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Keeneland Trustee Louis Lee Haggin III Dies

Louis Lee Haggin III, hailing from an illustrious racing family and a longtime fixture at Keeneland, died Mar. 5, according to Keeneland Tuesday. He was 88.

A lifelong Thoroughbred owner and breeder, Haggin III managed his family's Sycamore Farm. A great, great grandson of legendary horseman James Ben Ali Haggin, who was also the founder of Elmendorf Farm, Haggin III's grandfather, Hal Price Headley, was among the founders of Keeneland. His father, Louis Lee Haggin II, served as the track's second president and subsequently its chairman.

“Keeneland mourns the loss of Louis Lee Haggin III, a beloved figure in Thoroughbred racing and breeding and a pivotal member of the Keeneland family. Mr. Haggin, who served as both a Director and Keeneland's longest-serving Trustee, leaves a legacy of leadership and service to Keeneland, the horse industry and the Central Kentucky community,” read a statement from Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin. “Mr. Haggin's roots at Keeneland run deep. He followed his father, former Keeneland President and Chairman Louis Lee Haggin II, in his commitment to preserve the best of Keeneland's rich traditions. From his mother, Alma Headley Haggin, daughter of Keeneland co-founder and inaugural President Hal Price Headley, who is credited with developing the “Keeneland look,” Mr. Haggin developed a love of the land and showcasing its beauty. He spent countless hours walking the grounds with esteemed landscape architects George Betsill and Robert Sanders and worked throughout his life to continue his mother's legacy at Keeneland. We do not make a decision about touching a branch of a tree on our grounds without thinking about Mr. Haggin and whether he would approve.

“He joined the Keeneland Board in 1971 and served as a Keeneland Trustee from 1980 until his retirement in 2015. Mr. Haggin was truly devoted to Keeneland and had a special love for this institution. He was a dear friend to Keeneland and to me, and we will miss his presence and guidance.

“Keeneland extends our love and deepest condolences to Mrs. Haggin, Louis, Ben, Gay and the entire Haggin family.”

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Keeneland Icon Ted Bassett Celebrates 100th Birthday

James E. “Ted” Bassett III – “Mr. Bassett” to his many friends and admirers at Keeneland, throughout Central Kentucky and around the world who cherish his regal demeanor and graciousness – has added another accomplishment to his extraordinary life.

On Tuesday, Oct. 26, he turned 100.

Bassett has been synonymous with Keeneland for more than half that time – 53 years in fact. After serving as Kentucky's Director of State Police, he began working for the Keeneland Association in 1968 and was Keeneland President from 1970-1986 before becoming Chairman of the Board. In 2003, he was named a Keeneland Trustee and now is a Trustee Emeritus. Bassett still maintains an office at a cottage on the Keeneland grounds.

During Bassett's involvement with Keeneland, the track grew from an afterthought on the nation's racing calendar to one of the most prominent tracks in North America. Keeneland's sales arm experienced similar growth over the decades, becoming a major international auction house with a clientele from around the world.

Bassett welcomed many famous guests to Keeneland that included then-California governor Ronald Reagan in 1969, Queen Elizabeth II in 1984 and actors Elizabeth Taylor and George Hamilton in 1986.

Bassett's service to the Thoroughbred industry is unparalleled: former President of Breeders' Cup Ltd. and Thoroughbred Racing Associations of America; member of The Jockey Club; Trustee of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, University of Kentucky Equine Research Foundation and Transylvania University; and former Chairman of Equibase and the Kentucky Horse Park.

He has numerous national and international honors for his service to Thoroughbred racing. In 1996, Bassett received an Eclipse Award of Merit for his lifelong contributions. In 2019, he was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame, joining a select group of industry titans recognized as Pillars of the Turf.

Meanwhile, Bassett steered significant fundraising efforts for many worthy causes inside and outside the horse industry in Central Kentucky. Among them:

· Acquiring the Calumet Farm Trophy Collection to prevent it from being auctioned after the legendary farm declared bankruptcy. The collection is housed at the Kentucky Horse Park's International Museum of the Horse, which honored Bassett with an exhibit of his life in 2014.

· Establishing the University of Kentucky's Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center, the only scientific institute in the U.S. with nearly all faculty conducting full-time research in equine health and diseases. The Gluck Center's mission is scientific discovery, education and dissemination of knowledge for the benefit of the health and well-being of horses.

