Keeneland Library Lecture Series Presents: An Evening with Catharine Melin-Moser

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Keeneland Library will host Catharine Melin-Moser in discussion of her new release When Montana Outraced the East: The Rise of the Western Thoroughbreds 1886-1900.

Following the presentation, enjoy a book signing and reception with Catharine Melin-Moser.

Catharine Melin-Moser’s new release, “When Montana Outraced the East: The Rise of the Western Thoroughbreds 1886-1900,” records the untold stories of Noah Armstrong, Samuel Larabie, and Marcus Daly, three former Montana frontiersmen who turned from speculation in valuable minerals to speculation in Thoroughbreds. Eastern and Southern traditionalists stood firm: the pioneering idea to breed exquisite horses in high altitude valleys in “that nowhere of the West” was thought to be “the verist madness.”

More than one thousand miles separated Montana from eastern racetracks. Spotty communications between East and West posed complications. Transportation of valuable horses across the country by rail was expensive, risked injury to the animals, and was stressful. Blizzards stopped trains in their tracks for hours, even days. Equine nerves frayed.

But in time, Armstrong, Larabie, and Daly were fielding equine stars, and the nation’s eminent turfmen, newspapers, and sporting publications repeated the names of Montana’s swift Thoroughbreds that won the biggest prizes eastern racing offered. The horses shaped historical events, became sources for local lore and regional pride, and stamped a Montana imprint in American horse racing history.

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Keeneland Library Lecture Series Presents: An Evening with Catharine Melin-Moser

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