Lexington Fire Claims 23 Thoroughbreds
Description:
A Sunday morning fire at the Mercury Equine Center in Lexington claimed the lives of 23 Thoroughbreds, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.
The Mercury Equine Center is owned by trainer Eric Reed, who told the paper that the fire started just after midnight and may have been caused by lightning or an electrical issue. Extended thunderstorms rocked the Lexington area early Sunday morning.
Reed credited six of his employees with saving 13 horses from the fire.
"They were heroes, the people who work for me," Reed told the Herald-Leader. "They went above and beyond what I could even imagine anybody trying to do. We ran into the barn, the smoke was so black we couldn't even see. The only thing you could see was the flames."
The grounds of the Mercury Equine Center on Russell Cave Road are located on the property that once was the original Spendthrift Farm training facility. The 60-acre property includes a five-furlong dirt training track. The barn that burned is one of three large barns on the property offering 160 stalls.