Shannon Arvin

Edited Press Release Keeneland has planted six cherry trees--three on either side of the infield tote board--in tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away Sept. 8. A lifelong horsewoman, Queen Elizabeth II attended the races at Keeneland Oct. 11, 1984, for the inaugural running of the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, for which she presented the trophy. The 39th edition of the GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, presented by Dixiana, will be contested Saturday. The tree planting at Keeneland is part of The Queen's Green Canopy...

What do an award-winning chef, a rising young country music star and a reigning champion trainer have in common? All three are featured in the Common Wealth of Kentucky Project, an exhibit going on now through Oct. 1 at LexArts Gallery in Lexington, Kentucky. Along with chef Ouita Michel and singer Walker Montgomery, trainer Brad Cox is one of 70 Kentuckians who shared their life story for the collection, which is the culmination of a year-long project for impressionist painter Kelly Brewer and partner Beth Pride, a writer and digital...

The Keeneland September Yearling Sale, which surpassed $400-million in gross sales for the first time in its history, concluded Saturday with new records, not just for turnover, but also for average and median and with 30 seven-figure yearlings doubling the number from the 2021 auction. Keeneland sold a total of 2,847 yearlings through the ring for $405,495,700 during the 12-day auction, surpassing the previous record of $399,791,800 set during the 2006 September sale. The cumulative average and median prices surpassed September sale records set last year, with the average price...

Entries are now open for the Keeneland November Horses of Racing Age Sale, which will be held Nov. 17, the day after the conclusion of the company's November Breeding Stock Sale. The single-session auction will start at 12 p.m. ET to enable trainers and racing entities to complete their morning activities before the sale. "The success of the Horses of Racing Age portion of the 2021 November Sale coupled with the energy surrounding our April Horses of Racing Age Sale, which was held on the final day of the Spring...

Keeneland has cataloged 4,147 horses for the 79th renewal of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The auction, which spans 12 sessions from Sept. 12-24. To view the online catalog, click here. Print catalogs are expected to arrive in the mail around Aug. 20. "The September Sale is a bellwether event on the annual sales calendar, and we at Keeneland are excited to once again provide a stable and successful marketplace for consignors and buyers," Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin said. "Last year's September Sale was vibrant from start to...

ASCOT, UK--Racing at Ascot this Saturday may focus on the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S., but a top-class card gets underway in style with the running of the G3 Princess Margaret Keeneland S., a race now in its fifth year of sponsorship by the American sales company. Shannon Arvin, who was appointed Keeneland's eighth president and chief executive officer last year, is the first woman to hold that position, and she arrived in the UK earlier in the week to meet some of the company's clients in...

Keeneland, which is preparing to host its third Breeders' Cup championship weekend in November, will offer 22 stakes races worth a record $8.75 million at its upcoming Fall Meet, which runs from Oct. 7-29. The Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund is contributing $1.3 million to Fall Meet stakes purses, pending approval from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, and purses for every stakes race have increased for 2022. "Keeneland has planned a Fall Meet that promises to be better than ever," Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin said. "Adjustments made to the...

Here's a conundrum for you. When does your outstanding yearling become merely one that stands out? It's something the Keeneland sales team find themselves asking a great deal right now, out on the farms, during the annual process of sieving entries into the right tier of the world's biggest yearling catalog. Time after time, they run into the same, nearly superstitious nervousness among some consignors about September Book 1. The action is too tight at the top end. Let this guy be a big fish in a smaller pond. Well,...

Keeneland CEO and president Shannon Arvin and owner, breeder, and businessman Tracy Farmer are scheduled to be recognized for their leadership in Kentucky's equine industry at Midway University's eighth annual Spotlight Awards Thursday evening. The institution, which is celebrating its 175th anniversary, was recently featured in TDN. The night is designed to highlight those who have been leaders in their fields. Arvin will be honored with the Pinkerton Vision Award, which is given to someone who has had a direct impact on improving the lives of women, a woman who...

Keeneland began its official countdown to this year's Breeders' Cup at Tandy Park in Lexington Thursday at a ceremony attended by Breeders' Cup President and CEO Drew Fleming, Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton, Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin, Breeders' Cup Festival Chair Kip Cornett, and GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic winning trainer Brad Cox. "We're excited to officially begin our countdown to the 39th running of the Breeders' Cup World Championships this fall in our hometown of Lexington," said Fleming. "We're so grateful to work alongside leaders like Mayor Gorton,...

Keeneland CEO and president Shannon Arvin has been elected chair of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA). The organization held it fourth quarter board meeting for its 2022 fiscal year Thursday, the first under the NTRA's new president and CEO, Tom Rooney. Arvin, a Lexington native and the third generation of her family to be Keeneland management, is the first female chair in the 23-year history of the NTRA. In other NTRA business at the meeting, the board approved the 2023 fiscal year budget, which runs from Apr. 1, 2022...

The 10th Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit will take place June 22, 2022, in the Keeneland Sales Pavilion, the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation announced Feb. 28. The previous summit, held in June 2020, was a virtual webinar due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The event will be free and open to the public as well as being streamed online. The agenda will include a review of the Thoroughbred industry's implementation of safety recommendations developed at the first summit in 2006 as well as a presentation by Dr. Tim Parkin...