KEEP Emphasizes Working Together

In its first industry conference Oct. 18 in Lexington, the Kentucky Equine Education Project celebrated important progress the group helped make a reality while continuing to emphasize the importance of all breeds working together to benefit the state's horse industry.

"I think people are seeing that unity is how we move things forward," said KEEP executive director Joe Clabes, adding that KEEP can build on a lot of the ideas discussed at the conference conducted Oct. 17-18. Clabes said the group plans to find dates to meet again next year and encouraged participants to submit ideas for new topics or suggestions for improving the conference next year.

Unity proved to be a theme Tuesday for the group that represents all horse breeds in the state, Thoroughbreds of course being of great importance and fueling much of the research and infrastructure that benefits all breeds.

"There's tremendous investment in infrastructure here," said Dr. Stuart Brown, a veterinarian with Hagyard Equine Medical Institute and a Kentucky Horse Racing Commissioner during a panel on where Kentucky's industry stands. "We have some of the great resources: feed, blacksmiths, farriers, veterinariy diagnostic labs, veterinary medicine and research. 

"There are 220 to 250 actively practicing equine vets in the Central Kentucky region. As I tell young people who want to practice in this area, it has to be done at an elite level because everything else here is done at that level."

Chauncey Morris, executive director of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association and Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders, said that infrastructure is one reason breeding in the state has been on the upswing since the Great Recession while other state programs have struggled to rebound.

"Kentucky breeding has been starting to recover. Other states have not returned to the levels they saw before the recession," Morris said. "I have two young daughters, so I'm an optimist. I like to say we're in a recovery."

Morris said increased money to the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund has helped fuel the rebound as well as the infrastructure that has always been here with veterinary facilities like Hagyard Equine Medical Institute and Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital. 

"On the human side, it would be like having the Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins here right next to each other," Morris said.

The addition of historical racing is one of the efforts KEEP has championed. The gaming, which looks like slot machines but bases payouts on a pari-mutuel formula and winning results on previously run horse races, has been added at Kentucky Downs, Ellis Park, and the Red Mile—in a joint venture with Keeneland. Turfway Park is planning to add the games as well, but has not announced a launch date.

Historical racing is closing in on $2 billion in handle, and to date, has generated $22 million for the industry. In 2006 KEEP helped push through tax reform in the state that each year has moved about $10 million to $12 million from the general fund back to the industry.

"That was a big deal and it remains a huge deal," said attorney William Hoskins, who recalled meeting at a dining room table at WinStar Farm in 2004 as KEEP took shape.

Tom Biederman, owner of Biederman Real Estate, said the unique attributes of the area continue to attract top owners and breeders.

"The economic situation of Kentucky, as far as the horse industry goes, is still very strong. This is the best place in the world to raise a horse," Biederman said. "We have the best soil, the best water, the best veterinarians, the best infrastructure. That's why we have 10 or 12 billionaires who own property within 10 or 15 miles of where we are now. I think it's the best lifestyle in the world. It is the place."

Honors: During the conference, KEEP Industry Vision Awards were handed out to Brereton Jones, the former KEEP chairman and owner of Airdrie Stud; and Old Friends Thoroughbred retirement farm.