Bookpleasures.com is pleased to introduce our guest today, Kim Wickens, who is passionate about the legal world and the equestrian realm. Kim is not only an accomplished lawyer but also a dedicated dressage rider. 

However, what sets her apart is her deep fascination with a legendary horse that has left a significant mark on the world of Thoroughbred racing.

When Kim discovered that an astonishing twelve out of thirteen Triple Crown winners in Thoroughbred racing history descended from one exceptional stallion named Lexington, her curiosity was piqued. 

This discovery sparked years of meticulous research, during which Kim delved into the horse’s captivating legacy. 

Today, we have the privilege of exploring the pages of her absorbing and exciting account, Lexington: The Extraordinary Life and Turbulent Times of America’s Legendary Racehorse, which takes us on a journey back to the raucous beginnings of American horse racing and introduces us to the magnificent stallion at the very heart of this incredible story. 

So, without further ado, let’s dive into the world of Kim Wickens and her remarkable work. 

Welcome, Kim.

Norm: What initially drew you to the story of Lexington, and what inspired you to write a book about this legendary racehorse?

Kim: I was reading a book about the horse Man o’ War and the authors compared him a nineteenth century horse named Lexington.

They said Man o’ War was to the twentieth century what Lexington was to the nineteenth. To paraphrase, “They both had an indescribable quality of greatness that lifted those who saw them out of their ordinary lives and made them aware they had witnessed something they would never forget.”

I had never heard of Lexington, but was intrigued that he was considered as great, if not greater, than Man o’ War who I then thought was the best horse who ever ran.

I decided to dig deeper and discovered that there was no book about Lexington at that time.  

Norm: Lexington was a pivotal figure in the early days of American horse racing. Can you describe the research process you undertook to bring his story to life?

Kim: It was important to me to use primary sources where possible. In some cases, only secondary sources existed, but relying solely on secondary sources is a dangerous proposition.

You are limited to that author’s interpretation of history, and what if that author drew an incorrect conclusion or a conclusion that would have been completely different from mine if I had known facts that the author thought irrelevant or thought to exclude?

So, I tried very hard to hunt down primary sources. In this case, those sources were newspaper articles of the day from a wide array periodicals and locales, court martial trial transcripts from the National Archives, as well as other various documents there, exhibit files from the Smithsonian Institute, archival material from historical societies, including hand-written letters, stud farm records, bank ledgers, diaries, and eyewitness hand-written accounts.

I also relied on records from the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, as well as genealogy records. I found documents scattered throughout Kentucky, Virginia, New Orleans, and New York.

I also obtained archival material from Yale University, the University of Kentucky, and the Louisiana State University.

I even commissioned the Jockey Club to run a database search, which they had to write, to track down all the graded stakes winning horses over a span of twenty years who contained crosses of Lexington in their pedigree. 

Norm: Lexington had a remarkable career as a racehorse, shattering world speed records. Can you share some of the most captivating moments from his racing days that you uncovered during your research?

Kim: Horses of that era ran heat races that could consist of anywhere from one to four miles. Four miles was the upper echelon of racing. Not every horse could compete at four miles.

Some only ran one mile heat races. If the race was a four-mile heat, horses ran four miles, took a forty-five-minute cool down break, and then ran another four miles.

The process repeated until a single horse won two heats. These races were supreme tests of stamina, as well as speed.

Horses were trained and bred differently then, more to endure. Lexington had an abundance of courage and willpower, as well as an incredible physical ability, that enabled him to excel at this strenuous level of racing.

He had what was then referred to as “bottom.”

Norm: Lexington’s impact on Thoroughbred racing is remarkable, having been America’s leading sire sixteen times. What were the key factors that contributed to his extraordinary success as a sire?

Kim: Hands down, Lexington was owned by an ingenious man with incredible foresight. Not every stallion is a great stallion, and Lexington obviously possessed superb qualities that he was able to pass down to the generations. 

But I believe that Lexington was such a success because of the way he was bred.

 Robert A. Alexander, who bought Lexington to stand stud at his burgeoning Woodburn Farm in Kentucky, was meticulous about the breeding practices at Woodburn, choosing only authenticated pedigreed mares, and mares who had proven themselves either on the race course or at stud, to breed to his stallions, primarily Lexington. Alexander also sought mares who were sired by proven racehorses. 

Alexander’s crossings were judicious and well-thought. He bred speed to stamina and produced some of the greatest horses then known, including the mighty Lexington-sired Cincinnati, General Ulysses S. Grant’s favored war horse. 

Alexander was very careful not to over-breed Lexington, and later, limited the horse as a private stallion to his farm. Lexington became a premier sire in part because of the strength of his ability to pass those traits down, but also primarily because of the man in charge of his breeding.  

Norm: Can you share some insights into Lexington's challenges and adversities during his time as a racehorse, particularly his deteriorating eyesight?

Kim: After only two races, Lexington’s vision started to deteriorate likely due to a corn binging, followed by a strenuous workout.

He likely developed endotoxemia which impacted his eyes and made him more susceptible to what we now know as Equine Recurrent Uveitis, or ERU.

