Keeneland Library | Horse Racing Free Tips

Blue Grass Stakes Exhibit Opens at Keeneland Library in April

A Rite of Spring: the 100th Running of the Blue Grass Stakes will open at the Keeneland Library Apr. 1. The exhibit features photographs that capture race highlights over the decades, as well as memorabilia from notable jockeys Bill Shoemaker, Mike Manganello and Chris Antley and celebrated runners such as Whirlaway, Riva Ridge, Spectacular Bid and Strike the Gold. The exhibit's photographs, curated from Keeneland Library collections and public submissions from professional and amateur photographers, spotlight some of the greatest moments of the time-honored spring stakes.

“We are fortunate to have rich resources in the Library's collections to celebrate this historic running,” Keeneland Library Director Roda Ferraro said. “The exhibit features never-before-published photographs alongside iconic shots that capture some of racing's greatest equine athletes and their connections spanning more than 100 years. The public submission call for photographs was a welcomed boon to the exhibit's curation process, and we are pleased to spotlight the work of photographers in concert with images from the Library's collections.”

The free exhibit is open to the public Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Library.

The 100th GI Toyota Blue Grass S. will be run Apr. 6.

Other Spring events at the Keeneland Library include tours titled, “From Keeneland to the Kentucky Derby” the week of Apr. 29. Each tour will include a visit to the track to watch racehorses train, spotlight Keeneland sales graduates who made their mark in the Kentucky Derby and provide an exclusive tour of Keeneland Library's latest exhibit.

Turf writer Tom Law will be at the library for a night of handicapping the 2024 Kentucky Derby May 1 and, beginning May 11, Starting Gate Storytime will combine a reading of a children's book centered on horses with a literacy, art, history, industry awareness or STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) activity. Keeneland Kids Club mascot Buckles will be on hand to brush up on his reading and spend time with young racing fans and horse lovers. The series is ideal for learners ages four through eight.

For information on all the spring events at the Keeneland Library, visit keeneland.com/library.

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Eclipse Award-Winning Photographer Barbara Livingston Gifts Jim Raftery’s Turfotos Collection To Keeneland Library

Edited Press Release

Keeneland Library received a history-making gift from six-time Eclipse Award-winning photographer Barbara Livingston, who has donated an estimated two million photographic negatives from the collection of famed Turf photographer Jim Raftery.

Raftery's Turfotos Collection is the most comprehensive photographic collection of Thoroughbred racing in 20th century North America, chronicling the sport's human and equine legends for nearly 60 years, from the late 1930s through the early 1990s.

“We are incredibly grateful to Barbara for placing this incomparable historic industry asset in our care,” Keeneland Library Director Roda Ferraro said. “The Raftery Turfotos Collection is the largest gifted still image acquisition in Keeneland Library history, and we are honored to preserve Jim Raftery's legacy for future generations of researchers, writers and racing fans.”

Barbara Livingston | Horsephotos

Livingston, the longtime chief photographer for Daily Racing Form, acquired the Turfotos collection from Raftery's family in 2020 as part of her personal quest to preserve racing's photographic history.

“Jim Raftery was among the all-time great racing photographers; he was stunningly prolific and a character to boot,” Livingston said. “I gave the majority of negatives and slides from the Raftery Collection to Keeneland Library because they will provide the collection a safe haven.

“I grew up inspired by so many photographs from the collections of Skeets Meadors, C.C. Cook, and more, that Keeneland Library provided to others for their use,” she said. “I saw how the Library preserved these collections, as well as the respect they have for history and photographers. The Library was clearly the right choice for me and, more importantly, it was the right choice for Jim Raftery and his family. Jim Raftery's name will now continue to be seen and, with Keeneland's help, his photographs will no doubt inspire future photographers, racing historians and racing fans.”

In December, Ferraro traveled to Livingston's home in upstate New York to coordinate the four-day move of 3,300 pounds of negatives via truck to a climate-controlled off-site storage facility in Lexington.

The Library began processing the collection in January, an undertaking that given its size and scope will span decades. Bin by bin, the negatives will be rehoused in archival enclosures and stored in the Library's 24/7 temperature- and humidity-controlled vault.

Kelso with trainer Carl Hanford | Keeneland Library Raftery Turfotos Collection

Each negative will be indexed and triaged for digitization. An internal indexing system, custom-built by the Library for this project, will render each negative searchable by place, horse, race, person and date, among other metadata fields.

“Without an intake, archival rehousing, processing and indexing workflow customized to this uniquely rich and sizable collection, we would have two million inaccessible negatives,” Ferraro said. “We created a system centered on access and preservation of the negatives in their original form and, when warranted by condition or a high likelihood for potential future use, a digital form.”

The most imperiled negatives will be digitized during processing. Select others will be digitized to respond to patron image requests after each respective negative is indexed and searchable.

“This is a painstaking, slow-moving process, particularly when we encounter negatives that require research to build our collection index with as much identifying information as possible,” Ferraro said. “It can be daunting to look ahead to the roughly two million negatives, but as with all our photograph collections, this is a critical preservation effort that will enhance our capacity to serve our global user base and tomorrow's public and industry stakeholders.”

