Day to Speak at Turfway's Race Track Chaplaincy Dinner

Hall of Fame Jockey Pat Day will speak at the Kentucky Race Track Chaplaincy dinner event on Wednesday, March 29 for Turfway Park jockeys and their families addressing the joys and the struggles of a career in the saddle of a thoroughbred racehorse.

Chaplain Pavel Urrichi and newly hired assistant chaplain, Fabian Crespo knew from talking with the jockeys as they met with and pray with them on race days that being a competitive jockey is a demanding and stressful job. Two recent jockey suicides (Alex Canchari and Avery Whisman) emphasized the need to make sure the jockeys know the chaplains are there for them.

Pat Day is the past president of the Kentucky Race Track Chaplaincy and still serves as the "face" of Kentucky's chaplaincy, so he was the natural choice to speak about the joys and struggles jockeys face. These include eating disorders as they try and maintain riding weight, falls often with serious injuries, substance abuse, competition in general, and the stress of just waiting for race day mounts was the inspiration for this outreach event. Pat's own struggles will be very relatable to his fellow jockeys.

In addition to the jockeys, developing a relationship with the families on the backside has been an ongoing focus since hiring Women's and Children's ministry directors at Churchill Downs a few years back, and now the Kentucky Race Track Chaplaincy is expanding that outreach to Turfway and the other tracks they serve. Romina Crespo, Chaplain Fabian's wife, is helping with this event as well as other efforts to reach the families, as they all know the stress affects the whole family.  

Dinner is at 6 p.m. We are grateful to Chip Bach, General Manager at Turfway Park for arranging the donation of the event space in the Turfway Event Center. Childcare and activities will be provided by Erlanger Baptist Church.

It is the chaplain's hope that they can offer the opportunity to the jocks and their families to get to know the chaplains better and to encourage them to reach out to the chaplains when things get tough. 

Every year, there are over 7,000 licensees working at Kentucky and Southern Ohio racetracks to whom the Kentucky Race Track Chaplaincy serves the stable workers, jockeys, starting gate crew, and track staff, ensuring they can have a family church and a home away from home. There are 3 chaplains at the 5 tracks and multiple training centers, as well as women's and children's ministry directors. The Chaplaincy provides a clothes closet, food bank, weekly services, and Bible studies, women's and children's ministries, transportation to off-track appointments, and moral support where needed.

Join us on May 1 to talk "Hoops and Horses" with trainer D. Wayne Lukas and Bellarmine Coach Scotty Davenport as the Kentucky Race Track Chaplaincy Celebrates 21 Years of Ministry to the Backside Workers at Kentucky's and Southern Ohio's Race Tracks at the Race for Grace Gala and Auction to be held Monday, May 1, on Millionaires Row in the clubhouse at historic Churchill Downs from 6-9 p.m. This is the Chaplaincy's main fundraising event for the year.

For more information about the Kentucky Race Track Chaplaincy or to buy Race for Grace tickets, please go to https://kychaplaincy.org. Sharilyn Unthank at 502-297-3508 or sharilyn@kychaplaincy.org