Lexington Audioguides

Lexington sits at the center of the Bluegrass Region, a stretch of central Kentucky where the limestone-rich soil grows grass that is genuinely blue-tinged in early spring. That same limestone filters the water, which in turn shapes the flavor of the bourbon distilled across the surrounding countryside. The connection between land and product here is unusually direct, and it runs through everything.

The horse industry is not background color in Lexington, it is the foreground.

Keeneland Race Course, opened in 1936, holds its spring and fall meets with a formality and quiet that sets it apart from flashier tracks. Walking the paddock before a race, you are standing among some of the most expensive animals on earth, and nobody is making a fuss about it. The Kentucky Horse Park north of the city doubles as a working farm and a museum of equine history, spanning breeds from Clydesdales to racing champions.