Gatewood Bell

Keeneland will offer free digital race-day programs for download for its Spring Meet, which begins Apr. 7, in an initiative to increase access to data for horseplayers and fans. "Keeneland believes that access to data is an important step in both educating and engaging our fans," Keeneland Vice President of Racing Gatewood Bell said. "We piloted a digital program during the pandemic that was incredibly well received when fans tuned into our racing product from afar." Complimentary race-day programs, which feature past performances from Equibase, will be available for download...

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 Apr. 7-28. Two focal points on the schedule will be the 99th running of the $1 million GI Toyota Blue Grass and 86th running of the $600,000 GI Central Bank Ashland, both major targets of the nation's top 3-year-olds. Keeneland has increased the purses of two Grade I stakes for older females--the GI Madison and the GI Jenny Wiley--by $100,000 apiece to $600,000 and has...

Bret Jones is the vice president at Airdrie Stud located in Midway, KY, a 2,500-acre breeding operation founded in 1972 by his parents, Governor Brereton Jones and his wife, Elizabeth. He is a graduate of the University of the South (Suwanee) and has formally been a member of the team at Airdrie since 2006. He also serves on the Board of the Breeders' Cup, a position he's held since 2011, and was a commissioner on the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission from 2016-2020. He currently serves on the board of trustees...

A total of 20 individuals were elected to serve as Breeders' Cup Members, it was announced Tuesday. Voting for the 2022 Member election by Breeders' Cup 2021 foal and stallion nominators was concluded at 5:00 p.m. ET June 6. The following individuals, listed alphabetically, received the most votes from the Breeders' Cup nominators to fill 20 Member seats. Each Member will serve a four-year term: Rory Babich, Antony Beck, Gatewood Bell, Case Clay, Alan Cooper, Everett Dobson, William S. Farish, Jr., H. Greg Goodman, Jonathan Green, Fred W. Hertrich, III,...

Twenty-four members of the racing industry are on the ballot for the election of 20 Breeders' Cup members. On May 27, the Breeders' Cup Election website will open for 2021 Breeders' Cup foal and stallion nominators to begin the voting process. Of the 24 candidates on the ballot, 17 are incumbent members standing for re-election. The 20 individuals receiving the most votes will each serve a term of four years. Members are elected every other year by Breeders' Cup foal and stallion nominators through a proportional voting system based on...

Purses for maiden special weight (MSW) races are projected to trend upward this spring at both Keeneland Race Course and Churchill Downs. Track executives disclosed the pre-condition book figures during Tuesday's Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) advisory board meeting. "The MSWs for older horses are going to be $100,000. And the [MSW races for] 2-year-olds are going to be $80,000," said Keeneland's vice president of racing, Gatewood Bell. At Keeneland's 2021 spring meet, the comparable MSW purse levels were $79,000 and $60,000. Mike Ziegler, the senior vice president and general...

Coolmore will sponsor the $1-million GI Turf Mile for 3-year-olds and up on Oct. 8, 2022 as part of the Keeneland Fall Meet's opening FallStars Weekend. The 2022 Coolmore Turf Mile will mark the 25th year that a Keeneland stakes race will be sponsored by the powerful international operation, which owns nearby Ashford Stud in Lexington. Coolmore sponsored the GIII Lexington S. from 1998-2015 and GI Jenny Wiley S. from 2016-2021. "Coolmore is a long and loyal supporter of Keeneland from the sales ring to the race track, and we...

Keeneland has announced a revamped stakes schedule for its 15-day 2022 Spring Meet, which will be held from Apr. 8-29. A total of 19 stakes will be run, and all have received purse increases for a total of $7.7 million in total stakes purses. Among notable changes are that the Apr. 9 GII Toyota Blue Grass S., Keeneland's main GI Kentucky Derby prep, will once again offer a $1-million purse (it was $800,000 last year); and the $600,000 GI Central Bank Ashland ($400,000 in 2021) will be contested on opening...

Horses offered at auction during the upcoming Keeneland September Yearling Sale will be eligible to run in a pair of $250,000 allowance races at the 2022 FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs. Kentucky Downs will stage one $250,000 allowance race for 2-year-old fillies and one for 2-year-old colts and geldings restricted to horses that go through the sales ring at this year's Keeneland September Sale. Yearlings that are sold as well as those not reaching their reserve bid will be eligible for the lucrative allowance events the following September at Kentucky...

Averly Jane, whose half-brother Chattel (Giant Oak) belied 22-1 odds when he took this race in 2018, followed in big bro's hoofsteps while remaining unbeaten in her first start since April and beating the boys. An 8 3/4-length debut romper at Keeneland Apr. 5, the Fasig-Tipton October value buy returned just 13 days later to also best males in the Kentucky Juvenile S. during GI Kentucky Derby week Apr. 28. She returned to the worktab in Lexington at the end of June, and was the public's pick here as a...

3rd-Ellis, $51,000, Msw, 7-17, 2yo, 5f, :57.94, gd, 5 lengths. ROGER MCQUEEN (c, 2, Unified--Promise Me a Cat {SW, $320,820}, by D'wildcat) was third in his five-furlong unveiling at Churchill May 22. The 3-5 favorite battled on the front end through a quarter in :22.29, took command after a half in :45.76 and pulled away to score by five lengths. Back to Normal (Liam's Map) issued a midstretch challenge before settling for second. Roger McQueen is the second winner for his freshman sire (by Candy Ride {Arg}). He was a...

Keeneland, which is celebrating its 85th anniversary this year, will offer a record $6-million in stakes purses and expanded 22-race stakes schedule at its upcoming fall meet. The meet, which covers 17 days of racing from Oct. 8-30, will open with the signature Fall Stars Weekend, feature 10 Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" races, offer two new $150,000 stakes for 2-year-olds and reposition several stakes to create a total of six race cards with multiple stakes. "The Keeneland Fall Meet is incredibly important, and 85 years of racing at...