About Keeneland

Lexington, Kentucky is the home of one of the most important venues in worldwide horse racing – Keeneland. The complex is home to both the Keeneland Racecourse and its sales facility from which top class horses are purchased not just by US-based owners and trainers but from those as far afield as England, Ireland, France and Dubai.

Keeneland’s standing was underlined in 2009 when the Horseplayers Association of North America introduced their rating system which placed it right at the top at number one. It is a designated National Historic Landmark.

Keeneland History

The auctioning of horses as well as racing them goes to the very foundations of Keeneland, the facility having been built for this purpose as a non-profit organization back in 1936.

The racecourse itself has conducted the April and October meets since this time and has not broken with tradition with its spring meet one of the richest in North America to this day.

Despite being rooted in tradition, the powers that be at Keeneland have not been scared of innovation over the years for example building a new trackside Winner’s Circle and creating the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes in 1984 in honour of a visit from the lady herself.

The turf course was laid in 1985 and the following year received its status as a National Historic Landmark, something thoroughly deserved.

Moving away from traditional dirt, the main track at Keeneland became a synthetic Polytrack surface in 2006 but was restored to dirt in summer 2014, in time for the fall meet of that year.

Despite its illustrious history and all it has done for worldwide racing, Keeneland had to wait until 2015 for its first Breeders’ Cup which it hosted successfully. The BC Classic that day was won by Triple Crown hero American Pharoah and despite some concerns over the size of the track the whole event was lauded by almost all who attended.

Keeneland Track Details

The main track is just over a mile long, made up of dirt and surrounds a 7½ furlong turf course to its inside. The turf course actually uses more than one layout with the Keeneland Course having a temporary rail 15 feet out and the Haggin Course having no temporary rail.

Biggest Races

Keeneland has a very busy stakes calendar in its short meet, the important Grade One races being:

Alcibiades Stakes
Ashland Stakes
Blue Grass Stakes
Breeders’ Futurity Stakes
First Lady Stakes
Jenny Wiley Stakes
Madison Stakes
Maker’s 46 Mile Stakes
Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes
Shadwell Turf Mile Stakes
Spinster Stakes

Place Your Bets At Keeneland With TVG!

Now you know all about the world famous facilities, don’t forget you can wager on races at Keeneland with TVG. Head to our schedules page to check out the latest race times then bet and watch live!

Address

4201 Versailles Rd, Lexington, KY 40510, USA

Contact

(800) 456-3412