Lexington

The fourth annual Horse Racing Women's Association (HRWA) Conference, presented by Del Mar and FanDuel TV, made its debut in Lexington, Kentucky this year. Held Oct. 8-9 at Limestone Hall, the expansive event, consisting of panel discussions and networking activities, hosted nearly 200 women representing a variety of careers and experience levels throughout the Thoroughbred racing industry. Following Wednesday's welcome reception, attendees gathered Thursday in downtown Lexington as the day's program kicked off with featured speaker Lindsay Czarniak, an accomplished media personality with more than two decades of experience in...

Celebrating 10 Years of Connecting People to the Horse Horse Country, Inc. will celebrate its 10th anniversary in October 2025. Our first tours across Horse Country were offered during the inaugural Breeders' Cup at Keeneland, which also saw the first-ever Grand Slam winner, American Pharoah. You may call that timing good luck, but in truth Horse Country's launch is the perfect example of what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Horse Country's story began with a call to action. In 2011, The Jockey Club's McKinsey Report revealed some concerning findings about...

The fourth annual HRWA Conference, held this year in Lexington, KY, Wednesday October 8 and Thursday October 9, will feature a welcome reception, keynote address by Molly Fletcher, featured afternoon speaker, three panel discussions, and a special presentation of the Jane Goldstein Award. FanDuel TV's Andie Biancone, a racing reporter and analyst, will serve as the emcee for the event. Hailed as one of the first female sports agents, Fletcher negotiated over $500 million in contracts and represented over 300 of sports' biggest names in her almost two-decade career. A...

What drives someone to leave everything behind to follow a dream? And what happens when the dream is within reach, but one last obstacle stands in the way? Tomislav Mitrovski was watching from home when Color Comin' In (Rock Your World), the first horse he ever bred, overcame a troubled start and stormed home to a three-length victory in her debut at Churchill Downs. Over the moon with the result, Mitrovski immediately called his wife to celebrate a win that felt like the start of something bigger. When Mitrovski packed...

Lexington, KY--The final day of the Organization of Racing Investigators (ORI) Training Conference at Keeneland escalated the focus on enforcement and how investigators can broaden their expertise. Though participants regularly receive training at home, the ORI sessions offer equine knowledge that is highly specialized which can be taken back to their own jurisdictions and applied. Mike Singletary, vice president of security for the Maryland Jockey Club, said when his team walks the shedrow at Pimlico or Laurel being cognizant of your surroundings takes time and effort to hone. "Information is...

Edited Press Release Keeneland Library is now presenting the exhibit Of Turf and Stone: Keeneland Through the Ages to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Keeneland Association, which established the race track and became a leader in the Thoroughbred industry. Showcasing photographs and memorabilia tracing the development of Keeneland's grounds, architecture, facilities and innovative industry firsts, the exhibit features photographs curated from Keeneland Library collections and Turf photographers who document today's race meets and events to highlight Keeneland's evolution from 1935 to today. "Racing has had a...

Todd Claunch, the farm manager at William Farish's Lane's End Farm, will retire at the end of this month following a 34-year career, the nursery said in a release Dec. 23. He is to be succeeded by Peter Sheehen, a 16-year veteran at Lane's End and its current stallion manager. Claunch joined the yearling division at Lane's End in 1990 and had the distinction of working with champion and Horse of the Year A.P. Indy as a yearling. He was named yearling manager in 1994, managing all aspects of horse...

Kim Wickens has been named the winner of the 2023 Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award for excellence in Thoroughbred racing literature for her biography of the great 19th century stallion, Lexington. The book, Lexington: The Extraordinary Life and Turbulent Times of America's Legendary Racehorse, creates a vivid time capsule back to the pre- and -post Civil War era. This was the second straight year a book about the peerless sire was honored, following Geraldine Brooks's 2022 win for her novel, Horse. Lexington is the first book authored by Wickens, a...

Applications for The Jockey Club's paid internship program for college students and recent college graduates and its five academic scholarships opened Monday. The eight-week internship program in Lexington, KY will accommodate up to three interns and is now available in the summer or fall based on the intern's preference. Interns will gain exposure to all companies and departments within the organization, and they will have the opportunity to spend additional time in areas that they find to be of particular interest. The Jockey Club scholarships will apply to the 2025-2026...

Old Friends will host this year's finalists for the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award for a book signing held Wednesday, Nov. 20 from 12:30-2:30 p.m. at the Josephine Abercrombie Center located at 1841 Paynes Depot Road, Georgetown, KY. The finalists include: Katherine Mooney (Isaac Murphy: The Rise and Fall of a Black Jockey), Kim Wickens (Lexington: The Extraordinary Life and Turbulent Times of America's Legendary Racehorse) and Curtis Stock (The Turcottes: The Remarkable Story of a Horse Racing Dynasty). One semi-finalist will also be available for signing: John Paul Miller...

A Planning Commission Public Hearing is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 17, at 1:30 p.m. ET at City Hall in Lexington, Kentucky to discuss the completed draft of the Urban Growth Master Plan, according to a press release from the Fayette Alliance on Wednesday. Residents of Lexington-Fayette County are encouraged to provide public comment and input on the draft plan during this time. The Planning Commission will then reconvene on Thursday, October 31, at 1:30 p.m. ET at City Hall to review any proposed revisions and consider adoption as an element...

The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance will be on-site as a sponsor this year for The Retired Racehorse Project's Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY October 9-12. The event is the largest retraining competition for recently retired Thoroughbred racehorses and showcases the versatility and adaptability of these athletes as they transition into new careers while highlighting the importance of aftercare in ensuring successful second careers for Thoroughbreds. Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance will have a booth located in the Covered Arena during the Thoroughbred Makeover. Riders...