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FRANKFORT, Ky. — Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer will make a whirlwind trip to Mexico this weekend to promote the sale of Kentucky thoroughbreds south of the border.
Commissioner Farmer will attend the Handicap de las Americas, Mexico’s biggest race of the year, on Saturday to meet with Mexican horse owners and breeders.
“I am committed to maintaining a strong equine industry in Kentucky,” Commissioner Farmer said. “Horses mean $4 billion a year in economic activity in Kentucky every year. I am going to Mexico to help expand the market for Kentucky horses there, which will mean more jobs here at home.”
Commissioner Farmer will leave for Mexico early Friday with representatives of Keeneland Racecourse and the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders, which are spearheading the trip. Later that day he will visit a horse farm that bought horses in the Keeneland January sale. On Saturday, Commissioner Farmer will take in the races in Mexico City, where he will visit the jockey club and speak with owners and breeders who have become important players in the Kentucky bloodstock market.
While in Mexico, Commissioner Farmer will attend a breakfast meeting hosted by staff from the trade office in Guadalajara that the Kentucky Department of Agriculture shares with the Kentucky Economic Development Cabinet. Commissioner Farmer will return to Kentucky on Sunday night.
Since 2000, Mexican horsemen have purchased 547 Kentucky thoroughbreds for more than $7.8 million. The average price that Mexican buyers have given for Kentucky horses has risen from $5,319 in 2000 to $23,000 in 2004.Equine (including stud fees) were the leading cash crop in Kentucky in 2003 at $800 million, the Kentucky Agricultural Statistics Service has reported. The equine industry accounts for some 52,000 direct and indirect jobs in Kentucky, according to the KTOB.
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