Churchill Downs scarves for sale
to benefit women in racing charity

Center For Women in Racing, a division of Bethlehem Farm, Inc., today announced the launch of their scarf campaign to assist the women of the Thoroughbred industry. The scarves are being offered for a reduced price to aid immediate crises at the Center.

Bethlehem Farm, Inc., a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization, and their Center for Women in Racing are dedicated to developing facilities and services to assist women who work on farms, training centers and racetracks with physical, emotional and spiritual needs, alongside the Thoroughbreds they love.

The Italian silk scarves, which are official Churchill Downs Kentucky Derby scarves were made in Como, Italy, and feature the racing silks of previous Kentucky Derby winners in color combinations of green/gold, pinks, grays, cream/pink, and navy/pink.

The concept for Bethlehem Farm and CWR is based on years of research and experience with troubled women, as a general population group, and is tailored to meet the specific needs of women who live and work with horses in the racing industry. The healing program is designed to reach the women who have a unique lifestyle centered on the care and training of racehorses.

Dawn, a successful CWR graduate, overcame severe alcoholism and has been sober for six years. “I was so happy to be able to ride sober,” said Dawn. “I also paid off my room at CWR and my horses’ board at Bethlehem Farm by becoming the barn manager. Together they saved my life and the lives of my retired Thoroughbreds, Frank and Darlin’ Mon.”

Crisis struck Dawn while recently galloping racehorses, when she discovered that she would soon be wheelchair-bound without immediate back surgery. Previously, Dawn was a long term exercise rider for John T. Ward and galloped Monarchos, the 2001 Kentucky Derby winner. Most recently Dawn rode for Eric R. Reed, until struck incapable of riding due to her progressive degenerative disc disease.

Through the charitable status of CWR and established relationships in the medical community, the CWR has arranged for the bulk of Dawn’s surgical costs to be covered. However, another crisis hit CWR within days of Dawn’s crisis resolution, when four more women were directed to CWR with immediate crises of their own – two experienced riding accidents, one suffered domestic violence and was homeless, and one woman was debilitated by substance abuse.

“The CWR is a service and prototype of what the industry’s ‘best practices’ should be: To care for the women in racing at all levels of the sport,” said CWR founder Sandra White, “Although we are on the top of racetracks’ and the chaplains’ list of where to send the women in crisis, we are not consistently funded to the point of being without a financial crisis of our own, thus the “Scarf Campaign”.”

To participate in the Scarf Campaign, please visit www.CenterForWomenInRacing.org or call 859-987-2258.

From Bethlehem Farm