Lexington is the second-most-populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and the 60th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Fayette County. By land area, it is the country's 30th-largest city.
Keeneland Association, Inc. is an equine business based in Lexington, Kentucky. It includes two distinct divisions: the Keeneland Race Course, a Thoroughbred racing facility, and Keeneland Sales, a horse auction complex. It is also known for its reference library.
The Meadowlands Racetrack is a horse racing track at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. The track hosts both thoroughbred racing and harness racing. It is known popularly in the region as "The Big M". Meadowlands has year-round horse racing as well as a number of bars and restaurants.
Saratoga Race Course is a Thoroughbred horse racing track located on Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. Opened in 1863, it is often considered to be the oldest major sporting venue of any kind in the country. It is the oldest thoroughbred race track in the country, but counting harness tracks it is actually the fourth oldest racetrack in the U.S.. In 1857 the Empire Race Course was opened on an island in the Hudson River near Albany, but was in operation only a short time.
The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Grade I Thoroughbred horse races, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was a single-day event; starting in 2007, it expanded to two days. All sites have been in the United States, except in 1996, when the races were at the Woodbine Racetrack in Canada.
Churchill Downs is a horse racing complex located on Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, famed for hosting the annual Kentucky Derby. It officially opened in 1875 and was named for Samuel Churchill, whose family was prominent in Kentucky for many years. The first Kentucky Derby, a Thoroughbred sweepstakes and part of today's horse racing Triple Crown, and the first Kentucky Oaks were held in the same year. Churchill Downs has also hosted the renowned Breeders' Cup on nine occasions, most recently on November 2 and 3, 2018.
Calumet Farm is a 762-acre (3.08 km2) Thoroughbred breeding and training farm established in 1924 in Lexington, Kentucky, United States by William Monroe Wright, founding owner of the Calumet Baking Powder Company. Calumet is located in the heart of the Bluegrass, a well-known horse breeding region. Calumet Farm has a record history of Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown winners and 11 horses in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.
Turfway Park is an American horse racing track located within the city limits of Florence, Kentucky, about 10 miles (16 km) south of the Ohio River at Cincinnati. The track conducts live Thoroughbred horse racing during two meets each year—Holiday (December), and Winter/Spring —and offers year-round simulcast wagering from tracks across the continent.
The Blue Grass Stakes, currently the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes due to sponsorship by the Toyota Motor Corporation, is a horse race for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds held annually in April at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky. The race is run at 1+1⁄8 miles on the dirt and currently offers a purse of $1,000,000. The Blue Grass Stakes was a Grade I event from 1974 through 1989 and again from 1999 to 2016. It was a Grade II event from 2017 to 2021, and returned to a Grade I in 2022.
Raceland was a Thoroughbred racing track located in Chinnville, Kentucky, now known as Raceland, Kentucky. The race track operated from 1924 until 1928 and was founded by Jack O. Keene, who also helped develop Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky.
Belterra Park, formerly known as River Downs, is a racino located in Anderson Township, Hamilton County, Ohio, just outside the southeast limits of Cincinnati. It is owned by Gaming and Leisure Properties and operated by Boyd Gaming.
The Phoenix Hotel was a historical structure located on East Main Street in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. It was established in the 1820s and became a prominent landmark as well as the oldest hostelry by succession in the area. After several reincarnations, the hotel closed in 1977. The building was demolished in 1987 and replaced by Phoenix Park.
Spendthrift Farm is a thoroughbred race horse breeding farm and burial site in Lexington, Kentucky, currently owned by Eric & Tammy Gustavson. It was founded by Leslie Combs II and named for the great stallion Spendthrift, who was owned by Combs' ancestor, Daniel Swigert of Elmendorf Farm. Spendthrift was the great-grandfather of Man o' War.
The Kentucky Association was formed on July 23, 1826, to promote the breeding and racing of Thoroughbred horses in the Bluegrass region of Kentucky. The "oldest turf organization in America", it was founded by a group of prominent locals, who included planter and politician Henry Clay, Jesse Bledsoe, Dr. Elisha Warfield, and Thomas F. Marshall. Between 1828 and 1834, the Association acquired 65 acres of land in an area of the city of Lexington, Kentucky that today is the east end of 5th Street at Race Street. On the property, the Association built a one-mile dirt racetrack with grandstand and stables to host Thoroughbred flat racing events.
The Forerunner Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually from 1950 through 2007 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky. Open to three-year-old horses, it was last contested on turf over a distance of one and one-eighth miles.
Dixiana Farm, founded in 1877, is an American Thoroughbred horse breeding farm in Lexington, Kentucky. It is the birthplace of Hall of Fame inductee Domino.
The 2015 Breeders' Cup World Championships was the 32nd edition of the thoroughbred horse racing season-ending premier event held on October 30 and 31 at Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky. The race series, held for the first time at Keeneland, required a significant amount of preparation to transform the small, historic track into a venue capable of handling large crowds, comprising 13 championship races held over a two-day period.
The equine industry in Kentucky is a major part of the state's agribusiness, including sectors involved in horse breeding and rearing, racing, buying and selling, and tourism. According to a study by the University of Kentucky, the equine industry contributed $3 billion to the state economy in 2012 and generated 40,665 jobs. Some job estimates range as high as 96,000 when considering secondary impacts such as tourism. Kentucky is the United States' leading producer of horses overall, and the number one producer of Thoroughbreds, with 30% of the national foaling total. In 2009, stud fees and horse sales totaled $4.26 billion, making horses the state's second most profitable agricultural product. Purebred horses exported from Kentucky were worth between approximately 150 and 175 million dollars each year from 2012 to 2015.
Louisville Downs was a half-mile Standardbred harness race track located in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It opened in 1966 and held over 3,400 days of harness racing until it was sold to Churchill Downs Inc. in 1991. Louisville Downs was built and managed by William H. King, a Louisville entrepreneur and promoter, who was the first to offer wagering by phone (“Call-a-Bet”) and full card simulcast wagering to television viewers. The track is now the site of Derby City Gaming, a historical racing parlor opened in 2018.
The 2020 Breeders' Cup World Championships was the 37th edition of the premier event of the North American thoroughbred horse racing year. The 14 races, all but one of which were Grade I, took place on November 6 and 7 at Keeneland racetrack in Lexington, Kentucky. The races were telecast by NBCSN on Friday and early Saturday, and by NBC later on Saturday.
