Shannon Arvin

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...

Keeneland has announced a revamped stakes schedule for its 15-day 2022 Spring Meet, which will be held from Apr. 8-29. A total of 19 stakes will be run, and all have received purse increases for a total of $7.7 million in total stakes purses. Among notable changes are that the Apr. 9 GII Toyota Blue Grass S., Keeneland's main GI Kentucky Derby prep, will once again offer a $1-million purse (it was $800,000 last year); and the $600,000 GI Central Bank Ashland ($400,000 in 2021) will be contested on opening...

The seasonal foliage was about the only thing falling at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, which concluded a wildly successful run in Lexington Friday afternoon. Over the course of 10 days of trade, sales officials reported gross receipts of $203,585,500 for 2470 horses sold, good for an average of $82,423. Further demonstrating the strength of middle market, the median price of $37,000 established a new November record, eclipsing the previous mark of $35,000 set on five previous occasions, but most recently in 2014. The buyback rate closed at a...

Shannon Arvin, president and chief executive officer of Keeneland, has been named to The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation Board of Trustees. She fills the vacant position left by D.G. Van Clief, Jr. A member of The Jockey Club (TJC) and a former member of the law firm Stoll Keenon Ogden (SKO), Arvin has served or currently serves on the boards of Bluegrass Care Navigators (Hospice), Horse Country, The Lexington School, and the University of Kentucky Gluck Equine Research Foundation. She is also past president of the Thoroughbred Club of...

A total of 3,594 head have been catalogued for the weanling and breeding stock portions of the 78th Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, to be held Nov. 10-19 in Lexington. The catalog pages for those entries can now be viewed online, and print catalogs will be mailed out around Oct. 15. This year's auction will feature a single session for horses of racing age on the sale's final day. With the entry deadline for those horses extended to Oct. 4, the catalog for that part of the sale will be...

The early returns have been strong at Keeneland's marquee September Sale, both in the numbers on the board and the overall vibe on the grounds, and Wednesday morning, the company's president and chief executive officer Shannon Arvin joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland to talk about her first September Sale officially running the show, the return of some normalcy to the auction environment, what to expect at the upcoming Keeneland Fall Meet and more. "The word we keep saying is electric," said Arvin, calling in via Zoom as...

With the first book of the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale under wraps, the company's president and CEO Shannon Arvin joined the TDN Writers' Room to talk about her first September Sale officially running the show. This week's podcast also featured guest cohost Gabby Gaudet.