James Robert Keene (February 8, 1838 - January 3, 1913) was a Wall Street stockbroker and a major thoroughbred race horse owner and breeder.

As a young man he made a fortune through shrewd investments in California and Nevada mining companies and was eventually appointed president of the San Francisco Stock Exchange.

His colt Spendthrift won the 1879 Belmont Stakes, and after Pierre Lorillard had shipped some of his American-bred horses to race in England and became the first American owner to win The Derby, Keene followed suit.

Such were his talents at market manipulation that he was soon engaged by J. P. Morgan and William Rockefeller to manage funds for them and Keene emerged once again as a wealthy and powerful force in the New York financial community.

[1] By 1891 James R. Keene was back to investing in racehorses and his Castleton Farm near Lexington, Kentucky became one of the most important breeding operations in the history of American horse racing.