Keeneland Library will host Gary O’Dell in discussion of Reinventing the American Thoroughbred. 

About the Book
Many consider Alexander Keene Richards one of the 19^th century’s most significant Thoroughbred importers and breeders. Richards traveled thousands of miles into the heart of Syria in 1851 and 1855 to obtain Arabian stock for transport to his breeding farm Blue Grass Park, near Georgetown, Kentucky, and Transylvania, his plantation in East Carroll Parish, Louisiana. Richards relied on future Racing Hall of Famer Ansel Williamson, an enslaved trainer, to condition his Thoroughbreds for racing.

Richards’s life story, expertly chronicled in his first comprehensive biography, is an epic tale of adventure, experimentation, and devastation that illuminates the history of the American Thoroughbred industry in the tumultuous Civil War era.

About the Author
Gary A. O’Dell holds a Ph.D. in geography from the University of Kentucky. He joined the faculty of Morehead State University in 2001 where he taught for 23 years before retiring in 2024. O’Dell was appointed State Geographer by Governor Steven L. Beshear in 2014, and he has an extensive publication record, including several articles on Thoroughbred racing in Kentucky.