By Vinny Porco
Saturday, Sept. 14 saw the advent of an exciting community involvement event at Louisville’s historic Churchill Downs Racetrack.
College students from the Louisville area and surrounding states enjoyed free admission at the track for a series of races beginning at 11:30 a.m. and ending at 6 p.m. According to Churchill Downs Marketing Manager Xaimara Torres, students filed in from colleges and universities all around the region, including University of Louisville, Bellarmine University, University of Kentucky, Xavier University, and Indiana University.
These students joined the many other spectators in watching races, placing bets, and indulging in Churchill Downs’ many food and drink options.
Not only did students enjoy free admission to watch the day’s many horse races, as well as free Churchill Downs hats and tote bags, but many also entered into a series of scholarship giveaways funded by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association. The total pool of scholarships amounted to $2o,ooo, with the largest scholarship of the day totaling $10,000. Among the students who won were Indiana University Southeast’s Ke’shaw Jones (left, yellow shirt) and UofL Sophomore Kayla Stidham (right, blue dress).
Stidham, a Business Administration major, heard about the event from an Equine Business class she had dropped earlier this semester due to having a full schedule. Not knowing about the scholarship giveaway beforehand, she registered using her UofL Cardinal Card and went on to win the $10,000 scholarship. Stidham said, “I just filled out the registration thinking, ‘Oh, you know. You get your cute little tote bag, your little hat, potential too,’ but I never thought it would happen. And then I got the phone call was just surprised.”
Optimism surrounding the event filled the racetrack, especially those involved with organizing the event from Churchill Downs and UofL. Churchill Downs Marketing Director Michelle Walkup told the Cardinal, “We’re very excited about the turnout, and really appreciate the support that we’ve received from the UofL team, from the Bird’s Nest and from the Equine students.”
