I’ll be making a roadtrip from SC to CO next week. My BF suggested we stop in Lexington and do a farm tour (he’s a keeper!). We will have limited time so I’d love to get input on what yall think is the best. I’ve looked at Lane’s End and Claiborne. Any others?
TIA! 
Three Chimneys!
I’ll second the suggestion of Three Chimneys. Beautiful farm, informative tour, fabulous stallions including Big Brown. I like that their stallions get ridden of the horse enjoys it, each stallion has a big grassy paddock and the staff if happy to share stories about each stallion. On my tour we got to witness a breeding too.
Spent a nice week in Lexington a couple of years ago. Three Chimneys was great. But also available, but not really promoted, and just jaw dropping in stallions to stare at, is Darley. Called them up expecting them to say they didn’t do tours, and to the contrary, they were very friendly. One of my favorite moments looking at Street Cry in a paddock next to Medalgia D’Oro - wondered if they ever talked about their girls. 
Also Bernardini, Hard Spun, Elusive Quality. Sigh… 
And some jaw dropping Eclipse award and other trophies in the “front office”.
I lived in Lexington for 20 years. There is a company that does horse farm tours. A call to the Chamber of Commerce should get you the number but a internet search should provide the same. Depending on the time of year most farm are very accommodating when called. But I do work in the industry so might have been treated a bit differently. Wouldn’t hurt to call the farms you’re interested in and ask. My suggestions would be Claiborne first, storied and traditional, Ashford Stud was always very accommodating, Lanes End, Winstar which has become the “up and comer” and has built an incredible new facility in the last 10 years, 3 Chimneys, Hill N Dale, Darley Stud to name a few.
If you are capable of telling a “white lie” call and tell them you are thinking about getting in the breeding business and that should open doors. No ones knows where the next “big money” will come from and are plenty eager to get a foot hold. You never know you may hit the lottery big so you might as well have plans.
Bear in mind that this time of year many of the stallions you might be looking forward to seeing have either already shuttled to the southern hemisphere or in quaratine to leave. So you should probably ask about availability of stallions when you book your farm tours.
In 2006, I did a farm tour set up by the Ky Horse Park. We stopped at WinStar and one other (can’t recall which because I did a couple other farms on my own). I was thrilled that WinStar was on the schedule, because Tiznow is my fav fav fav, and I got to hug him. The tour was well done, and we had a lunch stop midway.
Lane’s End and Three Chimneys were wonderful too.
[QUOTE=Lamb Chop;7097875]
In 2006, I did a farm tour set up by the Ky Horse Park. We stopped at WinStar and one other (can’t recall which because I did a couple other farms on my own). I was thrilled that WinStar was on the schedule, because Tiznow is my fav fav fav, and I got to hug him. The tour was well done, and we had a lunch stop midway.
Lane’s End and Three Chimneys were wonderful too.[/QUOTE]
I took the same tour and loved it. Saw Tiznow in action too!! lol
stopped at Keeneland as well and I don’t remember the name of the other farm either. It was smaller but very nice… and the tour guide/bus driver was terrific!
I think we’re gonna do Lane’s End. They emailed me back right away and me and the bf are huge Curlin fans! Unfortunately due to time constraints we’ll only be able to do one tour. We have 3 days to drive 2,000 miles
[QUOTE=dani0303;7098413]
I think we’re gonna do Lane’s End. They emailed me back right away and me and the bf are huge Curlin fans! Unfortunately due to time constraints we’ll only be able to do one tour. We have 3 days to drive 2,000 miles ;)[/QUOTE]
IMO, you picked a good one. Give my regards to Pleasantly Perfect. You might even have a chance to pose with AP Indy, if they are still bringing him out for adoration.
An etiquette question - I’m going to Claiborne next weekend, what is the appropriate tip amount given to the handlers - anyone?
A few years ago, I toured several farms. I usually tipped $10 or $20 depending on how good the tour was and how much I liked the person giving the tour. I gave $30 to the guy at Adena Springs because he was super nice and spent a lot of time with us and showed us almost all of the stallions (we didn’t ask to see that many…he just wanted to show them to us).
I went to Claiborne and there were some other people on my tour and I was the only one who tipped. I could tell the groom appreciated it.
Enjoy the tour! You can feel the history when you are at Claiborne.
[QUOTE=ravenclaw;7227647]
A few years ago, I toured several farms. …
I went to Claiborne and there were some other people on my tour and I was the only one who tipped. I could tell the groom appreciated it.
Enjoy the tour! You can feel the history when you are at Claiborne.[/QUOTE]
Thanks ravenclaw for that insight! It should be a good time and hopefully the weather will cooperate the whole weekend long for racing and pictures.
[QUOTE=Glimmerglass;7227580]
An etiquette question - I’m going to Claiborne next weekend, what is the appropriate tip amount given to the handlers - anyone?[/QUOTE]
What are the odds? I have a tour at Claiborne next weekend, too. It’ll be my second tour there. The first was a few years ago, and this time I am going with the hope of meeting Flatter, who sired my new mare. (She is an iron horse - 58 starts over 6 years on the track.)
We don’t go on tours (so the etiquette may be different) but we usually give the groom $5-10 depending on how many stallions we see.
Worth sharing here is this high quality promo video that’s worth a look:
2013 Video by Lexington, KY-based Cornett-IMS for Lane’s End (4 min 20 sec)
Glimmerglass, how was your tour?
Just saw this thread had popped back up. We loved our tour at Lanes End and I felt super lucky to be able to hug Union Rags and pose with AP Indy. All of their horses were gorgeous and friendly and certainly seemed to enjoy the attention. The Factor was putting on a show and racing around his pasture. Aja was the groom and we tipped him $15
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