A research center for Thoroughbred racing, breeding, and related subjects, the Keeneland Association Library is located at Keeneland Race Course near Lexington, Kentucky. Amelia King Buckley, who became librarian in 1953, has compiled an alphabetical author listing of the titles in this unique collection as of June 1, 1958. Begun in 1939 with a gift of 2,000 volumes from William Arnold Hanger, the library has grown with the addition of other gifts and purchases, and now comprises one of the finest collections in its field. The published catalog includes more than 900 monograph titles, more than 100 serial titles, selected sales catalogs, private studbooks, bound pamphlets, and a small amount of manuscript material. The volume is illustrated with photographs from the library's remarkable collection of 15,000 negatives taken by the late Charles Christian Cook, one of the first American photographers to specialize in racing scenes.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “A vivid portrait of America’s greatest stallion, the larger-than-life men who raced and bred him, and the dramatic times in which they lived.”—Geraldine Brooks, author of Horse The powerful true story of the champion Thoroughbred racehorse who gained international fame in the tumultuous Civil War–era South, and became the most successful sire in American racing history The early days of American horse racing were grueling. Four-mile races, run two or three times in succession, were the norm, rewarding horses who brandished the ideal combination of stamina and speed. The stallion Lexington, named after the city in Kentucky where he was born, possessed these winning qualities, which pioneering Americans prized. Lexington shattered the world speed record for a four-mile race, showing a war-torn nation that the extraordinary was possible even in those perilous times. He would continue his winning career until deteriorating eyesight forced his retirement in 1855. But once his groundbreaking achievements as a racehorse ended, his role as a sire began. Horses from his bloodline won more money than the offspring of any other Thoroughbred—an annual success that led Lexington to be named America’s leading sire an unprecedented sixteen times. Yet with the Civil War raging, Lexington’s years at a Kentucky stud farm were far from idyllic. Confederate soldiers ran amok, looting freely and kidnapping horses from the top stables. They soon focused on the prized Lexington and his valuable progeny. Kim Wickens, a lawyer and dressage rider, became fascinated by this legendary horse when she learned that twelve of Thoroughbred racing's thirteen Triple Crown winners descended from Lexington. Wickens spent years meticulously researching the horse and his legacy—and with Lexington, she presents an absorbing, exciting account that transports readers back to the raucous beginning of American horse racing and introduces them to the stallion at its heart.