Keeneland

Roy and Gretchen Jackson Eclipse Awards

Insight and commentary on the world of thoroughbred horse racing.

Thoughts and opinions about the fascinating sport of thoroughbred horse racing from a racing insider.

April 6, 2007

Keeneland - racing as it was meant to be…

It’s officially been spring for a few weeks now, but spring really begins in Central Kentucky today with the opening of Keeneland. After two weeks of summer weather, a drastic cold snap has put a bit of a damper on things, but its still Keeneland (and it’s still four weeks ‘til Oaks Day). That’s enough to get any racing fans heart rate up, even if the thermometer isn’t following suit.

Keeneland’s motto has long been ‘racing as it was meant to be’, but that doesn’t mean that the track is a relic. Not only is it one of the most scenic tracks in the world, Keeneland by far the most proactive and progressive racetrack in North America.

Keeneland is a unique place and its unique organizational structure gives it a competitive advantage over other racetracks. In an era where most tracks have struggled to offer, or struggled without, alternative gaming, the Keeneland Association is fueled by its wildly successful auction house. The Keeneland Association earns a 4.5% commission on each horse sold at its various auctions and its September yearling sale is the largest in the world. Last year alone, young thoroughbreds sold to the tune of a record $399 million. The Keeneland November Breeding Stock sale is also the world’s largest and most important market for foals and mares and it reaped a near record $313 million in 2006.

Admirably Keeneland, a non profit organization that also give very generously to a variety of charities, has not squandered its advantage. The current administration has kept the long established Keeneland mission to improve the sport and the ontrack experience of the fans intact. The 2007 spring meet will be the second since the track was reconfigured and a Polytrack surface was installed. It will also be the second meeting with a new state of the art LED infield toteboard and the second using the innovative Trakus system, which uses microchips placed in saddlecloths to pinpoint horses’ times and distances traveled. But if you walked into Keeneland today for the first time, it would look as if the track was built just so 70 years ago. Everything is architecturally consistent, something that cannot be said of the renovations at Churchill Downs, Keeneland’s neighbor 75 miles to the west, where a large white plastic box called the clubhouse sits aside the historic Twin Spires.

Keeneland is truly beautiful place, and a close second to Saratoga in my mind. Keeneland has more of a rural feel (despite the airport across the street), carved out of the same Central Kentucky limestone and bluegrass that helps raise some of the world’s finest thoroughbreds. Like Saratoga, you feel like you’re at someplace special when you’re at Keeneland, even on a weekday. But come the weekend, local Lexingtonians, even the non racing fans, congregate en masse at Keeneland to see and be seen. And Keeneland is the only track I know of where there is pre-race tailgating in the tree filled parking lot.

Yes, it’s racing as it was meant to be.

Matt O'Neil has been a racing enthusiast since the mid-1980's. He is a freelance writer and thoroughbred marketing consultant and editor of the breeding journal Owner-Breeder International. Contact Matt O'Neil