Lexington

With a $10,000 prize to the winner, the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award named its semi-finalists, the competition said in a Thursday release. Inaugurated in 2006 by the late philanthropist and global executive Tony Ryan, and sponsored by his family's Castleton Lyons Farm near Lexington, Ky., the award honors the best writing related to the Thoroughbred industry published in 2023. Three finalists will be revealed this summer, with the winner announced during a reception at Castleton Lyons later in the year. The semifinalists are (in alphabetical order, by author name):...

Scott Sander joins this week's TDN Writers' Room to discuss an exciting new venture in the works. He is the Hollywood producer of a romantic comedy called Breeders that will be set in Lexington, Kentucky.

Among the dogs noisily bounding to inquire after your business at Dundrum Farm, one is really something special. Gordon, a big black schnauzer, lost his sight to blastomycosis a couple of years ago, but you would never know it: he scampers confidently along corridors, through doorways, even joins the reception committee outside. "Until he gets on the grass," Lesley Campion explains. "Then he knows that he only has one stride, and has to stop. But no, he's a genius, that dog." Certainly he couldn't exhibit a more certain sense of...

"Mr. Bob," they call him: a nice combination of deference and affection. Both have been amply earned, over the six decades since Robert Hall Jr. established a feed mill that has attained global reach while remaining an unmistakably local, Bluegrass institution. But as befits a man who sleeps in the room where he was born, 94 years ago, the story has roots extending to another era altogether; to a boyhood when Hall--presumably then plain "Master Bob"--saw for himself the difference that good diet could make to livestock. "I was nine...

Robert Osbourne was spending a few weeks helping out at the Stable Recovery house at Taylor Made, taking some time to reset and perhaps figure out some goals for his life, when one afternoon the program's director Christian Countzler walked into the living room looking as white as a ghost. This was a little over a year ago, just as the calendar was turning over to 2023, and at the time Stable Recovery was relying on funding from the Kentucky Career Center to keep the fledgling project up and running....

Light Up Racing, the initiative launched late last year, will host two community events in Lexington in the next two weeks. The events are "designed to empower and educate individuals within the Thoroughbred industry on the power of positive communication and the role of social change in shaping the future of horse racing. These events aim to introduce participants to the tools and knowledge to advocate for the sport effectively, engage in meaningful conversations, and transform perceptions within their networks and beyond," according to the announcement by the organization Wednesday....

The Fayette Alliance will release two new research studies that analyze the remaining land inside of the Urban Services Boundary in Lexington, Kentucky at an open meeting March 5. "Grow Smart: Land Use Analysis and Recommendations" and "Lexington-Fayette County Housing Growth Analysis" will be presented on Tuesday, March 5 at 5:30 p.m. ET in Lexington's Central Library Branch's Farish Theatre, 140 E. Main Street in Lexington. Expanding development outside of the Urban Service Boundary--the circle around the downtown area of Lexington--has been a contentious issue for years in the city...

The Race Track Chaplaincy of America (RTCA) will host its 9th Annual Golf Scramble Tuesday, Apr. 16 at University Club of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky with all proceeds going to support the network of chaplaincies, the non-profit said in a Friday release. The tournament will begin with lunch at 11:30 a.m. ET. before a 12:30 p.m. start. Included in the registration fee are green fees, lunch, team photo, food after the round, a special gift and more. A host of prizes will be given out for longest drive, closest-to-the-pin, door...

by Dr. Mick Peterson and Dr. Wayne McIlwraith This year marks 15 years since the Racing Surfaces Testing Lab (RSTL) was founded by an engineering faculty member at the University of Maine and an orthopedic surgeon from Colorado State University. The non-commercial material testing lab emerged out of the 2006 Grayson-Jockey Club Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit at the urging of Dennis Moore of Hollywood Park and Dan Fick of The Jockey Club. Initially located in one stall of a two-car detached garage in Orono, Maine, the independent...

WinStar Farm will host an Open House for breeders from Sunday, Jan. 7 through Thursday, Jan. 11, between 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET. each day, the farm said in a release Friday. The open houses will be held at the farm's stallion complex on Paynes Mill Road in Versailles, Kentucky. Visitors are welcome without an appointment to view the WinStar roster for the 2024 season, led by Constitution ($110,000 S&N) and Life Is Good ($85,000 S&N). Breeders will also be able to see WinStar's newest additions for 2024: Country...

Keeneland Library's Lecture Series returns in winter/spring 2024 with four ticketed events that celebrate recently published works about Thoroughbred racing whose authors conducted research at Keeneland Library, the repository said in a release Wednesday. During programs planned from January through May, the following authors will discuss their books, with each presentation followed by a reception and book signing: 24 - Kim Wickens, Lexington: The Extraordinary Life and Turbulent Times of America's Legendary Racehorse. 21 - Fred M. Kray, Broken: The Suspicious Death of Alydar and the End of Horse Racing's...

The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance announced a new partnership with Lexington, Kentucky-based equine feed manufacturer Hallway Feeds, the organization said in a release Friday. Family-owned and operated by the Hall Family since 1964, the company is prepared to make a major financial commitment to accredited Thoroughbred aftercare through this collaboration. Select Hallway Feeds bags will proudly feature the 'Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Proud Supporter' Seal. In addition, the partnership will include race presentations and event booths. "Hallway Feeds is proud to support the efforts of Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. As a company that...