Out of the sandbox: Keenland

(I'm in Florida so here's a pre-written post!)

I have lived in Kentucky now for almost 3 years and this was my first time at Keenland. Shame!

But that said, Keenland is as amazing as everyone says it is. Churchill Downs is ... ok. It has always seemed like this glorious, fun place when I watched the Derby in the past. And then I went on just a regular weekend and my opinion of Churchill changed. It is in a terrible neighborhood (a few miles from where I work, and where I carry mace on me at all times). It's a little bit dirty. It's a place to gamble and that is obvious.

But Keenland. Keenland is grand, it has a rich, expensive feel to it. It's clean and very well kept. You could almost eat off the floor in the bathrooms. I did not feel the need to carry mace in my hand there at all. hahaha. Yes, it's also a place to gamble but the atmosphere there is different. Yes you have some skeezeballs walking around, but most of the people are there for 1) the fashion show and 2) to enjoy a nice day and drink. And look important.

 I did go down for the end of the September Yearling Sales. This was a first for me and a real educational experience. Last week I went for an actual race day.

The yearlings are first walked around in one of the holding areas. Potential buyers can look at individual horses, even go up and run a hand over them. Buyers will almost always have the sales book on them - in which lists each horse by hip number (most of them did not have registered names yet but were simply listed as "chestnut filly" or "bay colt."). The book also listed a variety of things about the horse such as their breeding and how much money their sire, dam, grandsire, etc won.

Each yearling also had Xrays on file if you wanted to see them. There were vets everywhere with an iPad handy to pull up the rads, or you could speak to a vet of your choosing to go over the health records and rads if you wanted to.

One of the holding areas

Interestingly enough, VERY few of these yearlings had clean Xrays/records. Many of them had OCD, ridges, saw several with club feet, cribbers and numerous other issues. I am not sure if this was consistent throughout the sale, or if it was just because these yearlings on the last day were slim pickin's.

The size and body type varied so much I was really surprised. There were some yearlings that looked like big strapping 2-year-olds. A few looked like race-fit Quarter Horses. Some were still weedy and awkward and looked like what I would expect a yearling to look like. But clearly, these things were getting walked, muscled up and fed small children perhaps to look like they do. Yikes.

As each horse goes into the auction ring, you could either go into the ring and bid - or there was a small area just outside the door in which you could bid as well. I was careful to keep my eyes and head down when I wondered over here for fear of accidentally bidding. Although there was a chestnut colt I would not have minded bidding on.

Inside the sales pavillion. These seats are normally reserved but we sat down
without a problem since it was the last day.

Last year, this September sale sold $280,491,300 worth of horses to tell you what kind of money goes through this place. I went on the last day this year, and the yearlings on the auction block were on the "cheap" side. The million dollar babies were the week before. But still, I saw a couple of youngsters sell for more than $30,000 - not cheap in my book. And there were those that sold for $2000 or so. I believe there were more than 4,000 yearlings listed.

Keenland hosts an all-ages sale in January, a 2-year-old sale in April and a breeding stock sale in November. However, I don't think those sales bring in nearly the amount of moo-lah as the Yearling sale. There is so many hopes and dreams - and gambling - as people select what they think could be their next big champion.

When I returned for a day at the races, I was not disappointed. It was full of life and some awesome people watching. There were quite a few skanks young ladies who were bound and determined to wear their skirts on this 60 degree, windy day. They had to have been cold. I always laugh at people who suffer in the name of fashion. To each their own. We watched a few races, but didn't bet on anything. I am terrible at picking the winners. I typically gravitate toward the big boned, pretty sport horse types. They don't always win. :)

Possible yearling sales graduate?

I mean, can we talk about this?

Crowd on race day

The saddled the horses in the paddock area as they were walked around.

If you ever get the chance to visit Keenland, do so. You won't regret it.

Plus, there is no shortage of booze.