Ken Jackson is front and center in Kentucky’s renaissance

by Murray Brown

Ken Jackson is a man wearing several hats in what I refer to as the renaissance of harness racing in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The truth be known, it is not renaissance at all. The term renaissance denotes a rebirth of an entity. What is now taking place in Kentucky never was, certainly not to near the degree of what is taking place now.

Everything relating to harness racing is up and growing in Kentucky. Purses are at a level far surpassing what we have ever known. New enterprises, whether they be breeding farms, race stables, or training centers continue to sprout up. Instead of just one pari-mutuel racetrack, The Red Mile, the Commonwealth now boasts three. In addition to the historic Red Mile, we now have quality race meets in Oak Grove and Corbin.

The three areas in which Jackson is most prominent are in his joint ownership and management of Kentuckiana Farms, his role in the ownership of the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale, and his role in the stewardship of the rich Kentucky Sires Stakes program, the vehicle which has brought so much new investment in agriculture and prosperity to Kentucky.

We shall attempt to touch upon the three roles in which Jackson is most involved.

KENTUCKIANA FARMS

“You described me as being the ‘Mr. Outside’ in my role at the Farms with my brother-in-law Bob Brady being ‘Mr. Inside.’ That is a very fair description.

“Bob runs the farm and its livestock. I would add that I believe him to be, without a shadow of a doubt, the very best at what he does. He is active in all facets of the operation including dealing with our many clients.

“Bob’s son Ryan appears to be the apple that fell off his father’s tree. He is now our farm manager and is actively involved in the day-to-day running of the farm and the horses on it. We are fortunate that he is so interested and pays attention to detail.

“I am more involved in the business areas of the farm’s operations. I work with advertising, banking, finance, syndications, racing stable, handling the relationship with the team at Churchill Downs [owners of Oak Grove Racing, Gaming and Hotel] and our involvement with the politicians and the Kentucky legislature.

“One of the great assets of our relationship is that Bob and I generally stay in our own lanes and each do what we feel is in the best interest of Kentuckiana Farms. The proof in the pudding is that it works.

“Together, we work on major farm issues like acquiring new mares, stallion share purchases, and expenditures of capital.

“The farm has been through several periods of ups and downs. Because of the growth of the Kentucky Sires Stakes program, brought about through the growth of the Historical Horse Racing, we are now in a period of growth and prosperity. I like to think that we have grown and prospered by learning from our mistakes and benefitted through our hard work.”

LEXINGTON SELECTED YEARLING SALE

“It’s no secret that before the establishment of Lexington Selected Yearling Sale, we, as Kentucky Standardbred Sales Company, and our partners at Tattersalls were operating as competitors.

“The relationship, or lack of one, benefitted neither of us. Worst of all, it made it difficult on our clients.

“Instead of focusing on one week of sales, we were forcing them to attend two. With some clients, it worked. With others, they were forced to choose one sale over the other, or worst of all, not to come to either. The quality of horses offered by both sales were also diluted.

“Instead of having one super select sale, we had two separate ones, each being less selective, but were far shy from being what common sense would dictate it should be.

“Finally, common sense did prevail, and our new team with Randy Manges as our manager got together with the Tattersalls group with Geoff Stein and David Reid running things, to establish the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale. Sadly, Randy and Geoff are no longer with us, but the management team is in the most able hands of Bruce Brinkerhoff and David Reid.

“It’s not just me giving my opinion, but the numbers show that we are by far the best standardbred yearling sale in the world. We are not content on resting on our laurels though.

“We know we have a superior operation, but we will continue to tweak things. This year we’ve eliminated one of our sessions even though we easily could have had more, rather than fewer horses.

“By dropping that session, we feel we have improved the overall quality of the offering and made things more comfortable for our customers.

“Make no mistake of it, the week of sales and Grand Circuit racing, ‘The Lexington Experience’ is probably the most enjoyable week in all of harness racing. It may also be the most tiring one. Eliminating that one day of sales may lessen the burden and enhance the experience.”

ROLE IN THE SO-CALLED KENTUCKY RENAISSANCE

“I’ve been privileged to have been involved in the program since its inception. I suppose that my role as an advisor to the racing commission is what first brought me to it.

