BreyerFest 2026 — Kentucky

• 🎟️ Tickets Master QR code in hand (order #1140779) — one QR covers our whole group. Present at admission + each model-redemption stop. Texted to Chase + Evelyn Thu night. Backup: re-download from Leap's site (leapevents.com). Also register a FREE account on BreyerHorses.com with the ticket-purchase email for the live broadcast/stream.
• 🥵 Heat KY is brutally hot in July. Hydrate, sunscreen, hats; veterans bring personal misting devices. Water sold onsite or BYO. Misting fans in many tents. Leave pets at home.
• 👟 Wear Good walking shoes — closed-toe recommended (you'll be near live animals + varied terrain). Dress comfortably.
• 💳 Cashless Breyer sales are cash-free (+ 6% KY sales tax). Reverse-ATM kiosks convert cash → a free prepaid ReadyCard Visa if needed. Bring a card.
• 🎠 Included International Museum of the Horse + the Breeds Barn are included with tickets — both are on the Sunday plan; don't skip them.
• 📱 Nav Download the BreyerFest 2026 app (App Store / Google Play) for the schedule + map. Also: BreyerFest Blog (Wild Card model updates), First Timer's Guide, and the printed program.

Pulled from Breyer's official "Know Before You Go" email (6/30). I'll keep watching Gmail for further BreyerFest updates and add anything actionable here.

• 4:36 PM FlightDL 2599 MSN → ATL (arrive 7:59 PM)
• 8:48 PM FlightDL 3082 ATL → LEX (arrive 10:04 PM)
• 10:30 PM Pick up rental car (per National conf #2113107140 at 11:30p), check in at The Manchester
• 11:00 PM BarGranddam bar nightcap (open till 11 PM)
  Welcome-to-KY drink + small bite if appetite (oysters, charcuterie). Lost Palm rooftop is adult-only if Reid Sr + Gloria want their own moment.

• 6:30 AM HorsesKeeneland visit — morning workouts + grounds (FREE)
  Full Keeneland stop, not just a drive-by. Thoroughbreds train on the actual race track 6–10 AM year-round — earliest = best horses + best light. Track Kitchen serves the legendary $5 trainers'-and-grooms' breakfast (cash). After breakfast, walk the grounds — the paddock, the saddling barns, the manicured Keeneland Library & sales pavilion — and hit the gift shop. No live racing in July (meets are Apr & Oct), so this is the way to "do" Keeneland in summer. ~12 min from the Manchester.
• 8:30 AM Drive Lex → Frankfort (~30 min)
• 10:00 AM Buffalo TraceBuffalo Trace FREE Trace Tour — 75 min • QR CODE IN HAND 📱
  Booked via The Manchester concierge (5/20), QR tickets received (5/22). #1 family-friendly distillery — home of Pappy, Blanton's, Eagle Rare. Tour ends ~11:15 AM, then daily allocated-bottle drawing + gift shop.
• 11:30 AM LunchFirehouse Sandwich Stop (Buffalo Trace grounds) — 30 min
  Fastest option: eat on-site right after the tour. Saves the drive back into Frankfort downtown.
• 12:00 PM Rebecca Ruth Candy Factory (116 E 2nd St, Frankfort)
  Inventor of the bourbon ball (since 1919). 30-min tour, kids watch candy made + samples. 10/10 kid-friendliness.
• 12:40 PM Drive Frankfort → Hagyard (~45 min)
• 1:30 PM HorsesHagyard Equine Medical Institute — 90-min tour • CONFIRMED B61F52
  World's oldest equine hospital. 4250 Iron Works Pike. Surgery suite, ICU, neonatal — Evelyn-anchor activity for a future vet. 3 adults + 1 child, $133.40 paid (booked 4/11/26).
• 3:05 PM Drive next door to KY Horse Park (~5 min — same road as Hagyard)
• 3:15 PM BreyerFestBreyerFest — model pickup + Vendor Marketplace
  Friday hours 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM (BreyerFest Store opens 11 AM). Models are reserved — no lines necessary. Pick up at the VIP Tent (VIP tickets) or Event Model Handout (other tickets). Browse the Store + Vendor Marketplace, peek at the Covered Arena guest horses. ~1.5 hr is plenty.
• 5:00 PM BreyerFest closes — back to Manchester to freshen up (~15 min)
• 6:30 PM DinnerCole's 735 Main — with the Binzels (if available)
  Family favorite, been before — Dad asked to return for one night with the Binzels (email 5/24). Mom is reaching out to confirm. 735 E Main St, Lex • Chef Cole Arimes, Lexington native. First-timer order: jalapeño hoecakes → bone-in pork chop or diver scallops → warm chocolate-chip cookies. Ask for the front room. ~$80–100/pp; 3% CC surcharge. ~8 min drive from Manchester. Reserve OpenTable.

