The Bluegrass and Beyond

I was interviewed last week by Horse Radio Network, an Internet radio venture that is covering the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games and other horse sports for an international online audience.

Hosts Samantha Clark and Glenn “the Geek” Hebert talked with me and Niki Heichelbech of the Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau about Central Kentucky and what there will be for Games visitors to see and do while they’re here.

You can listen to the show by clicking here.

There’s no zealot like a convert, and when it comes to believing in Kentucky’s potential, there’s none like Pearse Lyons.

The energetic Irishman, who moved to Lexington three decades ago and built his Alltech nutrition supplement company into a global giant, has a few thoughts about how the future could shine brighter on his new Kentucky home.

Lyons shared some of those thoughts Thursday with the Lexington Forum, telling the monthly gathering of business folks that the keys are education, innovation and building on Kentucky’s existing strengths and resources.

Lyons hopes to showcase many of those resources next fall, when his company sponsors the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games at the Kentucky Horse Park.

But he’s getting a head start in Britain this month at the Alltech FEI European Jumping and Dressage Championships, Aug. 25-30.

More than 60,000 spectators and 150 competitors from 32 nations are expected to attend the games at Windsor Castle. One thing they’ll find, a short walk from the arena, is a Kentucky oasis.

The Alltech Kentucky Village, a tented area inside a white-plank fence, will give visitors a literal taste of Kentucky: burgoo, hot Browns, Maker’s Mark bourbon, Dippin’ Dots ice cream and, of course, Alltech’s Kentucky Ale and Bourbon Barrel Ale.

Everett McCorvey from the University of Kentucky’s Opera Theatre program will direct a vocal ensemble. There also will be displays promoting Kentucky tourism and products.

Muhammad Ali and Pearse Lyons announced creation of the Alltech Muhammad Ali Center Global Education and Charitable Fund in Lexington in May. Alltech Photo

Lyons is taking Muhammad Ali to Windsor, thanks to the Alltech-Muhammad Ali Center Global Education and Charitable Fund. After that, Lyons and Ali head to Dublin for a fund-raising dinner and a visit to the Irish town one of Ali’s great-grandfathers left for America in the mid-1800s.

Lyons said he gets dizzy sometimes thinking about how an Irish lad of modest means could grow up to earn a Ph.D. and create a company with annual revenues of $500 million and a 35 percent profit margin — much less hobnob with people such as Ali and Queen Elizabeth II.

It all came down to education, entrepreneurship and taking advantage of opportunities. The same formula can work for Kentucky, too, he told the Lexington Forum.

Lyons noted that Kentucky and Ireland have many similarities. They’re both beautiful, mainly rural places with about 4 million people, rich heritage and a history of seeing their smart young people leave for opportunities elsewhere.

Ireland reversed its fortunes by focusing on education and innovation, and Kentucky can do the same.

This time of economic transition is when Kentucky should look for new opportunities and new ways of doing things, Lyons said.

For example, Kentucky should neither ignore its rich coal reserves, nor expect to continue mining and burning coal the old way, given environmental concerns and climate change. Instead, he said, Kentucky should be at the forefront of figuring out how to make coal more valuable “within the new rules and regulations.”

One way to do that is by focusing on carbon-capture research. Lyons thinks one solution could be algae — the fast-growing slime that produces two-thirds of the world’s oxygen by soaking up carbon dioxide.

Another opportunity is aquaculture, because Kentucky has enormous reserves of fresh water, much of it underground.

“Fish is an incredible opportunity for Kentucky,” he said. “Where the poultry industry is today, the fish industry will be tomorrow.”

Algae and aquaculture are two of many things Alltech researchers are working on.

“The possibilities for innovation are enormous,” Lyons said. But innovation requires education.

Lyons said Kentucky universities must develop programs that will retain the state’s own students and attract those from elsewhere. And he challenged Kentucky businesses to invest in education.

He said Alltech donates laboratories to schools and pays graduate students to earn Ph.D.s, do research for the company and stay in Kentucky after graduation.

While looking for new opportunities, Kentucky should continue developing signature industries such as bourbon and horses that already have infrastructure and international reputations. For example, one thing that led Alltech to develop its popular Bourbon Barrel Ale was Kentucky’s ready supply of used bourbon barrels.

