Gatewood Bell

"We bought the bar with a credit card," recalls Ken Donworth. "Forty thousand bucks, credit card debt at 20 percent. And we paid it off in three or four months." He shakes his head. "That was 1998. I don't think I'd do it now. So we did take risks, no doubt. But we didn't get caught on any of those slippery slopes." On the contrary. In a college town like Lexington, Donworth and his partners soon figured that policing their customers' age was more trouble than it was worth. So...

Gatewood Bell has been appointed to serve on the management committee of Equibase Company LLC, announced company chairman Ian D. Highet. The vice president of racing for Keeneland and a third-generation horseman, Bell also served as president of Cromwell Bloodstock for a decade before joining Keeneland as well as previously serving on the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. He has been a member of The Jockey Club since 2020 and serves as a member of the Breeders' Cup. Bell fills the vacating board seat of James Gagliano, president and chief operating...

The New York Racing Association has announced the formation of an All-Weather Surfaces Committee to study the impact of various racing surfaces on equine injury rates. According to a Wednesday NYRA press release, the committee, which first met last October, will evaluate safety metrics from tracks utilizing all-weather racing surfaces, as well as study the feasibility of broader adoption of all-weather surfaces nationally. The committee, chaired by NYRA CEO and President David O'Rourke, was formed at the request of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, as part of HISA's strategic...

Purses for maiden special weight (MSW) races are projected to remain unchanged for the third straight spring at both Keeneland Race Course and Churchill Downs. Track executives disclosed the pre-condition book figures during the Feb. 1 Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) advisory board meeting. Keeneland expects to write $100,000 MSW races for 3-year-olds and older horses, with 2-year-olds competing for $80,000, according to Gatewood Bell, Keeneland's vice president of racing. Continuing a condition that Keeneland tried last fall, Bell added that there will also be four maiden-auction races written for...

In addition to awarding a season record $8.1 million for their 19 stakes races over the course of the meet running from Apr. 5-26, Keeneland will also celebrate the 100th running of the $1-million GI Toyota Blue Grass S. this spring. A total of $1.5 million is being contributed to the stakes purses from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF), pending approval from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. "Lucrative purses and outstanding competition make Keeneland's Spring Meet a highlight of the racing calendar for horsemen, horseplayers and fans during the...

Undefeated in three career starts, but facing a steep trifecta of challenges to scale--trying dirt, graded company, and the tough New York circuit for the first time--New York Thunder (c, 3, Nyquist--Start Over, by Midshipman) set sizzling fractions on the front end of Saratoga's GII Amsterdam S. Friday and held sway to win by 7 1/2 lengths while eased up late despite spending most of the stretch on his wrong lead. His 1:07.77 six-furlong split was faster than the 1:07.92 track record set in 2019 by Imperial Hint (Imperialism) in...

The stakes schedule for the Keeneland Fall Meeting was released Wednesday, featuring 22 events worth a record $9.05 million in prize money. The richest event is the $1-million GI Coolmore Turf Mile, while the purse for the GI Darley Alcibiades S. has been increased by $100,000 to $600,000. The Franklin S., raised to Grade II status for this running, will receive a $50,000 boost to $350,000. Of the 22 added-money events, 12 are slated for the turf and 10 on the dirt, with six programs offering multiple stakes. The Kentucky...

Keeneland will offer free digital race-day programs for download for its Spring Meet, which begins Apr. 7, in an initiative to increase access to data for horseplayers and fans. "Keeneland believes that access to data is an important step in both educating and engaging our fans," Keeneland Vice President of Racing Gatewood Bell said. "We piloted a digital program during the pandemic that was incredibly well received when fans tuned into our racing product from afar." Complimentary race-day programs, which feature past performances from Equibase, will be available for download...

Keeneland will award a season record $8.05 million for 19 stakes to be run during its 2023 Spring Meet, which will cover 15 days from Apr. 7-28. Two focal points on the schedule will be the 99th running of the $1 million GI Toyota Blue Grass and 86th running of the $600,000 GI Central Bank Ashland, both major targets of the nation's top 3-year-olds. Keeneland has increased the purses of two Grade I stakes for older females--the GI Madison and the GI Jenny Wiley--by $100,000 apiece to $600,000 and has...

Bret Jones is the vice president at Airdrie Stud located in Midway, KY, a 2,500-acre breeding operation founded in 1972 by his parents, Governor Brereton Jones and his wife, Elizabeth. He is a graduate of the University of the South (Suwanee) and has formally been a member of the team at Airdrie since 2006. He also serves on the Board of the Breeders' Cup, a position he's held since 2011, and was a commissioner on the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission from 2016-2020. He currently serves on the board of trustees...

A total of 20 individuals were elected to serve as Breeders' Cup Members, it was announced Tuesday. Voting for the 2022 Member election by Breeders' Cup 2021 foal and stallion nominators was concluded at 5:00 p.m. ET June 6. The following individuals, listed alphabetically, received the most votes from the Breeders' Cup nominators to fill 20 Member seats. Each Member will serve a four-year term: Rory Babich, Antony Beck, Gatewood Bell, Case Clay, Alan Cooper, Everett Dobson, William S. Farish, Jr., H. Greg Goodman, Jonathan Green, Fred W. Hertrich, III,...

Twenty-four members of the racing industry are on the ballot for the election of 20 Breeders' Cup members. On May 27, the Breeders' Cup Election website will open for 2021 Breeders' Cup foal and stallion nominators to begin the voting process. Of the 24 candidates on the ballot, 17 are incumbent members standing for re-election. The 20 individuals receiving the most votes will each serve a term of four years. Members are elected every other year by Breeders' Cup foal and stallion nominators through a proportional voting system based on...