Horse Country / Taylor Made dropped from Friday — BreyerFest pickup takes that slot. Castle & Key moved to the Sun bourbon sweep. Thoroughbred-farm experience now comes via the Sat 7:15 AM Churchill Downs Workout Tour.

• 9–11 AM FREEMorning classes — free admission
  The easy win: world-class Saddlebreds, free, in the same parking lot you're already in for BreyerFest. Pop over Thu 7/9 or Fri 7/10 morning. No tickets needed.
• 7–10:30 PM $15Evening session — the marquee spectacle
  Lit-stadium five-gaited atmosphere. $15 general admission (kids under 2 free); box/reserved seats available at the gate. Best night to catch if you want the full show — Thu 7/9 or Fri 7/10 (Sat 7/11 is Family Day + the Five-Gaited Stake championship, but we're in Louisville that day).
• Bonus The LJL runs at the same venue as BreyerFest — Evelyn can pop over to the FREE 9–11 AM saddlebred classes on a BreyerFest day for a bonus horse fix.

Nightly themes: Mon Legacy · Tue Local Heroes · Wed Funded Agency · Thu Paint the Park Pink · Fri Arts & Culture · Sat Family Day. Box-seat pricing isn't published online — confirm at the gate.

• 5:30 AM Leave the Manchester — drive Lex → Louisville (~75 min)
• 7:15 AM HorsesThoroughbred Workout Tour @ Churchill Downs • ✅ CONFIRMED
  Reservation confirmed — order #5B4-96R-H8YG (5 tickets; 1 spare, party of 4), $235 paid 6/14. Check in at the Kentucky Derby Museum Front Desk by ~7:00 AM (arrive 15 min early). Watch the morning workouts trackside at Churchill Downs with light breakfast — the marquee horse experience of the trip. 704 Central Ave, Louisville. ~2 hrs.
• 9:15 AM HorsesKentucky Derby Museum — General Admission (included)
  Same site as the tour — flow straight in. 2 levels of interactive exhibits, "The Greatest Race" 360-degree film, resident Thoroughbred + miniature horse, Derby Café & Bourbon Bar. Allow ~1.5 hrs.
• ~11:00 AM HorsesBarn & Backside Tour @ Churchill Downs • optional extra
  The 7:15 Workout Tour is the highlight — this is a nice-to-have on top. A guided van tour through Churchill Downs' backside: the signature green-roofed Derby barns, world-class Thoroughbreds in their daily care, exercise riders & hotwalkers, panoramic track + Twin Spires views. ~1 hr, $25/pp + the general admission you already have. All ages 48"+; can't touch the horses. 📧 Chase is asking Churchill Downs to combine our bookings (Workout Tour + this + museum) so it's all scheduled close together — awaiting their reply. Nice to have options; seeing the rest could be cool. Back half of the day is unchanged (Overlook → Hot Brown 1:15 → leave 2:45).
• 12:15 PM BourbonThe Overlook at Rabbit Hole Distillery — rooftop cocktails + whiskey flights (optional/quick)
  711 E Jefferson St, NuLu — no reservation, open Wed–Sat 10 AM–6 PM (just walk up). Rooftop craft-cocktail bar (Death & Co. cocktails) + whiskey flights, skyline views. Kept as a quick ~45-min stop before the Hot Brown. Adult-leaning — confirm Evelyn's OK or tag-team. Skip it for an even earlier exit if the day's already enough.
• 1:15 PM LunchJ. Graham's Café @ The Brown Hotel (335 W Broadway) • ✅ THE HOT BROWN
  THE ORIGINAL HOT BROWN — invented here 1926. Now an early lunch (not dinner) so we can get back to Lexington for the 5 PM Vigil. The Louisville highlight meal — the Café, not the English Grill. Reserve ~1:15 PM lunch on OpenTable.
• 2:45 PM Leave Louisville — drive back to Lexington (~75 min)
• 4:00 PM Arrive Manchester — rest / decompress (pool, feet up)
  The payoff of the short day: a real break before Mass after the 5:30 AM start.
• 5:00 PM Mass⛪ Vigil Mass, Cathedral of Christ the King (299 Colony Blvd, Lexington)
  Saturday Vigil 5:00 PM, ~10 min from the Manchester — fulfills the Sunday obligation. Backup: St. Paul (501 W Short St, downtown, ~3 min from the hotel) has a 4:00 PM Vigil. Confirm times closer to the date (Christ the King 859-268-2861).
• 6:30 PM DinnerEpping's on Eastside, Lexington • ✅ THE PICK
  The Saturday dinner pick (264 Walton Ave, Warehouse Block) — after Mass, rested since 4 PM. Reid Sr. vouches it's "very good," and its smaller-plates format runs lighter after the big Hot Brown lunch + 5:30 AM start. Same chef as Cole's (Cole Arimes); kid-friendly Poppy & Olive section. Reserve. Too wiped? Fall back to a low-key bite at Granddam / Lost Palm downstairs. Carson's Back Porch saved for Sun Chase + Evelyn lunch ↓.

