Thoroughbred Times asset auction nets $165,000

An online auction of many of the assets of bankrupt Thoroughbred Times concluded Feb. 1, with items including the publication's trademarks selling for a total of $165,000.

David Bradshaw of Utah was the winning bidder on the publication's numerous trademarks and copyrights, as well as the domain name www.thoroughbredtimes.com, securing the rights for $93,000.

Other high-ticket items included a customer e-mail list, which brought $23,000.

Keeneland Library secured the Thoroughbred Times library for $8,900, a collection of hard copy photos and digital photos for $20,500, and a historical clipping files for $4,700.

In terms of the Keeneland Library purchase, approximately 10,000 volumes and 57 file cabinets comprising books, journals, clip files and photographs are among the contents acquired, which will be publicly available at the Lexington, Ky., library once inventoried and cataloged.

“The Thoroughbred Times library is an extremely well-crafted collection,” Keeneland Library Director Becky Ryder said. “Much of it will fill gaps in Keeneland’s collection, and some of it will be used in future digitization projects. The photographs and photographic negatives are unique, priceless resources that will greatly enhance the work of researchers.”

The collection includes books and journals, some dating from the 18th century, and complete runs of several industry publications, as well as stallion registries and stud books from Europe, Asia, Australia, Latin America and the United States.

Keeneland also acquired approximately 220,000 photographic prints and 250,000 digital images from the 1940s to the present.

The online auction of assets followed a physical auction at the former Thoroughbred Times office building in Lexington to sell items such as office furniture, that had netted about $10,500.

The Thoroughbred Times was published from 1985 until September 2012, when it abruptly ceased publication under Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Publisher BowTie, Inc., which had owned the magazine since 1994, sold the remainder of its titles to I-5 Publishing LLC on February 1.

Creditors in the Chapter 7 case include 27 former employees, The Jockey Club, many Turf writers and photographers, and other industry stakeholders.