Keeneland, Investing in Racing's Future since 1936.
Issue link: https://keenelandmagazine.epubxp.com/i/681141
54 SUMMER 2016 K KEENELAND.COM long view him, what are you accomplishing? You have to be very pragmatic. So we went back and said, "OK, now we are going to put in the best dirt track." I went to every racetrack and got fve-gallon buckets of sand. We have a very good scientist at the University of Kentucky, and I said, "I want you to study the porosity of all these buckets of sand. We brought in some other experts on sand, because sand can't be just sand. And, we wanted to keep the excellent drainage. We tried different kinds and found what would work for this climate. We found something and then did a sand search, and my heart was in my throat because I thought, "They'll probably fnd the best sand in Nevada and then I am going to have to explain to the board how we are going to truck this stuff in here. This will be my last hurrah." But very fortunately, we found some within 100 miles and brought that in. That, plus the drainage we had before, has been very, very excellent. We have had fve inches of rain, and the track held up magnifcently. Trainers and owners are pleased with the consistency of it. We hired a new track man, Javier Bara- jas, who had been track man at Arlington and in Dubai. He is a workaholic of the frst order. He takes it very much to heart, not only on dirt but he is a turf wizard as well. And we put in a fexible rubber rail on the turf course. Obviously, the Breeders' Cup at Keeneland last year was an enormous success from all vantage points. What were the challenges and satisfactions from your specifc role? RB: We had been asked a number of times if we would host the Breeders' Cup, and we had always said no, for a variety of reasons. But we realized it was time for the Breeders' Cup to come "home" — because a vast majority of the funding comes from within a 40-mile radius with the fees from stallions and foals. But we had to make sure it didn't interfere with the November breeding stock sales. We had to put 1,500 to 1,600 horses on the grounds to sell! Sales are our bread and butter, so we had to sit down with the sales guys and fgure out how we could do this. Geoffrey Russell and Tom Thornbury and their team worked very hard to devise how we could get sales horses on the grounds and not impede the race meeting or the stabling of the Breeders' Cup horses on Rice Road. We had to have them all there at the same time and have people able to go and look at them. The stabling on Rice Road was perfect: 350 stalls, quiet, good security. We went out and got the National Guard. The horsemen loved those barns, and those that we had to displace, we paid "rent" at places we found for them to move their horses to. We heard a lot of naysayers, but we were pretty sure we could do this because we had not been averse to bringing up road blocks to each other during meetings: "How would you do this? How would you do that?" So we had stood the test of fre by the time we came out of those staff meetings. We were over the moon with the two days. The track was in great shape; Javier did a great job with the safety of it. The best horses won, and we were lucky to have American Pharoah as the icing on the cake. We proved we could do it. We wanted it to be the best Breeders' Cup that has ever been, and we think it was. When you go overseas and people say how much they enjoyed it, you realize how much Keeneland means to so many people. This place is a standard, set by the founders and brought to great heights by Mr. Bassett, Mr. Greely, and those who have followed. And the city was wonderful. People in Lexington feel like they own this place, and in a way they do. I had somebody come up to say that they were worried about Keeneland being able to put on the Breeders' Cup successfully. And then he said, "I should never doubt this place." What do you think racing's greatest strengths are? RB: The chance to be close to these wonderful animals. When you are out by the paddock and you see these horses come by and the colorful silks, and then you see them turn for home, it is something you can't grasp unless you are there. Even if you don't make a wager but are pulling for the gray or the chestnut and they are making a move on the turn, it is something so hard to describe. Racing has the ability to touch people of all walks of life. I always say if we could ever bottle that emotion, we would have so many owners that we wouldn't know what to do with them. KM Beasley and racing offcial John Veitch ANNE M. EBERHARDT PHOTOS