In-plant Brings Its ‘Magic’ to the Racetrack

As the thunder of hooves echoed across Keeneland Race Course, Neon Icon surged forward, inching closer to the front-runner until, in a heart-pounding final stretch, the powerful filly exploded past the leader at the wire, clinching victory — and etching trainer Rusty Arnold’s name in history with his 300th career win at Keeneland.

Inside Keeneland’s in-plant, the print team stands with its Konica Minolta equipment. From the left: Jared Cosby, Will Hopkins, Bailey Lindeman, Don Slaughter, Van Alford, and Kevin Moran. | Credit: All photos courtesy of Keeneland

As the grandstand erupted in cheers, the crowds had no idea that, on the back side of the race course, Keeneland’s eight-employee print shop was already processing, printing, and mounting a poster commemorating Arnold’s 300th win, which was then rushed to the winner’s circle to appear minutes later in a photo with him, the horse’s owners, and the jockey.

“We call that the Keeneland magic,” quips Don Slaughter, director of Administrative Services. “Our quick turnaround … is what makes us invaluable.”

Having an in-plant on-site at its racetrack has paid off many times for Keeneland, which not only hosts world class racing on its 1,234-acre property in Lexington, Kentucky, but is also the world’s largest thoroughbred auction house; more than 20 Kentucky Derby winners have been sold there.

“Everything we do is for the good of the horse, and the good of the sport,” reads Keeneland’s mission statement, and its in-plant uses that as its own guiding light.

“Our ability to put out a stellar product in short turnaround is paramount to us being able to fulfill the mission statement,” says Slaughter.

An Intimate Racing Experience

Van Alford processes an invoice job on the Pitney Bowes postage meter after the variable data printing was done on the Konica Minolta AccurioPress C4070.

Nestled in the heart of Kentucky’s Bluegrass region, surrounded by lush green pastureland, Keeneland is renowned for its beautifully landscaped grounds, historical charm, and the intimate racing experience it provides. Built in 1936, it’s a National Historic Landmark and has been featured in several films, such as “Seabiscuit,” “Dreamer,” and “Secretariat.” While Keeneland lies just 72 miles east of Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby, its old-time feel has made it a popular destination in its own right among racing enthusiasts.

Each race day, the in-plant is on standby, with two in-plant employees stationed near the track, ready to relay any milestones that may require the print shop to quickly launch into action.

“If there’s a jockey who’s looking to maybe have his 2,000th win, we’ll be on standby to run a big picture of them in the winner’s circle, and that gets presented to them within minutes,” Slaughter says. “It’s a huge asset to have us on-site to be able to do that quick turnaround.”

Inside its 7,000-sq.-ft. second-floor facility, the in-plant houses three 70-ppm Konica Minolta AccurioPress C4070 digital color presses and a pair of 120-ppm AccurioPress 6120 black-and-white digital presses, with a variety of in-line finishing configurations.

A Variety of Applications

The in-plant’s five production employees and three graphic artists handle design, printing, and fulfillment of a variety of items in support of the racetrack, the nearby simulcast facility, and Keeneland’s sales operation. These include restaurant menus, full-bleed color booklets, variable data promotional mailings, tip sheets showing race odds, business cards, stationery, and lots of event signage.

Bailey Lindeman checks a batch of stickers printed on the in-plant’s Roland TrueVIS VG3-540 wide-format printer.

The shop’s Xanté X-98 flatbed printer produces permanent and temporary signage on foam core and poly metal. Two roll-fed wide-format printers — a Roland TruVIS VG3-540 and an HP DesignJet Z6dr with a vertical trimmer — create banners and soft signage, some of which is installed in the nearby airport to welcome arriving guests. The printers are also used to print lapel stickers for events.

“We run those by the thousands,” Slaughter says.

The shop also uses the flatbed printer to create commemorative items, such as bourbon barrel heads emblazoned with a logo or name.

Though programs and sales catalogs are printed in high volumes by an outside printer, the in-plant prints supplemental copies with last-minute changes. Its ability to do this has proven invaluable.

“We had a horse that raced a couple years ago [Summer Anthem] and our director of sales approached [the owner] and said, ‘This would be a good time to sell that horse.’ He agreed, and so from the time the horse was in the winner’s circle, we had about a three-hour window [to] print all the literature needed for the sale,” Slaughter relates. “Everything they need to make that horse look like it had been entered in the sale for weeks.”

Jared Cosby uses a grommet press to apply anchor points to personalized reserved parking signs.

With live racing at Keeneland taking place over 17 days each spring and another 17 each fall, those periods are packed with work for the in-plant.

“Our busiest time is leading up to events,” Slaughter says. “We go live in April. March will be crazy, seven days a week. We can be pulled in a thousand different directions at any given time.”

A New Facility on the Horizon

Handling the deluge of work in its 7,000-sq.-ft. space has been challenging for the in-plant, but that situation is about to improve, Slaughter says. As part of a $100 million renovation at Keeneland starting this summer, the in-plant will be getting a new and larger facility.

“We’re at a point now where it’s worth investing in the infrastructure to get us a shop that fits our workflow,” he says. “We’re hoping to right size and look at other equipment.” Keeneland trusts the in-plant to make equipment decisions that will save the association money, he says. He anticipates moving into the new facility in the 1st quarter of 2026.

The new shop will greatly enhance the in-plant’s ability to serve the quick turnaround needs of Keeneland.

Kevin Moran checks the quality of a calendar printed on one of the shop’s Konica Minolta AccurioPress C4070 digital color presses. | Credit: Keeneland

“Our customer service is second to none,” Slaughter says. “We pride ourselves on beating expectations.”

One initiative that will aid that is the implementation of a Web-to-print system. Slaughter is researching systems now and talking with other users via the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association’s online forum, which he can’t praise enough.

“It puts us so much farther down the road than starting from scratch,” he says.

An Exciting Place to Work

Despite his 25 years at Keeneland, Slaughter still finds it an exciting place to work. The thoroughbred auctions are always a thrill and often bring in celebrities.

“During a sale … you’ll see [chef] Bobby Flay, [retired quarterback] Terry Bradshaw,” he says. “They’re just there to buy horses. It’s pretty cool.”

And race days, with the cheering crowds and TV cameras, are always electrifying. Being part of the action — and knowing that ESPN’s coverage is bringing a global audience to Keeneland, where they will see some of the in-plant’s work — is a satisfying experience.

“When the eyes of the world are on us,” he says, “it has to be amazing.”