Beyond the Stone Fences of MacKlenna Farm

MacKlenna Farm in THE RUBY BROOCH, THE LAST MACKLENNA, and THE SAPPHIRE BROOCH is a creation of my imagination, but farms in Central Kentucky were models for my fictional farm. Three in particular are Calumet, Donamire, and Three Chimneys.

Flying into Lexington you fly over Calumet. The farm has a record history of Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown winners and continues to be unmatched worldwide.

Calumet Farm

A few miles from Calumet, down historic Frankfort Pike, you’ll find

Donamire Farm and Three Chimneys Farm

Donamire Farm

Three Chimneys

All of these farms have horses racing at Keeneland Race Course. Keeneland held its first racing meeting in 1936. Today the facility is a unique combination of Thoroughbred race course and sales company. On it's 921 acres, you'll find a race course, sales pavilion, more than 46 barns that can house more than 1,600 horses, five dining rooms and one clubhouse. Meetings are held in April and October.

This is my friend,
Erin McMahon Rock (left),
exercising a horse at Keeneland.
She was my expert for Kit's racing scene at Ft. Laramie.

The Run the Bluegrass Half-Marathon course started and ended at Keeneland and traversed Old Frankfort Pike. Beauty abounded and made running 13.1 miles on a spring morning memorable.

I hope you've enjoyed your horse farm tour.

Happy writing and running, Kathy