Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation
5-2004
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Department
History
Committee Chair
Mackey, Thomas C., 1956-
Author's Keywords
Social sciences; Kentucky
Subject
Keeneland (Lexington, Ky.)--History; Horse racing--Kentucky--History
Abstract
This thesis is an economic and historical examination of Keeneland racetrack in Lexington, Kentucky. The material commences with a historical overview of the role of sport and recreational activities in the United States. Putting sport and leisure activity in the context of mirroring changes in society is the focus of the section. Furthermore, this material explores the general sporting environment in United States history, moves to horseracing's place within that history, then concludes with the scope of the horse and horseracing in Kentucky, and particularly, the Bluegrass region of central Kentucky. The following material focuses on the unique and remarkable history and economic survival of Keeneland racetrack in Lexington, Kentucky. The historiography of United States sport and leisure activities, horseracing, and the horse industry in Kentucky is surveyed in the material. The thesis is divided into five sections, covering the history of sports and horseracing in the United States, the founding of Keeneland racetrack, and the survival of Keeneland as a small, cosmopolitan track amid the larger corporate tracks prevalent in the horse industry of the twenty-first century. The Introduction and Chapter One gives an overview of the history of sports and recreational history and horseracing in the United States. Chapter One concludes with the history of the horse and horseracing in Kentucky and the Bluegrass region of central Kentucky. Chapter Two focuses on the horsemen of central Kentucky's founding and opening of the Keeneland Association and Keeneland racetrack. Chapter Three explores the economic survival of the small, cosmopolitan track within the context of the multi-billion dollar horse industry of the twentieth-century, continuing in the first years of the twenty-first century. The Conclusion highlights the main thesis and arguments for each chapter. This material links sport and leisure activity, through the oldest sporting event in the United States (horseracing), within the context of a comparison between sport and change in society.
Recommended Citation
Carmony, Scott A. 1967-, "A model racing plant : founding and economic history of Keeneland racetrack." (2004). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 210.
https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/210
