Keeneland announced today that it will provide simulcasting in high definition (“HD”), beginning with its fall race meeting, to be held October 9-31.

 

Keeneland Broadcast Services will produce a full 15-camera HD production for every race, which will be offered to all simulcast sites through Roberts Communications Network.

 

“Today viewers have come to expect the clarity and quality of high definition television not only at home but at every sports and entertainment venue,” said G.D. Hieronymus, Keeneland’s Director of Broadcast Services. “Thoroughbred racing must invest in HD and consider all avenues of distribution. Roberts Communications Network has made that distribution commitment for the future, and it’s our responsibility to provide content at its highest level.”

 

“We are pleased to see a racetrack as prestigious as Keeneland become part of the HD content movement in racing,” said Todd Roberts, President and CEO of Roberts Communications Network. “The availability of Keeneland’s HD simulcast, along with other tracks already providing simulcasts in HD, will allow us to offer racing fans premium content on a year-round basis in high definition – a big breakthrough in the process.”

 

The move marks another step in the multi-year expansion of Keeneland’s HD technology. The track embarked on the process in the fall of 2006, installing the infrastructure to support HD technology as part of the massive Polytrack® renovation. At that time, Keeneland formed a strategic alliance with Thomson Grass Valley, a world leader in digital video technologies, purchasing HD cameras.

 

Last fall, Keeneland became the first racetrack in North America to provide live, closed-circuit race coverage and limited simulcasts in HD format.

 

In recognition of its exceptional simulcast production, Keeneland has twice been awarded, in 2006 and again in 2008, the Thoroughbred Racing Associations’ International Simulcast Award for outstanding race coverage.