Jockeys and Jeans is set to host its ninth annual fundraiser at the iconic Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on Saturday, June 24, at 7 p.m. Attendees will have the opportunity to mix and mingle with a host of Hall of Fame Jockeys, enjoy a seated dinner, and bid on unique racing memorabilia and other valuable prizes in both a silent and live auction.
For tickets, please call 855-234-7469 or go online to ticketmaster.com (http://ticketmaster.com)
“This year's event represents an historic step in our evolution,” said Jockeys and Jeans President, Barry Pearl. “We hope to set a record for funds raised at a horse racing related charity event. This will also be our first event not held at a Thoroughbred track, but all the folks at Caesars Palace are experts at hosting events and are going full tilt boogie to make sure ours is a huge success.”
Pearl said he expects the event to break the record of 17 jockey Hall of Fame members who attended the event in 2017 at Gulfstream Park and set a record with an expected 10 former jockeys, who are no longer riding races but wheelchairs and will be honored by the Hall of Fame Jockeys for their perseverance and courage.
“We will also soon announce our 'Man of the Year,'” Pearl said, “It will be a person known worldwide to bettors and horsemen alike and one whose speech will draw increased interest in the cause for safety in our sport as well as helping racing's fallen heroes.”
Jockeys and Jeans is an all-volunteer group founded in late 2014 by five former jockeys who originally intended to hold a reunion at Tampa Bay Downs. But a few weeks before the scheduled event, they decided to make it a fundraiser for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF). Named Jockeys and Jeans, it was held in an open sided pavilion where attendees sat at picnic tables with red checkered table clothes and mingled with Hall of Famers Walter Blum, Bill Boland, Pat Day, and Ramon Dominquez, who during a vicious thunderstorm spoke of the need to support other severely injured former jockeys.
The inaugural event raised $23,000 and in the seven subsequent events and yearly stallion season sales, Jockeys and Jeans has raised a total of $2.6 million. All event proceeds go to the PDJF, a charity that pays a $1,000 monthly stipend to some 60 former jockeys who suffered career ending injuries.
“As they say, 'we've come a long way baby, but we ain't done yet,'” said Pearl. “But in all seriousness, we thank the many hundreds in the racing community as well as track executives, the media, breeders, and organizations who have placed this cause deep into their hearts. We could not have come this far without them. Racing cares.”
Tickets are available for purchase now at 855-234-7469 or go online ticketmaster.com (http://ticketmaster.com) Early bird and past attendee tickets are available for $110, single tickets are $125 and VIP tickets are available for $250. If attendees are interested in purchasing a table, nine-person tables are available for $1,800 where guests will have the opportunity to sit with a Hall of Fame Jockey.
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