#estes collection

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This is really cool! They are the same image but the top image is where someone ‘edited’ out the trees in the background. I looked really close and whoever did it had to have a super steady hand because it’s perfect. Look at this page for more information!

[horsesintimidateme]

This is one of my favourite things I’ve found at Keeneland. It’s a picture of the 1932 Democratic Convention. That was the year that Roosevelt completely annihilated Hoover and started his 12 year reign.

The 1932 Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois June 27 – July 2, 1932. The 1932 convention pitted FDR, now governor of New York, against Al Smith and many others.

When it came time to accept the nomination, FDR broke with tradition and flew to Chicago to address the convention in person.  He acknowledged that fact in the beginning of his speech saying, “the appearance before a National Convention of its nominee for President, to be formally notified of his selection, is unprecedented and unusual, but these are unprecedented and unusual times.”

The convention resulted in the nomination of Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York for President and Speaker of the House John N. Garner from Texas for Vice President. Beulah Rebecca Hooks Hannah Tingley was a member of the Democratic National Committee and Chair of the Democratic Party of Florida. She seconded the nomination of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, becoming the first woman to address a Democratic National Convention (Source & Source).

The United States presidential election of 1932 took place as the effects of the 1929 Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression were being felt intensely across the country. President Herbert Hoover's popularity was falling as voters felt he was unable to reverse the economic collapse, or deal with prohibition. Franklin D. Roosevelt used what he called Hoover's failure to deal with these problems as a platform for his own election, promising reform in his policy called the New Deal. Roosevelt won by a landslide, and this "critical election" marked the collapse of the Fourth Party System or Progressive Era. The voters soon were realigned into the Fifth Party System, dominated by Roosevelt's New Deal Coalition (Source).

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This is the Estes Collection. I’ll post a video next week describing how exactly I am processing the collection. I love processing this collection. It is probably my favourite thing I’ve done so far at Keeneland.

[horsesintimidateme]

JA Estes

BIOGRAPHY - Born in Graves County, Kentucky, on March 2, 1902. Editor. Racing Authority, Civic Leader. University of Kentucky, A.B., 1927. Died, September 7, 1970.

He was editor of "Bloodhorse" magazine for several years, beginning his career with the Lexington-based publication in 1930, becoming associate editor, and in 1935, the editor. In 1963, he moved over to a senior advisory capacity for the magazine, serving as well "The Thoroughbred Record."

After graduation from the University, he went to New York as managing editor of "The Daily Running Horse" (1928-29), and then served as turf editor of "The Morning Telegraph," before returning to Lexington in September, 1930.

As a student he was, in succession, sports editor of "The Lexington Herald," sports editor of "The Lexington Leader," and for three years city editor of "The Herald" under Desha Breckenridge and Thomas Underwood. While in New York, he did a year of graduate work at Columbia University.

His wife, the former Betsy Beckner Worth of Lexington, whom he married in 1932, was a professor of psychology at the University. In November of 1963, the Jockey Club Stewards authorized setting up a statistical bureau according to plans submitted by him. He established the bureau in cooperation with Spindletop Research, which had the computer and the technical staff.

He was author of the annual "American Race Horses," 1952-61, and was a contributor to the "Encyclopedia Britannica," the "Dictionary of American Biography," and "Thoroughbred Racing and Breeding," among other publications.

He was a member and President of the Lexington Rotary Club, on the board of Keeneland Race Course (194146), President of the Thoroughbred Club of America, and a member and President of the Torch Club. In 1963, he was named Chairman of the Advisory Committee Toward Improving Education (ACTIVE), aimed at creating a modern technological school in Central Kentucky.

He was instrumental in beginning the Bookmobile Service throughout Kentucky. His memberships also included the Keeneland Club, Polo Club of Lexington, the Lexington Country Club, Pi Kappa Alpha, Alpha Delta Sigma, Lamp & Cross, the Mystic 13 and a number of others.

Joseph Alvie Estes was named to the Hall of Distinguished Alumni on November 6, 1970 (Source).

IMPACT - The AEI was developed by Joe Estes while he was editor of The Blood-Horse. He came up with the index to allow comparison of stallions from one generation to the next without resorting to a side-by-side look at earnings in dollars, which naturally don't maintain equal value over time.  It should be possible to compare sons of Seattle Slew with sons of Man o'War, who lived generations apart.  It should also be possible to compare offspring of two contemporary sons of Sadler's Wells regardless of the size of their foal crop -- Northern Spur (IRE) has 5 juveniles this year, for example, while El Prado (IRE) has 60; it would be misleading to compare their progeny earnings in pure dollars.

Basically, Estes figured out what was the average paycheck a runner earned in a year and called this figure the "expected" earnings for the average Thoroughbred racehorse, equivalent to 1.00 AEI. If the annual average earnings for Thoroughbreds was $10,000 and a given runner earned $12,500, his AEI would be 1.25 (or 1.25 times the yearly average earnings figure) (Source).

The late Joe Estes argued incessantly through out his writing career that a mare's race record was the single most important predictor of future success as a broodmare. In the 1999 compilation of his writings and speeches “The Estes Formula for Breeding Stakes Winners”, Estes writes “…regarding pedigree selection… it should usually be a minor accessory to individual selection, being permitted to sway the balance in making decisions which are fairly close on individual merit.” Estes was a staunch believer in acquiring successful racemares, with female families and pedigree being minor considerations (Source).