Bill Thomason

Having already canceled its 2-year-olds in training sale and subsequently announcing that racing would be conducted with no fans in attendance, officials at Keeneland have canceled the Spring race meeting set for Apr. 2 through Apr. 24 due to safety and health concerns surrounding the Coronavirus outbreak. The decision was accelerated by guidance from the Center for Disease Control Mar. 15, which cautioned against holding large events including "conferences, festivals, parades, concerts, sporting events, weddings and other types of assemblies." The recommendation was that events attended by 50 or more...

Keeneland has announced the cancellation of its upcoming April 2-Year-Olds in Training and Horses of Racing Age Sale scheduled for Apr. 7 out of "an abundance of caution to do our part in containing the spread of COVID-19," the organization announced Thursday afternoon. Keeneland also announced that its spring race meeting would open Apr. 2 without spectators, but with a limited number of credentials provided to those directly connected to horses running at the track. Keeneland will reevalute the situation to consider re-opening Apr. 15. Patrons who purchased tickets for...

Trainers Jorge Navarro and Jason Servis, the two biggest names among the 27 people indicted Monday after an investigation into horse doping, are due back in court Mar. 23 for their arraignment. Both were arrested Monday in Miami and released on bail. As part of the bail agreement, the court imposed the requirement that Servis and Navarro not have any contact with racehorses without the presence of the third party owner of the premises where the horse is stabled. The indicted horsemen will be allowed to enter a guilty or...

Keeneland and Churchill Downs will ban the race-day use of Lasix in all 2-year-old races under the International Medication Protocol authority granted in 810 KAR 8:050 of the Kentucky Administrative Regulations beginning with Keeneland's 2020 Spring Meet and following at Churchill Downs Racetrack's 2020 Spring Meet, according to a joint press release Thursday. Kentucky's Thoroughbred race tracks supported sweeping medication reforms, including the Lasix ban, adopted by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) in late 2019. The tracks also jointly announced major changes in racing and training policies to strengthen...

Fasig-Tipton Company, Inc. and Keeneland Association representatives announced revised procedures to provide funding to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA).  Beginning with the 2020 yearling sales, all sellers/owners will be charged 0.05% of the sales price (for example, $50 on a $100,000 sale) on each horse sold at public auction with the two companies. Previously, sellers have had the opportunity to "opt out" of the TAA contribution. The sales companies will each continue to contribute 0.05% of the sales price on each horse sold at their respective auctions. Buyers will continue...

Keeneland Association Inc. has been named among the 2020 'Best Places to Work in Kentucky' by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and the Kentucky Society for Human Resource Management. Winners were selected in three categories, with Keeneland named among median companies (150-499 employees). The selection process, managed by Best Companies Group, is based on an assessment of the company's employee policies and procedures and the results of an internal employee survey. "Keeneland is proud to once again be formally recognized as one of the best places to work in Kentucky,"...

It's no secret that racing had a tough year in 2019. We asked a cross-section of participants what their number one goal is to make racing better in 2020. (Want to participate? Email [email protected]) BILL THOMASON, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, KEENELAND My goal for the New Year is simple in theory: to make racing a safer sport. In practice, however, meeting this goal requires unprecedented cooperation from various industry factions to adopt enhanced safety and integrity standards uniformly across all 38 racing jurisdictions.　It also means developing a true culture...