Initially, Lexington lost complete vision to his right eye and had recurrent bouts of painful inflammation that impacted his left eye until he went completely blind.

He raced five more races, breaking a world speed record in the process that had stood for one hundred years, under these conditions. Four-mile heat racing required a horse to have an extreme amount of courage and stamina.

Even more so for Lexington in order to run these amazing feats with partial loss of vision and what was slowly becoming, complete loss of vision. 

Norm: The Civil War was a turbulent period in American history. How did the war impact Lexington’s life and his years at a Kentucky stud farm?

Kim: Kentucky, being a neutral state at the war’s onset, was torn. The state was rife with factions of guerrilla bands who wrought havoc across the land. Thievery was the order of the day.

No one was safe. For cavalry, and these thieving bands, a good horse meant more than the Colt revolver strapped to their belts. A fast and courageous horse could carry a soldier out of the fray and to safer ground.

Woodburn Farm, where Lexington stood stud, was  prime taking, stocked with exactly the type of horses these men sought.

The farm was raided three times by Confederate guerrilla factions seeking prized horses, some for ransom, and some for their war-cloaked uprisings.

What occurred at Woodburn Farm was a microcosm of the terrors and atrocities occurring in agrarian society throughout Kentucky.

Eventually, things got so bad for Alexander and Woodburn Farm, that he feared he would lose Lexington and his horses—his dream—forever.

Legend has it that he secreted his prized Lexington and fifty other Thoroughbreds onto a train in the dead of night and shipped them to Louisville where they were loaded on barges and crossed the Ohio River to the safety of Illinois, where Alexander owned another farm. They remained there until war’s end. 

Norm: In your book, you transport readers back to the early days of American horse racing. What were some of the most surprising or intriguing aspects of this era that you discovered during your research?

Kim: I absolutely loved researching this era. I sifted page-by-page through the sporting periodicals of that time, housed at the Keeneland Library.

The people of that era were incredibly funny, as well as polished to a high order. The fashions, eateries, customs, manners, and language was decadent.

But I was surprised to learn that sexual matters were much more hinted at publicly than I otherwise would have thought (usually in the humorous pieces).

I was also surprised to learn of the cross-dressing Confederate guerrilla named Marcellus Jerome Clarke or “Sue Mundy.” Clarke was an all-out gunslinging rebel and a hardcore and daring guerrilla leader.

He also wore women’s clothing and this in no way impacted the respect he earned from his guerrilla band.

Women also seemed to have more of an impact than I suspected, and were in fact, given a voice at the Metairie Race Course where Lexington ran.

Of course, this was an era of slavery and reading a bounty ad for a run-away slave next to an ad promising great wages for hired help was an odd and troubling juxtaposition.

In some of the court-martial trial testimony, lawyers fought like mad to exclude testimony from Black enslaved or freed men on the basis they were not deemed credible.  

Norm: What lessons or insights did you gain from your deep dive into the history of American horse racing and Lexington’s role in it?

Kim: These were a resilient people and one resilient horse. The people in Lexington’s life were trailblazers who set out to accomplish what hadn’t been done. The biggest lesson I learned, which is referenced below, is to persevere.  

Norm: How do you see Lexington’s influence on modern Thoroughbred breeding and horse racing in the United States today?

Kim: Horse racing was tough then, no doubt. We might even see it as cruel compared to the shorter distances we see horses run today. But it served a purpose then much different from what we have now.

Horses were the right-arm of man, and horse racing was more about testing horses to prove breeding methods and the impact of those improvements.

In other words, were they making better horses for everyday purposes? Over time, the stamina races of Lexington’s day shifted to sprints or much shorter races which favored speed.

Horses now are bred primarily for speed. Lexington today would be considered slow. Woodburn Farm became the premier breeding farm in the country, and some people would argue the world, during Lexington’s reign.

That success is due largely to Alexander and Lexington. Alexander’s requirements for authenticated pedigrees of mares became the basis for the American Stud Book now maintained by the Jockey Club, and his judicious breeding methods and annual auction sales are now replicated in Central Kentucky, the Thoroughbred breeding capital of the world.

Lexington’s blood was so potent that the first twenty winners of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont, as well as other notable races, traced directly to Lexington within one to two generations.

Without Lexington, we would not have a Domino, Northern Dancer, Mr. Prospector, or some of the key sires that have formed the modern American Thoroughbred. Lexington was America’s foundation sire.

Norm: Where can our readers learn more about you and your book?

Kim My WEBSITE, designed by the fabulous duo who call themselves Being Wicked. I’m also on Instagram at kwick700, Twitter @WickensKim and Facebook at Kim Wickens-author.

Norm: Finally, as an author and equestrian yourself, what do you hope readers will take away from “Lexington” after reading about the life and times of this remarkable racehorse?

Kim: Perseverance. Lexington and his two owners, Richard Ten Broeck and Robert Alexander, all suffered setbacks and losses in their pioneering quests.

They succeeded against the odds because they kept going. Believe in yourself. Never give up.

Norm: Thanks once again, and good luck with all of your endeavors.