Horseplayers Reign in Fundraising Poker Tournament
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Photo: Courtesy of Santa Anita Park
Ethan Donnelly
Santa Anita Park's Memorial Day Weekend "Folds of Honor" Charity Poker Tournament, conducted May 28 after the races in the track's newly remodeled Baldwin Terrace room, raised more than $40,000 to help provide scholarships to spouses and children of disabled or fallen American military veterans.
With Santa Anita's iconic "The Shoe Wants You" T-shirts proving to be a popular item among racegoers, Santa Anita was honored to have Folds of Honor representative Liz O'Hare present the winner's trophy for Saturday's Grade III Honeymoon Stakes, won by Cairo Memories.
O'Hare later related her moving story to a room full of poker tournament participants about how Folds of Honor paid for her education following her father's combat death in Iraq.
Horseplayer Ethan Donnelly placed first and received a Santa Anita Poker Tournament Championship Bracelet.
Fellow horseplayers Trey Lockerbie and Glenna Helm placed second and third, respectively, while jockey Edwin Maldonado, players Dan Wells, "Big Rich," Jeff Schmidt, J.T. Taylor, Tia Wightman, and Alexis Quiroz made the tournament's final table.