It’s probably already old news to the few regular readers here, but the World Equestrian Games are coming to Lexington. The FEI announced today that the Horse Park had won its bid to host the 2010 Games. It will be the first time the Games have ever been held outside of Europe. This is big news. People are throwing around numbers like an expected attendance of 300,000, but I’m not sure anybody really knows what kind of crowd they can draw on this continent.
It’s going to be interesting. I think it will be a tremendous boost to the local horse industry, far better than the morons who think giving the state to the Las Vegas Mafia will be beneficial. It should also make more people aware that racing isn’t the only thing that horses do in Kentucky. I have long thought it’s ironic that the alleged “horse capital of the world” is really less into recreational riding than a lot of other areas.
It could also be a logistical headache having that many tourists descend on our fair town for two weeks. At least we have 5 years to plan a strategy for coping with the masses. Of course, it’s already too late to ramp up Bourbon production, since the good stuff has to age far longer than that. I just have to hope that the tourists stick to the overmarketed swill like Maker’s Mark and don’t learn about the good stuff. With an inelastic supply, the demand could drive prices up. I’ll just have to stock up early.