LEXINGTON, Ky. -- When it comes to horses, history, hoops or hooch, Kentucky has few, if any, peers -- and visitors have plenty of interesting choices to check it all out.

One of the most popular places in the world for getting up close and personal looks at championship horses and viewing the most extensive equine museum in the world is the Kentucky Horse Park, just off Interstate 75 north of Lexington.

Kentucky Horse Park is an extensive complex offering visitors a chance to tour a museum which contains tens of thousands of exhibits and artifacts relating to horses, including data/photos/exhibits on the history of horses throughout the world.

Also, visitors can stroll through various horse barns and get nose-to-nose with some of the world's most famous horses (such as Cigar, one of racing's winningest horses, a multiple world champion), take buggy rides or horse drawn tours, or view numerous live performances.

The 1,200 acre park daily presents various shows, such as the Hall of Champions show, Parade of Breeds, Mare and Foal Show, Draft Horse Exodus, etc. In addition, visitors may take horse or pony trail rides, view the film "Thou Shalt Fly Without Wings" or tour horse farms.

Kentucky Horse Park is, indeed, a Disney World of Horses, providing answers to anything and everything one would ever want to know about horses.

Admission rates vary seasonally, but now through Oct. 31 fees are $15 for adults and $8 for children (ages 7-12, under 7 free). The park is located at exit 120 off Interstate 75 (for info 800-678-8813 or www.KyHorsePark.com). A campground is also available (800-370-6416).

Lexington bills itself as "The Horse Capital of the World" and few could argue that point.

In addition to the Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington is also home to two of the most famous horse race tracks in the world: Keeneland (thoroughbreds) and The Big Red Mile (harness).

Keeneland is located just west of Lexington across from the Lexington Blue Grass Airport on Versailles Road (U. S. 60). Keeneland has two racing seasons each year, with the spring season having opened April 4 and extending through April 25. The fall season runs Oct. 3-25. There is no racing on Mondays or Tuesdays. The picturesque track offers parklike conditions, with beautiful large trees and blooming plants providing an idyllic atmosphere.

The track provides huge covered grandstands, dozens of food venues and free or paid seating areas. There is also acres of free parking and numerous large TV sets placed throughout the seating areas for watching the races live and in replay. The first of 10 daily races is 1:15 p.m. each day.

Keeneland is also the home of the spring thoroughbred yearling sales, with horse buyers from around the world shelling out millions of dollars for hundreds of potential stakes winners.

The Big Red Mile track is located just off South Limestone Road in Lexington and offers racing May to June and September to October with post times at 12:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Admission and parking is free. For info: 859-255-0752 or www.theredmile.com

Of course, Lexington is surrounded by hundreds of large thoroughbred horse farms, offering unique pleasant scenery with miles and miles of roadside rock walls, planked fencing, huge colorful barns, mansionesque homes, large ponds and sleek horses grazing in pristine fields.

Lexington's renown as a center of the equine world really came to the forefront with the announcement the city will host the FEI World Equestrian Games in September 2010. This is the largest horse event in the world and is considered the Olympics of equine. Tens of thousands of people from around the world will be attending, with horses from numerous continents on hand to compete. The World Equestrian Games, held every four years, are comprised of the world championships for eight equestrian sports - show jumping, dressage, eventing, driving, reining, vaulting, endurance and para-equestrian. The inaugural games were held in 1990 in Stockholm, Sweden, and have never taken place outside of Europe. The 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky will represent the largest equestrian sporting event ever held in the United States.

If horses aren't your thing, visitors to the Lexington area have lots of other points of interest, particularly in regard to history, hoops and hooch.

The University of Kentucky is legendary in college basketball, with seven national championships. Visitors are invited to check out the Basketball Hall of Fame or view the famed Rupp Arena in downtown Lexington.

Visitors into history might enjoy touring some of the beautiful homes of such figures as Henry Clay or Mary Todd Lincoln, both within a handful of miles of each other off Lexington's Main Street.

President Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky and as a young lawyer married Mary Todd of Lexington. The couple spent several weeks at the Todd home in Lexington in their early married years and visitors can walk the steps Lincoln walked, sit where Lincoln sat, etc., in the beautifully restored home (filled with period furniture and many original home pieces). The home is the first restored home in America honoring a former First Lady. For info: 859-233-9999 or www.mtlhouse.org.

The 152-year-old Henry Clay home, Ashland, is in an area surrounded by beautiful stately old homes and contains many of the original home pieces and artifacts. Clay was one of America's most famous statesmen (senator, Secretary of State, Speaker of the House, etc.) and ran for U. S. president three times. For info: 859-266-8581 or www.henryclay.org.

As far as Lexington's hooch goes, the area is the home to four major bourbon distilleries and visitors may take a Bourbon Trail Tour covering them all if they wish. Kentucky is the producer of about 99 per cent of all the world's bourbon.

For those wanting to spend an overnight in the area, Lexington has dozens of hotels/motels in various price ranges. One of the more unique hotels in the downtown area is the Gratz Park Inn at 120 West Second St., just a block off Main Street and two blocks from Rupp Arena. This is a 41-room boutique hotel (with six luxury suites). Info: 859-231-1777 or www.gratzparkinn.com.

For more complete info on Lexington area attractions: 800-848-1224 or www.visitlex.com.

This story was published on 29 Apr 2008.