“The installation of Historical Horse Racing at the Kentucky racetracks has been the means by which the necessary financing of the program has been established. The fuel is generated by The Red Mile, Oak Grove, and Corbin.

“Since the horse racing industry was the direct vehicle by which all this money has been raised, then why not use this same industry to implement the growth of not only horse racing and horse breeding, but also as an impetus to help agriculture growth in the Commonwealth?

“To say that the program has been a resounding success, would be among the greatest of understatements. Untold millions have flowed into Kentucky with breeders establishing farms and trainers setting up individual or satellite training centers in the state. In the process, new jobs have been created, and new fans have been introduced to the sport, all to the benefit of Kentucky’s best known and its number one industry.

“With our three tracks at Oak Grove, The Red Mile, and Corbin, we’ve been able to establish a program where people can come to Kentucky and train and race for the majority of the year. It has drawn many to do just that. We kick off the year with a 36-day meet at Oak Grove and a lucrative 4-year-old and newly restructured 2- and 3-year-old Sire Stakes program; one that has received high praise from trainers and owners. Also, the new Oak Grove Trotting Derby and its associated Oak Grove Trotting Oaks now kick off the Grand Circuit season.

“We’ve also established a four-pronged incentive program with the Wildcat, Goldenrod, Commonwealth, and Kentucky Sires Stakes championship events at The Red Mile, where trainers can race their horses according to their abilities at any given point in time. The program continues to grow. With this growth will come the need to sometime tweak it, so that it continues to be the very best one that our sport offers.

“The race schedule then segues to The Red Mile culminating in the historical Grand Circuit week of racing, the greatest week of racing in our entire sport. The year then winds down at Corbin where overnight racing and year-end lucrative Sire Stakes close out the year for Kentucky breds.

“The growth in attendance and handle has been amazing. At Oak Grove, we began just six years ago with modest daily handles of $40,000-$50,000. Last season, they averaged nearly $400,000 and raced over 36 days. On Oak Grove Derby Eliminations Day, the track handled roughly $875,000.

“Oak Grove is owned by Churchill Downs. I’ve been privileged to work with the executives running the show. In a few words, they are brilliant, innovative, and driven. They are always willing to try new initiatives. We have found that some things work and perhaps others may not. But its only by trying that we are able to find out.

“Everything horse related in the Commonwealth is growing. Keeneland’s yearling sale now going on is up, attracting untold dollars from throughout the world. I hope that carries forward to our yearling sales; we will find out in just a few short weeks.”

NOTE: Purely by accident, I discovered that this story is number 350 that I’ve been involved with for HRU. Last week I received an email from my friend Seth Rosenfeld congratulating me on last week’s story on Rex King. I thanked him, mentioning that I felt that it was one of the best ones of the 300 or so I’ve written for this journal. I thought to myself “300? I wonder how many I’ve actually written?” So, I went to the HRU website and found that the actual number was 349. No, I’ve not become my friend Roger Huston, where I keep track of every race call I’ve made. It was purely by chance that I came upon the number. I thought back to a time seven years ago when the two Daves, Briggs and Reid, persuaded me to embark on writing for HRU. My immediate response was an absolute: No! Here I was 78 years old, newly retired and bored. I had never, or perhaps very rarely, written anything in my entire life. Seventy-eight years of age was no time to begin doing something I hadn’t done before. The Daves were persistent. They said “Why not give it a try? Your friend Ronnie Gurfein did it, post career, so can you. With your history in the sport, you have loads to contribute.” They dragged me kicking and fighting to begin writing what was destined to become a weekly column. Of all the emotions, I felt when beginning to write, fear was the most prevailing. That is an emotion I still feel, to perhaps a lesser degree each week, when my self-imposed deadline approaches. When I had written less than a hundred columns, my fear, in addition to concern about the quality of the columns was that I was running out of topics to write about. Editor Dave quickly disabused me of the notion. He said, that there are literally hundreds of people and horses that I could profile. As usual, he was right. As for the fear relating to quality, that is still with me. I doubt that it will ever leave. The 350 columns undoubtedly include some stinkers, with probably most of the others being no more nor less than adequate. There have been a few such as the one on Rex King and the second one on Chuck Sylvester which were winners, that I felt in my bones were that from its inception to the time that it appeared in HRU.