Where: Lexington, Kentucky
When: spring, fall
If you like: the outdoors and sports
Why you should go: Visitors from any era in Keeneland’s ninety-year history would find much that feels familiar today. Muscular Thoroughbreds, coats gleaming, still circle the paddock before each race, passing stately limestone buildings and a sprawling sycamore planted around the time the track opened in 1936. When horses and riders thunder down the stretch, a sharply dressed crowd rises in a crescendo of cheers. “Even as certain elements shift or evolve, we want to preserve those iconic race-day moments that fans love,” says Shannon Arvin, Keeneland’s president and CEO.
Change here is always measured against tradition, and this year offers visitors plenty of both. When the spring racing meet kicks off on April 3, fans can enjoy an even closer view of the pageantry from the new $93 million Paddock Building and reconfigured saddling stalls, both designed so seamlessly they feel as if they’ve always been part of the landscape.
The September Yearling Sale, the world’s largest of its kind, will look to top last year’s record-breaking edition. And in October the track will host the Keeneland Championship Sale, just days before the Breeders’ Cup World Championships returns to the venue where the idea for a global contest of the sport’s greatest horses was first imagined. “In 2026 Keeneland will truly be at the center of the Thoroughbred racing world,” Arvin says.
G&G tip: While the action centers on racing meets and horse sales, Keeneland’s grounds are open to visitors year-round. Begin the day with breakfast at the Track Kitchen and take in morning workouts.
