By Brenna Angel
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wuky/local-wuky-921502.mp3
LEXINGTON, Ky. – A winning thoroughbred race horse and even better sire is finally home in the city he was named for. The skeleton of "Lexington," considered one of history's greatest thoroughbreds, is now on loan from the Smithsonian to the International Museum of the Horse at the Kentucky Horse Park.
"He's going to anchor a brand new exhibit next spring that we'll have open next spring, basically talking about how Lexington did become the thoroughbred capital of the county, if not the world," says Bill Cooke, director of the International Museum of the Horse. "There's certainly no horse that's more fitting to center an exhibit around than Lexington."
Born in 1850, the horse won six of his seven races and sired more than 600 foals. A few years after his death, Lexington's remains were dug up and sent to the Smithsonian in Washington D.C., where they mainly sat in storage. Bill Cooke says it took 25 years of requests to get the skeleton back in Kentucky.