Central Kentucky is the epicenter of the Thoroughbred world, its rolling landscape populated with dozens of farms that have made important contributions to the sport of kings through the years. A select few can lay claim to actually directing the path to progress for the entire industry, making decisions that have permanent, lasting impacts, shaping the breed itself – and perhaps no entity fits that criteria more than Claiborne Farm.

They call Santa Anita Park “the Great Race Place,” and they’re not lying: A Left Coast answer to Churchill Downs, the Los Angeles-area track is easily the finest large-capacity horse-racing venue west of the Mississippi, if not the entire United States, and it opens for the season on Dec. 26.