Short-day restructure 6/22: with everyone up at 4:45 AM, Saturday now ends early. Hot Brown moved to a 1:15 lunch, Mass swapped from the Louisville Cathedral to the Lexington Cathedral of Christ the King 5 PM Vigil, and we leave Louisville ~2:45 to be back by 4. Frazier History Museum dropped (didn't fit the early exit). The Overlook stays as an optional quick stop.

Restructured 6/14: the Derby Museum visit moved to a 7:15 AM Thoroughbred Workout Tour (booked), flipping Saturday to a Louisville-first day. Old Friends (Georgetown) dropped — it became a ~2.5-hr detour and we've done it on past KY trips. North Lime Donuts dropped (breakfast on the tour). Buffalo Trace Sat drawing #2 dropped — still hitting BT Fri (tour) + Sun (final drawing).

• 9:00 AM BrunchGranddam sit-down brunch (in-hotel) • ✅ CONFIRMED
  Reservation confirmed — Sun Jul 12, 9:00 AM, party of 4, standard seating. Last meal all together before Gigi & Grandpa fly out. Keep it to ~45 min, check out by ~9:50.
• 10:00 AM Drop-offDrive to LEX airport (~15 min) — drop Gigi & Grandpa
  Their flight departs LEX 12:04 PM. Curbside by ~10:20 = ~1h45m buffer — fine for domestic, but they're checking bourbon, so don't dawdle at brunch. Help with bags, then Chase + Evelyn head out.
• 10:30 AM Chase + Evelyn drive LEX → KY Horse Park (~25 min)
• 11:00 AM BreyerFestBreyerFest closing day — the relaxed version
  Models already picked up Friday. With the Sun bourbon sweep dropped and no farm detour, this is a full ~4-hr closing day: Vendor Marketplace, model-horse shows, Stablemates painting, Covered Arena. No rush before the 5:56 flight. (Old Friends farm considered as a Joey stand-in but dropped — the only Sun tour is 2:30 PM, too late for the flight, and Sat's Barn & Backside already covers up-close Thoroughbreds. Saved for a future Lexington trip.)
• 1:00 PM LunchBreyerFest food stalls
• 1:30 PM International Museum of the Horse
  Smithsonian affiliate, covered by park admission.
• 2:00 PM HorsesParade of Breeds show
• 3:30 PM Leave KY Horse Park, return rental car (~25 min)
• 4:00 PM Arrive LEX (~2 hrs before departure)
• 5:56 PM FlightDL 3143 LEX → ATL (arrive 7:30 PM • Delta Main Classic / U)
• 9:32 PM FlightDL 2144 ATL → MSN (arrive 10:38 PM)
• 11:15 PM Home

Restructured 6/21: Gigi & Grandpa's 12:04 PM departure means the one rental car can't do the Frankfort bourbon sweep and the airport run. Sweep dropped — Buffalo Trace final drawing, Castle & Key, and Four Roses are off Sunday. Trade-off accepted for a relaxed BreyerFest closing day + clean airport logistics. Bourbon still hit Fri (BT Trace Tour). Salvage option: after dropping G&G (~10:20), Four Roses (Lawrenceburg) is ~30 min west — a quick solo stop there (arrive ~10:50, leave ~11:15) still gets to KY Horse Park by ~12:00 if you want it back.

Reid Sr. + Gloria depart LEX 12:04 PM Sun Jul 12 — ahead of Chase + Evelyn (5:56 PM). They check out of the Manchester (#146109, Reid Phillips) Sun morning alongside everyone; no extra nights needed. Drop them at LEX ~10:20 AM after Granddam brunch. They're checking bourbon — see the bottle-limit note below.