No horses injured in Thoroughbred Center fire

A two-alarm fire Wednesday morning at the Thoroughbred Center, a training facility owned by Keeneland near Lexington, Ky., did not affect barns or injure horses. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.

The fire, first reported shortly after 8 a.m. Eastern, began near the tack shop of the training center, which is located on Paris Pike just outside of Lexington. Employees in the building emerged safely, though one firefighter and one woman were treated for smoke inhalation.

With brisk winds in the area a complicating factor, firefighters were still battling flames more than two hours later. With the Lexington Fire Department reporting on its Twitter account that 63 firefighters and 32 units were on the scene, parts of Paris Pike were closed to allow access for emergency vehicles and equipment.

The Thoroughbred Center was established in 1969 as the Kentucky Horse Center and was previously owned by Spendthrift Farm and Churchill Downs. Keeneland purchased the facility – about 20 minutes from the racetrack – in 2000 and changed its name. The facility, which includes two training tracks, is open year-round and typically houses 900 to 1,000 horses, according to its website.