We spent two nights in Lexington at the Clairion Motel. We had never stayed at one of these and we found it to be very nice. They had the largest indoor pool and hot tub of any place we have seen! Had to jump in 3 or 4 times just to make sure! Also, Debby pulled her magic, again, and saved us $120 by getting the "Manager's Special" rate and flashing a $20 coupon she snagged off the travel rack at the last interstate Rest Area we stopped at! Nice!
We grabbed a tour the next afternoon and visited some horse ranches and a local race track. We got to see prize winning horses, horse barns, ranch houses, beautifully manicured horse ranches and a race track. Our guide was very knowledgable and knew the best places to go. We were in a mini van with only one other couple so it was a great way to tour!
We learned more about horses and breeding in two hours than we probably wanted to know. This is a big money business. It takes a lot to have a prize winning business. Ben, our guide, said that if you want to make a million dollars on horses, you need to start out with about 14 million, spending most of it on getting to the point where you have a winner that can make you a million!
To be a Thoroughbred Breed, one has to be able to trace its pedigree back to one of the three stallions of Arabian, Turkoman or Barb descent, that were imported back in the 17th century.
Breeding fees, if you want to try your hand at creating a winning horse, like SUPER SAVER, DROSSELMEYER, COLONEL JOHN, or MORE THAN READY, can set you back a few dollars. Fees run anywhere from $20,000 to $75,000 per "date". You could skip all that and go directly to buying a horse. They start at about $500,000 for yearlings that have never raced. I suppose that's why poor boys just go to the races, slap down $2 on the barrel head, on a long shot, and hope for Lady Luck to shine on them. Or they could spend the $2 on a hot dog!
Now that's horse sense!
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