James E. “Ted” Bassett III will be signing copies of his autobiography, Keeneland’s Ted Bassett: My Life, at the Keeneland Gift Shop on Saturday, October 17, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.  Bassett will be accompanied at the signing by his co-author, two-time Eclipse Award-winning journalist Bill Mooney.

Bassett’s tenure at Keeneland has spanned more than 40 years, during which he has served as president, CEO, board chairman and trustee. He currently holds the title of trustee emeritus. Bassett’s autobiography was published this past spring by the University Press of Kentucky.

“It’s appropriate that we’re going to have a book signing on October 17, because that’s the day of the (Grade 1) Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland,” Bassett said. “The Queen’s visit to Keeneland, the first she ever made to a United States racetrack, occurred 25 years ago this fall.”

 An entire chapter in the Bassett autobiography is devoted to the Queen. “It was an honor and a privilege to host her visit here a quarter-century ago,” Bassett said. “And it was an absolute joy to write about that experience and, effectively, relive it again.”

The book is into a second printing, “and we’re hoping it might go to a third printing before the end of the year,” Mooney said. “Ted and I have been immensely flattered by the reception it has received. We spent 3 ½ years researching and writing his autobiography, and it was worth every hour of effort.”

In reviewing the book for Thoroughbred Times, Mary Simon assessed Keeneland’s Ted Bassett: My Life as “an extraordinary autobiography” that provides “a narrative of racing’s own story these past four decades, a tale in which Bassett found himself occupying a front-row center seat.”

The book can be purchased through numerous outlets, including the Keeneland Gift Shop, Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com and directly from the University Press. An excerpt from the book and other information are available on www.tedbassett.com.