Mary Davis Keim's run of 'beginner’s luck' extended into the spring of 1965

Apr 22, 2026 Vance Hanson/TwinSpires.com

1965 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.

A three-year-old female Thoroughbred wins the Kentucky Oaks (G1) every year, while three have pulled off victories in the Kentucky Derby (G1). But in terms of female trainers, only one has managed to win either the Oaks or Derby in the collective 302 runnings of both races.

For a time in the 1960s, Mary Davis Keim was a well-known figure in Midwest racing circles. The wife of a Chicago-based construction magnate, Keim’s 1988 obituary noted that her family tree included Confederate president Jefferson Davis and journalist Damon Runyon, a noted habitue and chronicler of the racing scene in the first half of the 20th century.

Initially gifted racehorses by her husband in the late 1950s, Keim did very well. As an owner. Her best runner, Indian Maid, won 12 stakes during a 66-race career, including three editions of the Falls City H. at Churchill Downs.

By 1964, Keim had become more interested in just owning. While the hands-on work remained done by others, Keim took control of managing her horses.

“It’s a challenge, and I have had full control of my horses since we bought Indian Maid five years ago,” Keim explained. “Each morning is different. I’m almost a walkie-talkie going to the track for works, then I help cool out later.

“My experience as a nurse has been the most fabulous thing. I can look at horses and diagnose their physical condition by their coats and eyes.”

1964 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.

Two days after receiving her trainer's license in May 1964, Keim won her first race, in a stakes no less, when Clem Pac won the Sheridan H. at Arlington Park.

At the time, Keim, a mother of three and grandmother of eight, became the subject of numerous profiles. Her barns at Churchill and Arlington were often decorated with gold awnings, petunias and geranium flower beds, and brightly painted deck chairs. Her stable office had curtains made of Turkish towels, and some of her horses would even have green pillows to lie on in their stalls.

“Things don’t have to be drab. I spend so much time here, I thought I’d give the place that woman’s touch,” Keim said. “They must like it, because everyone drops around for a coffee break.”

An avid curler and golfer (“I have a 16-handicap, 8 when I concentrate”), Keim was also known for her fashion sense. Attending a National Turf Writers banquet, Keim once wore a gold evening dress with gold boots and a floor-length mink coat lined with Kelly green silk.

Keim’s run of “beginner’s luck” extended into the spring of 1965. While Indian Maid had run second in the 1959 Kentucky Oaks, Keim’s entry for the 1965 Oaks, Amerivan, had less obvious credentials.

1959 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.

Second in the Debutante S. at Churchill early in her two-year-old season, Amerivan was subsequently unplaced in four other stakes appearances. The winter and early spring of Amerivan’s three-year-old season wasn’t much better, the highlight being a third in the Mimosa S. at Hialeah.

There was something about running at Churchill Downs, though, that clicked with Amerivan. Six days before the Oaks, Amerivan lost by less than a length in the Oaks Prep, a stakes now known as the Eight Belles (G2).

The Oaks, run at 1 1/16 miles, attracted a field of 10. Favored at 3-2 was the William Haggin Perry-owned entry of Terentia and Respected, both of whom had finished well ahead of Amerivan in previous meetings. Amerivan was the sixth choice at 9-1.

Amerivan ran the race of her life in the Oaks under Ron Turcotte, later to win the Triple Crown aboard Secretariat. Amerivan opened a big lead in the stretch, just enough cushion to hold on by a half-length over Gold Digger, who later became the dam of superstar stallion Mr. Prospector.

Amerivan would win only one more stakes, as a five-year-old, but by then was no longer with Keim, who had astutely sold her as a racing and broodmare prospect for a reported $125,000. Keim herself withdrew from the training profession in the late 1960s after battling cancer, but continued to own horses for years afterward.

Amerivan will never be regarded as a top-flight Oaks winner. But Mary Keim will forever be remembered in the history books of the Kentucky Oaks.