Post by Da Boss on Jun 30, 2020 22:12:40 GMT -5
If you're into horse racing, and who in Kentucky isn't, then Keeneland is the place for you! Rated as the Number 1 Horse Track by the Horseplayers Association, and listed on the National Register for Historic Places, the race track on the outskirts of Lexington has no equal. In fact, you've already seen it! Since it is the only racetrack which is regulated by the National Register for Historic Places, they have been barred from modernizing their facilities for the past forty years. Which means, if you've seen Seabiscuit or Secretariat, or any other movie involving horse races which is set before the 1990s, you've seen Keeneland. It is the only place in the world they can film those movies on location.
Situated on property that once was owned by one of the founders, Jacke Keene, the racetrack and barns were constructed in the 1930s. Keene and a number of his cronies were getting fed up with the racing industry's focus on the owners of famous horses, and on the jockeys who would sit atop them maybe once a month during training and racing season before moving on to the next horse that would earn them their prize. The problem was, as a horse breeder, there was little that Keene and his friends could do to shake things up. That's when he got the idea; instead of trying to change the industry to let them come to the table, just steal the whole damn table. The Horse Breeder's Association would construct their own racetrack, and make it a non-profit track. They would all collect their share as the owners, and then whatever pittance was left over would be donated to some charity as a tax write off. And the best part of it all was, as the owners, they would get to pick which of the owners were allowed to race which horses at the track!
The idea took off, and now the operation of the non-profit is a trillion dollar a year industry. They've cut back on the racing aspect as things have gone along. After all, there's that "other" famous racetrack that's an hour's drive away that draws in the tourists. So, instead, they would continue to hold their more influential and popular races, and then focus the rest of their time and energy on the buying and selling of racehorses. But not themselves, that was far too risky of a gamble; one broken leg, one thrown shoe, on mouth cyst and you were broken and destitute. No, instead they would host the sales and collect a percentage of the sales, so that other people could place their money at risk. And somehow, the idea took off.
The Keeneland Horse Sales bring in revenues with so many zeroes behind it that the Greatest Generation thinks it is the second coming of Yamamoto. The end result was just what was always intended; the Breeder's Association became filthy rich and earned their place of respect, and the city has been able to hang its hat on the "charitable" works of the social elites. Give a hundred thousand dollars to Big Brothers Big Sisters and people stop asking what happened to the rest of the trillions you made.
All of this has resulted in something of an icon for the city of Lexington. They have a historic landmark that is regularly used in filming movies, the horse industry got a major boost that catapulted Lexington into being the undisputed Horse Capital of the World, and the unclean masses of professionals have a place that they can go to day drink while losing money on the ponies. It is a perfect win-win-win. Or, as they say in the industry, "Go, Baby, Go!"
Situated on property that once was owned by one of the founders, Jacke Keene, the racetrack and barns were constructed in the 1930s. Keene and a number of his cronies were getting fed up with the racing industry's focus on the owners of famous horses, and on the jockeys who would sit atop them maybe once a month during training and racing season before moving on to the next horse that would earn them their prize. The problem was, as a horse breeder, there was little that Keene and his friends could do to shake things up. That's when he got the idea; instead of trying to change the industry to let them come to the table, just steal the whole damn table. The Horse Breeder's Association would construct their own racetrack, and make it a non-profit track. They would all collect their share as the owners, and then whatever pittance was left over would be donated to some charity as a tax write off. And the best part of it all was, as the owners, they would get to pick which of the owners were allowed to race which horses at the track!
The idea took off, and now the operation of the non-profit is a trillion dollar a year industry. They've cut back on the racing aspect as things have gone along. After all, there's that "other" famous racetrack that's an hour's drive away that draws in the tourists. So, instead, they would continue to hold their more influential and popular races, and then focus the rest of their time and energy on the buying and selling of racehorses. But not themselves, that was far too risky of a gamble; one broken leg, one thrown shoe, on mouth cyst and you were broken and destitute. No, instead they would host the sales and collect a percentage of the sales, so that other people could place their money at risk. And somehow, the idea took off.
The Keeneland Horse Sales bring in revenues with so many zeroes behind it that the Greatest Generation thinks it is the second coming of Yamamoto. The end result was just what was always intended; the Breeder's Association became filthy rich and earned their place of respect, and the city has been able to hang its hat on the "charitable" works of the social elites. Give a hundred thousand dollars to Big Brothers Big Sisters and people stop asking what happened to the rest of the trillions you made.
All of this has resulted in something of an icon for the city of Lexington. They have a historic landmark that is regularly used in filming movies, the horse industry got a major boost that catapulted Lexington into being the undisputed Horse Capital of the World, and the unclean masses of professionals have a place that they can go to day drink while losing money on the ponies. It is a perfect win-win-win. Or, as they say in the industry, "Go, Baby, Go!"