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Keeneland Library

Raíces: The Making of Latino Legacies in Racing Podcast

Raíces: The Making of Latino Legacies in racing Podcast

Raíces: The Making of Latino Legacies in Racing Podcast


The Raíces: The Making of Latino Legacies in Racing podcast series supports Keeneland Library’s bilingual exhibit freely available to the public in Lexington, Kentucky. The exhibit and its education initiatives trace more than a century of history, sharing the stories of men and women from across the Americas who have sustained and transformed the Thoroughbred industry from the late 19th century to today. Select stories of Latinos working at every level of the sport speak to individual and collective legacies central to the evolution of modern horse racing.

The American horse racing workforce has had deep Latino roots for decades, while horses bred in Latin America have shone on the world’s most demanding stages. This podcast series brings together emblematic stories of headline-making, record-breaking athletes, trainers, and international racing and breeding stables alongside the men and women charged with the around-the-clock care and management of horses on the backside of racetracks and at horse farms across the country.

Each chapter stories through the decades from the past to the present. All chapters open with a segment of stories introduced in English by Carlos Morales, producer and host of Agentes305, followed by the same stories in Spanish recorded by the Lexington-based, Guatemalan-born voice recording artist Ana León-Bellamy.

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Raíces: The Making of Latino Legacies in Racing

Raíces: The Making of Latino Legacies in Racing

Raíces: The Making of Latino Legacies in Racing

Now Open


Keeneland Library’s newest exhibit and education initiative, Raíces: The Making of Latino Legacies in Racing, showcases groundbreaking Latino figures in the Thoroughbred racing and breeding industry from the late 1800s to today. The exhibit features biographical vignettes, photographs, memorabilia, awards, and trophies of Latinos in the sport from across the Americas to highlight the breadth and depth of their indelible marks on the industry. Raíces – or roots – are emblematic of their respective stories, individual and collective heritage, and legacies sowed and sustained at every level of the sport over time.

The lives of the exhibit’s 100 featured men and women from Latin America are representative of the profound, far-reaching, and ongoing Latino contributions throughout the Thoroughbred industry. Myriad Latino lives and careers are woven into the past and present of the Bluegrass and its most iconic sport.

Developed in English and Spanish by contributing writers and photographers from six countries, Raíces: The Making of Latino Legacies in Racing celebrates the exceptional human athletes, relentless backside workers, multinational racehorse owners and breeders, committed farm and stable crews, equine veterinarians, multigenerational farriers, racetrack and horse farm communications and media specialists, and pioneering industry professionals who continue to forge their paths across the Americas as they shape the sport’s future. 

Timed to coincide with 250LEX celebrations of Lexington, Kentucky’s 250th anniversary and the country’s 250th anniversary in 2026, Raíces: The Making of Latino Legacies in Racing is freely accessible to the public and racing fans of all ages during the Library’s operating hours of Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The exhibit’s printed text is in English with an audio guide in Spanish.

To schedule an exhibit experience, email [email protected] or call 859 288-4223.  

Podcast Series


The Raíces: The Making of Latino Legacies in Racing podcast series brings together emblematic stories of headline-making, record-breaking athletes, trainers, and international racing and breeding stables alongside the men and women charged with the around-the-clock care and management of horses on the backside of racetracks and at horse farms across the country. Each chapter stories through the decades from the past to the present. 

All chapters open with a segment of stories introduced in English by Carlos Morales, producer and host of Agentes305, followed by the same stories in Spanish recorded by the Lexington-based, Guatemalan-born voice recording artist Ana León-Bellamy.

CURATORIAL TEAM
Roda Ferraro
Elisabeth Gabrielle Kuenzli

ADVISORY PANEL
Gonzalo Anteliz Jr.
Ramón Domínguez
Juan Carlos Feijoó González
Tom Law
Joe Bruno Ortiz
Lenny Shulman
Diana Varon

EXHIBIT PANEL DESIGNER
Jessica Downey

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS, EDITORS & TRANSLATORS
Juan Carlos Feijoó González
Katie Farmer
Roda Ferraro
Elisabeth Gabrielle Kuenzli
Tom Law
Joe Nevills
Joe Bruno Ortiz
Roberto Rodríguez
Lenny Shulman
Natalie Voss
Diana Varon

AUDIO GUIDE VOICE TALENT
Ana León-Bellamy

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Gonzalo Anteliz Jr.
Brien Bouyea
Carlos Calo
Adam Coglianese
Skip Dickstein
Anne Eberhardt
Miguel Espinoza
Roda Ferraro
Silvio Gonzales
Enzina Mastrippolito
Rick Samuels

EXHIBIT SPONSORS AND SUPPORT
This exhibit is sponsored by the Keeneland Association and Susan Naylor / Safari North LLC and supported with 250LEX Cultural Grant funding.