Walking down the hillside from a Wal-Mart parking lot in Lexington is a trip backwards to a time when the race horse was king and the king of sports unfolded at the track.

The Hamburg Horse Center and Greenway, preparing to open on 14 acres adjacent to the Wal-Mart on Sir Barton Way, is one family’s gift to horse country in the hope that a part of Bluegrass history will be preserved.

Bike and walking paths wind around a gated area where gravestones and a monument have been restored. They were removed from their old site at the front entrance to Hamburg Place, about a mile away on Winchester Road. A new monument honoring John E. Madden, founder of Hamburg Place, has been added to the collection.

The result is that a near century-old horse cemetery which the public couldn’t get to for at least a generation is soon to become a public park on its new site. Visitors will find stone tables situated throughout the park for use in picnics or for taking a rest.


“I would like t have some equine-related events here,” said Anita Madden, who has overseen the design and development of the new site. Her hope is that this new site for the grave markers will reacquaint or introduce many more persons with the racing and breeding history and traditions of the Bluegrass.

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