Records fall at Keeneland's fall meet

Keeneland concluded a successful 2013 fall race meeting on Saturday with

record attendance and all-sources wagering on Keeneland for its 17-day season,

which began October 4.

The fall meet also featured two other historic events: jockey Rosie Napravnik

won 17 races to become the first female to capture the leading rider title at

Keeneland, and Ken and Sarah Ramsey earned their 13th leading owner title after

winning 17 races, a fall meet record.

Keeneland set attendance records for the fourth consecutive race meet.

On-track attendance totaled a record 266,466, up 2.6 percent over 2012's fall

record of 259,710. Average daily attendance of 15,674 rose 2.6 percent over

15,277 last year.

"Our attendance growth is a true testament to our fan base and their

appreciation of great racing," President and CEO Bill Thomason said. "Despite

record rainfall on opening Fall Stars weekend, and earlier than normal cold

temperatures, our fans still turned out in record numbers."

Back-to-back single-day attendance records resulted in a record fall weekend

crowd. On See Blue Day, October 11, attendance of 22,807 was the highest

recorded for a Friday during the fall meet. Attendance of 32,717 on October 12

set a single-day fall meet record, eclipsing the previous record of 28,880 set

on October 7, 2006. (October 12 featured the $400,000 Queen Elizabeth II

Challenge Cup and a night football game between the University of Kentucky and

defending national champion University of Alabama.) Those two days, combined

with a Sunday turnout of 16,927, resulted in a record fall weekend attendance of

72,451.

Top-quality, competitive racing, with race field size averaging 9.85 starters

per race, helped drive record growth in all-sources wagering on Keeneland's fall

meet. All-sources wagering on Keeneland was a fall meet record $139,660,179, up

1.22 percent compared to the previous record of $137,981,281 set in 2012.

Average daily all-sources handle of $8,215,305 also rose 1.22 percent over last

fall's $8,116,546.

On-track handle of $18,173,355 increased slightly over $18,160,018 in 2012.

"Racing was spectacular this fall," Keeneland Director of Racing W. B. Rogers

Beasley said. "Two points in particular speak to its quality. First, many of our

races were oversubscribed with entries; handicappers love full fields of quality

horses. Second, 30 horses that raced here this fall are running in next

weekend's Breeders' Cup World Championships. We want to thank our horsemen and

riders, who continue to show us great support."

Boosted by a four-win day on Friday, Napravnik made history as the first

female to win top jockey honors at the Lexington, Kentucky track. She ranks

fifth among leading riders in North America this year with 225 wins and

$11,613,422 in mount earnings.

Joe Rocco Jr. and Alan Garcia tied for second in the standings with 11 wins

each.

The Ramseys continued their record-breaking pace, winning 17 races to

establish a Keeneland fall meet record for most victories by an owner. The

previous fall meet record of 12 wins was shared by the Ramseys (2012) and Mr.

and Mrs. Robert F. Roberts (1968). The Ramseys count three stakes among their

record wins: the Breeders' Futurity with We Miss Artie; Queen Elizabeth II

Challenge Cup with Kitten's Dumplings; and the Jessamine with Kitten Kaboodle.

The title marks the Ramseys' fourth consecutive Keeneland leading owner

honor, and 13th overall, ranking them just one shy of T.A. Grissom's record 14

meet titles. They have won or shared six spring meet owner titles (2004, 2006,

2010-13) and seven fall meet titles (2000, 2002, 2007-09, 2012-13).

Eclipse Award recipients as outstanding owners in 2004 and 2011, the Ramseys

rank atop the nation's leading owner standings by earnings with $10,901,748. 

Michael Maker earned his second consecutive Keeneland leading trainer title,

and third overall, this fall when his 17 wins more than doubled those of his

competitors. Maker won the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup with Kitten's

Dumplings. He is the fifth-leading trainer in North America this year with 191

wins and ranks seventh by earnings with $7,488,429.

Graham Motion and Wesley Ward tied for second with eight wins each. 

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