Kentucky Horse Park bows out of bid for 2022 World Equestrian Games
The Kentucky Horse Park Commission voted Friday to withdraw from consideration for hosting the 2022 World Equestrian Games.
In a release, the commission said that its members “expressed concerns regarding staging of the games and the potential conflict that hosting would create with the long-term goals of the Kentucky Horse Park, including limitations on potential Horse Park-generated revenue opportunities.”
“We do not think it would be economically feasible for the park to host the 2022 games,” said Tandy Patrick, chair of the Kentucky Horse Park Commission.
The release said the park has had “an open dialogue with the public through several visioning sessions,” but recognized a need for investments in its facilities because “a recent survey of the park’s assets found $12 million in deferred maintenance expenses.”
The 1,224-acre Kentucky Horse Park hosted the games in 2010, becoming the first venue outside of Europe to host the games.
The Federation Equestre Internationale announced in December that Lexington and the Kentucky Horse Park were one of two candidates to host the 2022 games. The other candidate was Samorin, Slovakia, about 4,800 miles away from Lexington.
Lexington Mayor Jim Gray had no comment on the board action on Friday evening.
Cheryl Truman: 859-231-3202, @CherylTruman
This story was originally published January 13, 2017 at 6:15 PM with the headline "Kentucky Horse Park bows out of bid for 2022 World Equestrian Games."