Kids to the Cup Completes Annual Santa Anita Derby Trip!

Members of Kids to the Cup, the sport's fastest growing youth organization (www.kidstothecup.com), visited Santa Anita for the local derby edition and enjoyed a two-day dose of the complete racing experience. In addition to attending the Santa Anita Derby Saturday the group had a full schedule the day before.

Friday morning the group enjoyed breakfast at Clocker's Corner while watching morning workouts. They also attended personalized barn tours conducted by trainers Jenine Sahadi, John Sadler, and Paco Gonzalez, and frontside visits to the receiving barn, press box, television studio, stewards' stand and film patrol judges' office.

Friday afternoon, selected members accompanied runners in the seventh race as they journeyed from the barns of Darrel Vienna and Paco Gonzalez to the paddock—a great behind-the-scenes educational experience.

After the races, the group dined at Chip Sturniolo's The Derby restaurant in Arcadia. Sturniolo conducted personal tours of the historical location rich with lore and racing memorabilia—including tales of the ghost of former restaurant owner and jockey George Woolf, rumored to still inhabit the establishment.

Kids to the Cup is a charitable 301 (c) corporation and will award winners of its fourth annual Triple Crown Essay competition with two tickets and stable tours for all three legs of the Triple Crown.