Keeneland Library works with the entire industry daily to connect journalists, writers, filmmakers, educators and publicists to its photography holdings for use in articles, books, documentaries and exhibits along with race track and farm promotional materials.

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Keeneland Library Expands Exhibit Through Fall, Adds Events

Keeneland Library has scheduled a number of events for the remainder of 2023 to expand the reach of its exhibit, The Heart of the Turf: Racing's Black Pioneers, the repository said in a release Friday.

Due to demand, the Library's free exhibit and its on-site youth and adult programs have been extended through Dec. 8.

Other events include:

Now: Companion book available

The companion book to The Heart of the Turf: Racing's Black Pioneers is available at the Library and The Keeneland Shop (in store and online) for $10. All proceeds will benefit the Keeneland Library Foundation.
Keeneland Library will begin to donate copies of the book to community and industry organizations Sept. 11.

Sept. 15: LexArts Gallery Hop at the Lyric (5-8 p.m.)

To celebrate the launch of the traveling exhibit in Lexington's East End, incoming Library Director Roda Ferraro will deliver the evening's educational program and the first 100 Gallery Hop attendees will receive a free copy of the companion book.

Sept. 19: “Meet the Authors” free at Keeneland Library (6:30-8 p.m.)

Pulitzer Prize nominee Sarah Maslin Nir and co-author Raymond White Jr. will present their new book, The Jockey & Her Horse, the story of Cheryl White Breyer. Books will be available for purchase for $17. A brief program will be followed by a book signing. RSVP here.

Sept. 20: “Meet the Authors” free at the Lyric (6-7:30 p.m.)

After an opening program in the Lyric's Community Room, a meet and greet is scheduled with Nir and White. The first 100 attendees under the age of 18 will receive a free copy of their book, along with free General Admission passes to Keeneland's Fall Meet.

Oct. 21: Cheryl White Breyer Sets at Keeneland

During Sunrise Trackside, a free, family-friendly event at Keeneland from 8-10 a.m. (ET), Keeneland will spotlight White's career as a jockey. Children will have a chance to try on a replica of White's silks, and fans will have a chance to win Keeneland Breyer sets featuring a figure of White, the model horse Jetolara (her first winning mount) and a copy of the book.
The Keeneland Shop and Keeneland Library will host a signing with Raymond White Jr. from 1-3 p.m. Cheryl White Breyer sets and copies of The Jockey & Her Horse will be available to purchase.

Nov. 18: An Evening with Geraldine Brooks at the Keeneland Sales Pavilion (6:30-8 p.m.)

Keeneland Library will host Pulitzer Prize winning-author Geraldine Brooks, who will discuss her 2022 novel, Horse. Details to follow.

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Keeneland Library Director Ryder Retiring, Ferraro Named Successor

Keeneland Library Director Becky Ryder will retire as of Oct. 31, 2023, following better than a decade at the helm of the Thoroughbred information repository and public research facility, and Roda Ferraro, who formerly served as Head Librarian at Keeneland Library and recently curated its popular The Heart of the Turf: Racing's Black Pioneers exhibit, has been named her successor. Ferraro will serve as the incoming Library Director effective immediately and will work alongside Ryder as she transitions to retirement this fall.

Ryder began her career as a college student working in the Music Library at the University of Virginia. She moved to Lexington for Library School at the University of Kentucky and soon became Head of Preservation Services at the UK Libraries, where she served for 18 years before joining Keeneland. Among the highlights of her tenure as Keeneland Library Director, Ryder oversaw the conversion of a manual card catalog into an online catalog system, which offered the opportunity to implement the Library of Congress shelving system. She initiated the Daily Racing Form Preservation Project while at the University of Kentucky, and with help from interns from UK's School of Information, Keeneland Library continued to make progress toward moving its extensive DRF collection online. Ryder established a framework for Keeneland's Digital Library and hopes to launch the collections by fall of 2023.

“During my career, I've had the good fortune to have had positions that I truly loved: music, books, photographs, travel, book and paper conservation, digital library development and the rich history of Thoroughbred racing,” said Ryder. “I have to say that the 13 years working with the Keeneland family have been the very best in my professional lifetime.”

In her new role, Ferraro brings more than 20 years of experience leading, assessing and promoting library, museum, research and educational services, highlighted by her work with Keeneland Library and the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York, since 2014.

“I am grateful to be back home at Keeneland Library,” Ferraro said. “I have connected the public, students and faculty to research and education services at several libraries, museums and universities, but I have never worked with patrons as dedicated and passionate as those I am privileged to engage with every day at Keeneland Library. It has been a joy to build relationships with industry and community partners over the past 10 years, and I look forward to cultivating new collaborative efforts with industry stakeholders as we move the Library forward.”

Said Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin: “Keeneland Library's role in preserving Thoroughbred racing's storied history and making it accessible to fans worldwide is incredibly important to Keeneland. Becky and Roda have both been dedicated stewards of this legacy, using technology, innovation and creativity to advance the Library's goal of being a true public service institution. We thank Becky for expertly guiding the Library through a decade of key expansion and preservation efforts and look forward to continued growth, particularly in education and outreach, under Roda's oversight.”

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