Keeneland, Investing in Racing's Future since 1936.
Issue link: https://keenelandmagazine.epubxp.com/i/681141
68 SUMMER 2016 K KEENELAND.COM "do i hear..." In reality, the shipment was sidetracked somewhere in North Dakota, thanks to a bill of lading labeled "KEENELAND USA." No city, no state, no Zip code. "Keeneland did not have the international reputation that it has today," said Bassett, who at the time was as- sistant to president Louis Lee Haggin II, "so it took some detective work to locate them. "These beams that have become the signature of the pavilion were almost the cause of the demise of the 1969 July sale," he said, with a laugh. A ftting drama for the theater surrounding the sale of prized Thoroughbreds on a stage ft for the sport of kings? Perhaps, but it was also cause for much angst over a project that would set the stage for the meteoric rise of bloodstock sales and establish Keeneland as an international symbol of equine commerce. Back to the future To understand the drama surrounding the missing Left, Keeneland's frst sale was held in a tent in 1943. Below, the frst permanent structure was erected on the grounds in 1944 and served its purpose for more than two decades. arches is to understand the widely held opinion in the mid-1960s that the time had come for a new, more modern sales facility. After all, the old one — a 60-by-80-foot frame building formerly owned by Fasig-Tipton — had been moved from Paris Pike and reassembled at Keeneland in 1944 after wartime restrictions kept Kentucky breeders from the usual practice of shipping their yearlings to Saratoga. "I remember the old pavilion was nice, but it wasn't a whole lot more than a glorifed tent …," said Pope McLean, a Lexington horseman who sold horses at the pavilion's inaugural sale. "At the time the old structure seemed fne, but then you move forward to something like the new pavil- ion; it just made you realize what we hadn't had." Originally constructed in 1929, the old facility served its purpose during "Gosh, I just remember back in those days, the summer sales were such a social event and all the parties that were held then Ñ very extravagant parties. And even at the night sales, there were people from around town that werenÕt even in the horse business that would come out just to be part of the event. With that kind of facility it made it pretty glamorous." Ñ POPE MCLEAN SKEETS MEADORS; BELOW, BREEDERS' SALES MEDIA GUIDE, 1947 ANNE M. EBERHARDT