Keeneland News

COMPILED BY AMY OWENS SPRING

KEENELAND SPRING MEET STAKES WORTH $8.05 MILLION

Keeneland will award a season record $8.05 million for 19 stakes to be run during its 2023 spring meet, which will cover 15 days from April 7-28. Leading the schedule are the 99th running of the $1 million Toyota Blue Grass (G1) and 86th running of the $600,000 Central Bank Ashland (G1), both major targets of the nation’s top 3-year-olds. Keeneland also has increased the purses of two grade 1 and the popularity of hosting our third Breeders’ Cup World Championships,” Keeneland Vice President of Racing Gatewood Bell said. “We are grateful for the interest in Keeneland racing from our horsemen, horseplayers, and fans, and their enthusiasm creates momentum for the future.

“We are excited to further strengthen this year’s spring meet stakes schedule so purses of all grade 1 races are at least $600,000, while all grade 2 races are a minimum of $350,000 and all grade 3 events are a minimum of $300,000.”

In addition to being important springtime races for talented sophomores, the Toyota Blue Grass and Central Bank Ashland both are worth 200 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby and Road to the Kentucky Oaks, respectively. Winners of each stakes will earn 100 qualifying points to the respective classic.

Keeneland Buys Manchester Farm

Keeneland has purchased neighboring Manchester Farm, whose rolling hills and iconic barn with distinctive blue-and-white cupolas have provided a stunning backdrop for countless photographs and make it one of the most recognizable farms in Kentucky.

stakes for older females — the Madison (G1) and the Jenny Wiley (G1T) — by $100,000 apiece to $600,000 and has raised the purses of three listed turf stakes — the FanDuel Limestone, the Giant’s Causeway, and the Palisades — by $50,000 each to $250,000. Fifeen stakes are graded, with the Beaumont (G2) Presented by Keeneland Select featuring an upgrade for 2023.

Contributing to the spring meet stakes purses is a total of $1.5 million available from the Kentucky Toroughbred Development Fund (KTDF), pending approval from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

“Keeneland enjoyed arguably its most successful racing year ever in 2022, thanks to a stellar lineup of equine stars and racing stables competing for record purses and the historic wagering that followed at the spring and fall meets

Te Central Bank Ashland, at 11⁄16 miles for fllies, anchors the card for the April 7 opening day for the second consecutive year and is the richest of three stakes for sophomores that day. Te other stakes, worth $400,000 each, are the Kentucky Utilities Transylvania (G3T), a 11⁄16-mile turf race, and the Lafayette, a 7-furlong dirt race.

Te following day, the Toyota Blue Grass, for 3-year-olds at 11⁄8 miles, leads fve stakes. Also on the card are the $600,000 Madison (G1), for fllies and mares at 7 furlongs; the $400,000 Appalachian (G2T) Presented by Japan Racing Association, for 3-year-old fllies at 1 mile on the grass; the $350,000 Shakertown (G2T), for 3-year-olds and up at 5½ furlongs on the turf; and the $300,000 Commonwealth (G3), for older horses at 7 furlongs.

Post time for the frst race each day is 1 p.m., except for April 8 (12:30 p.m.).

Keeneland will be closed for racing on Easter Sunday, April 9.

Originally named Manchester Springs Plantation afer a creek that runs through the property, the farm dates back to the 1700s. In 1804, Francis Keen (frst generation of the Keene family) passed 200 acres of Manchester Springs Plantation to his son. Te land remained in the Keen/Keene family for fve generations until 1935, when J.O. “Jack” Keene sold 147.6 acres to Keeneland Association for the creation of a model racetrack.

“Te history of Manchester Farm and Keeneland are intertwined,” Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin said. “We were thrilled to have the opportunity to purchase the farm and plan to celebrate this Central Kentucky treasure for generations.”

Keeneland purchased the nearly 200-acre farm from Calumet Farm, owned by Brad Kelley. He purchased Manchester Farm in 2016 from noted breeder and owner Mike G. Rutherford, who bought the farm in 1976 from Duval Headley (nephew of Hal Price Headley, a Keeneland founder and the track’s frst president).

“Over the course of Keeneland’s history, we have acquired adjacent properties to preserve the track’s picturesque setting and to further our mission to perpetuate the best of Toroughbred racing and sales,” Arvin said. “While we do not have immediate plans for the future of the property, Lexington and the Toroughbred community can trust that Keeneland will use the land to strengthen our industry, enhance the Central Kentucky region, and always do what is best for the horse.”