Foxhall Parker Keene (December 18, 1867 – September 25, 1941) was an American

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

race horse ''Race Horse'' was an 1850 clipper barque. She set a record of 109 days from New York to San Francisco during the first Clipper Race around the Horn. Construction ''Race Horse'' was similar to a barque built by Samuel Hall a few years earlier, ...

owner and

breeder A breeder is a person who selectively breeds carefully selected mates, normally of the same breed, to sexually reproduce offspring with specific, consistently replicable qualities and characteristics. This might be as a farmer, agriculturalist ...

, a world and Olympic gold medallist in

polo Polo is a stick and ball game that is played on horseback as a traditional field sport. It is one of the world's oldest known team sports, having been adopted in the Western world from the game of Chovgan (), which originated in ancient ...

and an amateur

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player. He was rated the best all-around polo player in the United States for eight consecutive years, a

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

er who competed in the U.S. Open, and a pioneer racecar driver who vied for the Gordon Bennett Cup. In addition to his substantial involvement in

flat racing Horse racing is an equestrianism, equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all spor ...

, he was also a founding member of the National Steeplechase Association.

Biography

He was born in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, on December 18, 1867, to Sarah Jay Daingerfield and James Robert Keene. At the time of his birth, his father was president of the

San Francisco Stock Exchange The San Francisco Stock and Bond Exchange was a regional stock exchange based in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1882, in 1928 the exchange purchased and began using the name San Francisco Stock Exchange, while the old San Fra ...

. James R. Keene was also a major owner/breeder of thoroughbred racehorses and a founder of

The Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the United Kingdom. It owns 15 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs and both the Rowley Mile and July Course in Newmarket, among ...

from whom Foxhall Keene inherited Castleton Farm, an important breeding operation near

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

. Keene was an avid

er who competed in the 1897 U.S. Open and who made it to the quarterfinals in the 1898

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

. Although he played at a high level in a number of sports, he excelled at the game of polo. A 10-goal player, he was a member of the Rockaway Hunting Club in

Lawrence, Nassau County, New York Lawrence is a village in Nassau County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the village population was 6,483. The Village of Lawrence is in the southwestern corner of the Town of Hempstead, adjoining the border wit ...

, today the oldest country club in the United States. With team captain Tommy Hitchcock, in 1886 he was part of the first U.S. international polo team that competed in the inaugural International Polo Cup matches against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He was rated the best all-around polo player in the United States for eight consecutive years and won the gold medal in Polo at the 1900 Summer Olympics. Following its formation, he was inducted posthumously into the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame in 1992. Keene also competed as a top-level tennis player, reaching the semifinals of the 1883 U.S. National Championships and the quarterfinals in 1885. With the advent of automobile racing, Keene competed in the 1903 Gordon Bennett Cup at

Athy Athy ( ; ) is a market town at the meeting of the River Barrow and the Grand Canal in south-west County Kildare, Ireland, 72 kilometres southwest of Dublin. A population of 11,035 (as of the 2022 census) made it the sixth largest town in Kil ...

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

driving a Mercedes. In a race won by

Camille Jenatzy Camille Jenatzy (1868, Schaerbeek – 8 December 1913, Habay la Neuve) was a Belgian race car driver. He is known for breaking the land speed record three times and being the first man to break the 100 km/h barrier. He was nicknamed ''Le ...

, he did not finish after his car experienced axle problems. Keene maintained a country home at Monkton, Maryland, and a home in England with a stable at

Melton Mowbray Melton Mowbray () is a market town in the Borough of Melton, Melton district in Leicestershire, England, north-east of Leicester and south-east of Nottingham. It lies on the River Eye, Leicestershire, River Eye, known below Melton as the Rive ...

where he kept up to ten

field hunter A field hunter, or a fox hunter, is a type of horse used in the hunt field for fox hunting and stag hunting. Characteristics The field hunter may be of any breed, but should possess stamina, a level head, and bravery. The horse should have a ...

s for

fox hunting Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, normally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds" (or "master of hounds" ...

. In addition, he had a seasonal residence at Ayer's Cliff, Quebec, on Lake Massawippi. In strained financial circumstances later in life, he retired to Quebec to be close to his sister. In 1938 he published a memoir, 'Full Tilt. The Sporting Memoirs Of Foxhall Keene", in collaboration with his friend writer Alden R. Hatch. He died on September 25, 1941, at Ayer's Cliff, Quebec.

References

External links

Eclipse Press story of James and Foxhall Keene

Foxhall Keene racing in his Mercedes
(

Vanderbilt Cup The Vanderbilt Cup was the first major trophy in American auto racing. History An international event, it was founded by William Kissam Vanderbilt II in 1904 and first held on October 8 on a course set out in Nassau County, New York, Nass ...

)
Rockaway Hunting Club information on Foxhall Keene
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Keene, Foxhall P. 1867 births 1941 deaths American male equestrians American male golfers American male tennis players American polo players American racehorse owners and breeders Golfers from San Francisco International Polo Cup Medalists at the 1900 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States Olympic medalists in polo Olympic polo players for the United States Owners of Kentucky Derby winners People from Monkton, Maryland Polo players at the 1900 Summer Olympics Racing drivers from San Francisco Tennis players from San Francisco 19th-century American sportsmen