Keeneland

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' Aloha West (Hard Spun), a troubled fourth in his only previous stakes try, will try black-type competition again after a pair of well-graded Saratoga allowance victories in Friday's GII Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix S. at Keeneland, a Breeders' Cup Win and You're In qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint. Graduating despite a slow start and early, wide move in his belated debut Feb. 7 at Oaklawn, the 4-year-old was again troubled at the break and ran fifth in an allowance there Mar. 13 before just missing...

A duo of fillies from the Brad Cox barn coming off dominant maiden victories will attract plenty of attention from bettors in an evenly-matched field of 12 in Friday's opening-day GI Darley Alcibiades S. at Keeneland. The 1 1/16-mile test offers to the winner a fees-paid birth to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Breaking from the rail is Albaugh Family Stables' narrow morning-line favorite Juju's Map (Liam's Map). Hammered down to 7-10 debuting for Cox July 25 at Ellis, the $300,000 Keeneland September graduate made a menacing run to...

Keeneland and UK HealthCare have entered into a partnership in which UK HealthCare will become the track's "Official First Aid Provider" of first aid and emergency medical services to racing participants, fans and staff during race meets. UK HealthCare will staff and equip Keeneland's state-of-the-art First Aid center, and their trauma personnel will support the emergency response vehicles stationed on track during the race day. Through this partnership, the EMS care available to jockeys, participants and patrons at Keeneland will be an extension of the Level 1 trauma service received...

Trainer Rohan Crichton said he has given up on his attempts to run Bajan Girl (Speightstown) in Sunday's GI Juddmonte Spinster S. at Keeneland after being told he would not be allowed to enter. Crichton is one of five trainers recently suspended by Gulfstream officials after it was found that they were violating house rules regarding clenbuterol. He is in the midst of serving a 30-day suspension and cannot run at any of the tracks owned by The Stronach Group. However, a suspension issued by a racetrack is not reciprocal...

Keeneland will debut a number of new initiatives for the 2021 Fall Meet, which opens Friday, aimed at broadening coverage and growing viewership among Spanish-speaking fans of Thoroughbred racing. Enhancements include a livestream of Fall Stars Weekend race cards in Spanish, Spanish translation of the Keeneland Race Day App as well as handicapping content and analysis in Spanish on Keeneland.com. Coverage of Keeneland's star-studded Friday, Saturday and Sunday race cards, held Oct. 8-10, will be enhanced with expert analysis and commentary from DRF en Espanol all three days. Breeders' Cup...

Shannon Arvin, president and chief executive officer of Keeneland, has been named to The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation Board of Trustees. She fills the vacant position left by D.G. Van Clief, Jr. A member of The Jockey Club (TJC) and a former member of the law firm Stoll Keenon Ogden (SKO), Arvin has served or currently serves on the boards of Bluegrass Care Navigators (Hospice), Horse Country, The Lexington School, and the University of Kentucky Gluck Equine Research Foundation. She is also past president of the Thoroughbred Club of...

Having been suspended at Gulfstream for allegedly violating rules regarding the use of clenbuterol, trainer Rohan Crichton may not be able to run his filly Bajan Girl (Speightstown) in the GI Juddmonte Spinster S. to be run Sunday at Keeneland. Keeneland released a statement Tuesday indicating that it is considering its options. "We are in the process of obtaining information regarding the reported suspensions from Gulfstream Park so Keeneland is in a position to make an informed decision about race entries," it read. "As you know, and as is clear...

A total of 3,594 head have been catalogued for the weanling and breeding stock portions of the 78th Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, to be held Nov. 10-19 in Lexington. The catalog pages for those entries can now be viewed online, and print catalogs will be mailed out around Oct. 15. This year's auction will feature a single session for horses of racing age on the sale's final day. With the entry deadline for those horses extended to Oct. 4, the catalog for that part of the sale will be...

A quartet of horses headed towards engagements at the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar Nov. 6 were out for serious workouts Saturday morning at both major Kentucky venues. Champion Essential Quality (Tapit) worked five furlongs in the company of Ellis Park allowance winner Colonel Bowman (Curlin) just after the track opened for business shortly after 5:30 Saturday morning. The duo broke off at the half-mile pole, crossing the wire in :46.80 before completing the move around the clubhouse turn in :59.20. Essential Quality outgamed Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) to...

Keeneland has four new additions to its Advisory Board of Directors: prominent horsewoman Julie Cauthen, Three Chimneys Farm Chief Commercial Officer Case Clay, Airdrie Stud Vice President Bret Jones and LNJ Foxwoods' Jaime Roth. Longtime Directors Seth Hancock of Claiborne Farm and Will Farish of Lane's End will move to Emeritus roles on the Advisory Board. All four new Directors will begin their service at the Advisory Board meeting in October. "Each of our new directors--Julie, Case, Bret and Jaime--bring a wealth of experience and a fresh perspective on the...

There are folks who sound like broken records when it comes to first-crop sires, complaining that breeders who use them and buyers purchasing those yearlings at auction are about as foolish as dunk-tank clowns. However, when one of those sires succeeds with his first 2-year-olds, those same people are usually the first to wax eloquent with platitudes, forgetting what they'd said earlier. That's human nature, I suppose. What they forget is that all sires start out with first crops, and there are people on the other end that wildcat for...

John Ballantyne, a transplanted New Zealander living in Fargo, North Dakota, has big plans for the NBS Stables he operates along with partners Art Neuhedel and Daryl Shaw. To that end, the co-founder of the biotech company Aldevron was busy bidding online during the recent Keeneland September Yearling Sale, virtually signing the ticket on five yearlings for a total of $1.14 million before the stable capped its month with a stakes win at Remington Park last Sunday. Ballantyne traces his love of horse racing back to his childhood. "Some of...