A Keener Impact
Leading trainer Dee Keener continues to set the pace as one of the industry’s leading conditioners, while his wife, Wendy, is a respected breeder and owner who has served in pivotal regulatory roles that have helped shaped Oklahoma’s racing industry.
Dee Keener is a man who speaks in humble tones and thinks in fast strides. From mornings with his wife, Wendy, at their Inola, Oklahoma ranch to the electric atmosphere of Remington Park, Keener has risen to the top of the trainer ranks with an ironclad principle: let the horses do the talking.
On the track, his runners speak with a roar. As the All-Time winningest Paint and Appaloosa trainer in history, having surpassed the legendary Lewis Wartchow, Keener’s dominance with mixed-breeds is nearly unparalleled. According to Equibase, his mixed-breed ledger alone accounts for 629 wins and a staggering earnings total of $9,925,463.
His success is equally formidable on the Quarter Horse front, where he has recorded 412 victories and finishing in the money an additional 709 times, amassing over $7.6 million earnings. Currently, Keener is riding a hot hand as he chases a fourth consecutive training title at Remington Park. He remains the man to beat in Oklahoma. In 2025, he shattered the Remington Park record for the most wins in a single mixed-breed season with 54 victories. Dee was also a leading owner at Remington Park last year with Jay Ross under the name of 918 Bloodstock. He is the man to catch this year at Remington Park.
Despite holding the credentials to lead a classroom, Keener graduated from Northeastern State University with a degree in elementary education, his heart has always been firmly with the horses. He followed a path paved by paternal advice, earning a safety net of sorts through education before pursuing his life’s work as a trainer, ultimately trading chalkboards for the stable.
“I went to college at Northeastern State University and got a degree in
elementary education, but I never pursued it,” shared Keener. “I went straight into training horses right after
I got out of college. I was rodeoing through that time, but my dad always told me to go to school and get a degree and then you can do anything you want to do after that. ‘Get an education first,’ he always said.”
Inola Roots
Long before the record-breaking seasons and Grade 1 wins, the Keener story began simply enough. It was during his early days galloping horses that Keener’s profession and personal life intersected. While galloping horses for his future father-in-law, Keener met his wife, Wendy Ingersoll Keener. Married 31 years this June, the Keeners have two sons, Razz, 26, and Radley, 21.
“My dad trained and I galloped for him and Wendy’s dad also trained and I galloped for him and that’s how I met Wendy.”
Wendy notes that their path in the Quarter Horse industry may not have been the original plan, but a simple change of focus shifted the trajectory.
“We’re both from Inola and we have both been in the horse industry our entire lives,” said Wendy, who is a lawyer and served on the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission (OHRC) for six years (2017-2023) and has also been a member of the board of directors of the Oklahoma Quarter Horse Racing Association (OQHRA). “Dee rodeoed when we first met and he did that up until the time we got married, then he started training. It never crossed our minds that we would be doing what we are doing these days. I figured we would be living on the ranch, doing cattle and living happily ever after. But once he started training, it all went in a different direction very quickly.”
Wendy’s involvement in regulatory and advocacy roles complements the Keeners’ deep roots in the Oklahoma racing industry.
“I’ve always been involved,” Wendy said. “I do not regret serving at all. I’m glad I did it. I did lose some friends, though. Serving in that capacity you learn that it is not a popularity contest, that’s for sure.”
Wendy’s industry participation extends beyond regulatory roles and being the wife of a trainer. She also breeds and owns horses under the banner of Painted Faith Racing, a partnership with Steve and Lorie Wright. They also stand a stallion, stakes winner and graded stakes-placed PHQ Apollitical Jess, who stands at Wright Farms in Oklahoma. PHQ Apollitical Jess is the sire of WF Jess Candy (APHA), who was bred by Wright, owned by Painted Faith Racing, and trained be Dee. The sorrel gelding annexed both the Speedhorse Paint and Appaloosa Futurty-G1 and the Oklahoma Paint and Appaloosa Juvenile Stakes.
“Our partnership used to be named the Paint Horse Queens,” Wendy related. “I was a partner with Steve’s late wife, Tracy. She passed away and we changed the name to Painted Faith Racing at that time around seven years ago. I am a breast cancer survivor, so faith is very important to me and to Steve’s wife, Lorie. It’s a great partnership.
“When you breed one that does well at the racetrack, that is the ultimate reward,” Wendy continued. “My parents bought me my first racehorse when I was 17 years old and that pretty much did it for me. And she was a winner. Real EZ Lady was her name. She won at Blue Ribbon Downs.”
A Winning Philosophy
Though Dee eventually became a leading trainer of Quarter Horses, Paints, and Appaloosas, his early success came from a different breed thanks to a connection on the West Coast.
“My dad always trained Quarter Horses, but when I first started training, I trained Thoroughbreds,” Dee said. “I had a guy in Southern California who would send me horses that had been running at Santa Anita and Hollywood Park. They struggled to make money in California, so he would send horses here. I did pretty good with them and was even the leading trainer at Will Rogers Downs a couple times. I enjoyed training…