Along with more focus on education, Lyons said, Kentucky needs leaders.

“The leader’s job is to bring uncertainty out and certainty in,” he said. “That’s what our state needs. Because in 20 years’ time the whole world is going to change. Which way? I’m not sure. But it’s going to change. And please God it will change, because therein lies our opportunity.”

Jamie Link may be the chief executive officer of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, but when it comes to riding horses, he’s a novice.

So when he and other top Games officials recently saddled up to see part of the 100-mile endurance course being mapped out across farms surrounding the Kentucky Horse Park, Link was given a horse with two names.

One name was Rocket, which Link used frequently and emphatically as he maneuvered well alongside his more-experienced colleagues.

Others called his golden mount by a name indicating a more gentle nature, Buttercup.

This was a slow, four-mile ride over beautiful Mt. Brilliant Farm. But everyone was thinking about what it would be like for more than 80 competitors who will gallop over it in a day-long race against the clock on Sept. 26, 2010.

Endurance racing will be one of the most high-profile of the Games’ eight disciplines, for a couple of reasons.

The race is scheduled for the second of the 16 days of competition and will be featured prominently, along with a recap of opening ceremonies, on NBC Sports’ first hour-long telecast of the Games.

That show has the potential to be a spectacular video postcard for Central Kentucky’s horse country — not to mention the glamour of the Games.

But because the endurance race is so demanding, any televised deaths or serious injuries to horses have the potential to damage the reputation of equine sports in the eyes of a skeptical public.

The 100-mile course will consist of six loops of between 10 and 25 miles each, beginning and ending at the Horse Park’s Forego polo field. The section of the course officials rode recently — over hills, through valleys and across creeks — is part of the most demanding loop.

“This is the tactical loop,” said Emmett Ross, the endurance discipline manager for the Games who has been working for months to design the course. “This is going to take the pee and vinegar out of them.”

The safety of horses and riders is the major consideration in how the endurance course is designed, and how the race is managed, Ross said.

Safety has become a big issue since two horses died in the 2002 World Equestrian Games’ endurance race in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, and one died two days after falling ill during the 2006 Games’ race in Aachen, Germany.

Horses will be checked by veterinarians at six stops during the 100-mile race, and any showing signs of dangerous stress won’t be allowed to continue. Only 40 percent of the horses finished the race in Aachen, and Ross expects a similar percentage here.

The race also is taxing on riders, who could range in age from 14 to almost 70. Among the most serious competitors will be Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Dubai ruler and frequent Lexington visitor better known for his involvement in thoroughbred racing.

Games officials met for their ride near Man O’ War’s old barn on Mt. Brilliant. They wanted to see the route, evaluate the topography and check the ground’s footing, which they said was excellent on that sunny morning despite recent rain.

Riding with Link were Games Chairman John Long, board members Alston Kerr and Becky Jordan, Horse Park President John Nicholson and staff member Todd Waronicki. I bounced around in the back of a pickup truck with two Games staffers. The group followed an all-terrain vehicle driven by Ross, who seems to have been preparing for this job his entire career.

As a rider, Ross won Fédération Equestre Internationale endurance events in nine countries and was a gold medal team member in the first North American Championships. He has spent two decades as a trainer, organizer, manager and consultant for endurance events, including the 1984 and 1996 Olympics.

Aside from his knowledge of endurance riding, Ross seems to be an accomplished diplomat. He has reached agreement with 27 owners of more than 60 parcels of land on thoroughbred, standardbred, corn and tobacco farms.

During the actual race, only event staff members, about 300 volunteers and some media will be allowed on the course beyond the Horse Park; others must watch on big video screens at the park.

The course, which will be marked off with classic Kentucky tobacco sticks, will cross roads 14 times as it runs through such famous farms as Elmendorf, Dixiana, Walnut Hall and Castleton Lyons. With leaves in full fall color, the sun rising as the race begins and setting as it ends, it should make for a spectacular scene.

The course will get its first test this Oct. 14, when 75-mile and 100-mile Kentucky Cup races are held. Ross joked that the beauty of the course could be a handicap for competitors: “I think some of them may get to looking at the scenery and just stop.”