In a surprise vote Friday, the board of the Lexington-based Kentucky Horse Park abruptly dropped its bid to host the 2022 FEI World Equestrian Games.
“We are committed to being good stewards of the Kentucky Horse Park,” Tandy Patrick, chair of the Kentucky Horse Park Commission, said in a statement. “We do not think it would be economically feasible for the park to host the 2022 games.”
Strangely, the move follows only by weeks a fanfare announcement by the same state and park officials that it was candidate. At the time of the first announcement, Horse Park Executive Director Laura Prewitt said the facility was "honored" to be in the running. At the same time, Don Parkinson, secretary of the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, hailed the event and trumpeted its economic benefits.
But on Friday, Parkinson joined Patrick in reversing course and citing economic concerns as a reason to drop the bid, including a claim that officials have found "$12 million in deferred maintenance expenses."
Kentucky Horse Park hosted the Games in 2010, the first facility outside of Europe to host the global equine event. Samorin, Slovakia, is the other named official candidate for the 2022 Games.
The tourism office says the 2010 Games provided more than $200 million in “economic impact” to the Commonwealth.