky at Cornett marketing agency. "Positive fan development for our industry is a shared goal of the Breeders' Cup and Horse Country," said McNamara. "I'm honored to be elected and look forward to getting started." McNamara joins Price...

New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program has become the 40th organization to join Visit Horse Country, formed in 2014 to promote Kentucky's rich Horse Country heritage. New Vocations will begin offering tours of its Mereworth Farm facility in April. Tour dates and times can be found here. "The program at New Vocations has long done great work with retraining and adoption; we're excited to partner with them in sharing that work with guests-seeing an off-track Thoroughbred being trained for a second career is inspiring," said Anne Sabatino Hardy, executive director of...

Anne Sabatino Hardy is Executive Director of Visit Horse Country I didn't grow up around horses, but I did grow up with a gambler. My dad liked Craps and Blackjack mostly, and played well. According to family legend, during a high school spring break trip to Las Vegas, one successful late-night Craps game was punctuated by "Annie needs a new prom dress!" I can't verify the story (my parents had standards, after all--I was relegated to the room), but indeed my first prom dress was secured during a visit to...