· Building two YMCA facilities in Lexington and upgrading the longstanding facility on High Street.

· Constructing a new facility for the Central Kentucky Blood Center.

· Placing a statue of Sgt Reckless, a horse who carried ammunition for the Marine Corps during the Korean War, at the Kentucky Horse Park.

These are just a few of Bassett's numerous accomplishments.

Bassett, who was born in Lexington, attended the prestigious Kent School in Connecticut and Yale University. A Marine infantry officer during World War II, he sustained injuries to his hand and knee during a tour in Okinawa that led to a Purple Heart for his service. He participated in the initial landing by Allied Forces on Japanese shores.

He met his wife, Lucy Gay (who died May 1, 2016), at her graduation party in Lexington in 1946. Her father, A.B. “Gus” Gay, was a founding member of the Keeneland Association and was a Keeneland Director for 48 years.

Ted and Lucy wed Dec. 2, 1950, and made their home in New York City, where he worked as a newsprint salesman. The couple moved back to Kentucky in 1954 to reside at her family's Lanark Farm, and Ted took up tobacco farming for three years. (Lucy Bassett was an accomplished Thoroughbred breeder, who bred 10 stakes winners, including 2003 Breeders' Cup Distaff-G1 winner Adoration.) The Bassetts had no children.

Stories of Bassett's remarkable life and achievements with lessons in Keeneland's history and traditions fill the book Keeneland's Ted Bassett: My Life, his collaboration with award-winning writer Bill Mooney that was published in 2009.

Click here for another look at the amazing Mr. Bassett.

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Bill Farish Succeeds Seth Hancock As Keeneland Trustee

Lane's End Farm's William “Bill” Farish, who serves on the boards of numerous Thoroughbred industry and Central Kentucky organizations, has been appointed a Keeneland Trustee. Farish succeeds Claiborne Farm co-owner Seth Hancock, who is retiring as a Keeneland Trustee after having served since 2015.

“I am thankful for the opportunity to have served as a Keeneland Trustee for the past several years,” said Hancock, “and I know that Keeneland is in very capable hands.” Hancock will remain on Keeneland's Board of Directors.

“On behalf of Keeneland, I want to extend our thanks to Seth for his longtime service, his leadership and his wise counsel,” Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin said. “As he has done with many others, Seth has taught me so much about the horse industry. He is an iconic figure who has served both Keeneland and the sport with great integrity and humility.”

Farish was named to Keeneland's Board of Directors in 2010. He joins Everett Dobson, prominent Thoroughbred owner, breeder and Executive Chairman of Dobson Fiber, and William M. Lear Jr., Chair Emeritus of Stoll Keenon Ogden, as a Keeneland Trustee.

“Bill's demonstrated passion for racing, his commitment to excellence and his desire to continually better the horse industry is consistent with Keeneland's values,” Arvin said. “We welcome his expertise and guidance.”

A lifelong Thoroughbred owner and breeder, Farish is General Manager of his family's Lane's End Farm near Versailles, Kentucky, which has bred more than 300 stakes winners and is home to such leading stallions as Quality Road, Candy Ride (ARG), Twirling Candy, Union Rags and City of Light. He founded Woodford Racing in 2005 as a Thoroughbred racing partnership designed to attract new owners to the sport.

Additionally, Farish is Executive Vice President and a member of the board of W. S. Farish & Co., a Houston-based trust company.

“This is a tremendous honor for me,” Farish said. “Keeneland holds such a prominent position in the Thoroughbred industry and is such a vital part of life in Central Kentucky that I view this as not only a privilege but an important responsibility.”

Farish has been an active contributor to the Thoroughbred industry throughout his career. He is a member of The Jockey Club and current chairman of the Horse PAC, the federal political action committee of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. He is on the board of the Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP) and the Breeders' Cup, where he served as chairman for two terms. He formerly served on the board of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association (KTA), on the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association's Graded Stakes Committee and as past president of the Thoroughbred Club of America.

In the Central Kentucky community, Farish is a trustee of the University of Kentucky's Markey Cancer Foundation, a member of the advisory board of Central Bank and board member of the Town Branch Fund. He previously served on the boards of both the University of Kentucky and Transylvania University.

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