Afternoon: Hotel check-in after 3:00PM. Road Scholar orientation session in the hotel conference room at 4:30PM. Your arrival packet will contain an updated schedule of program activities, a list of fellow attendees, and your name badge. Start off your Kentucky Derby experience with an informative overview of the week to come, and a chance to meet our staff and your fellow participants. The site coordinator will provide contact names and phone numbers of program leaders; address responsibilities, questions and concerns; review safety guidelines and emergency procedures; orient you to the hotel location on maps; and discuss the program schedule and what will be included on the field trips. Begin getting to know the program staff and your fellow participants with a get-acquainted session to introduce each member of the group. If you arrive late, be sure to pick up your packet at the front desk. Breakfast each day is in the hotel, lunch and dinner at the hotel or restaurants in the Lexington/Louisville areas. This Road Scholar program offers the opportunity to study and explore the Kentucky Derby in-depth through presentations by local experts, field trips to Keeneland, the Kentucky Horse Park, Thoroughbred Center, Churchill Downs, Old Friends and viewing the Derby on simulcast at Keeneland.

Dinner: Welcome dinner, with multiple entrée choices, at local restaurant allows time to become acquainted with your fellow participants and program staff.

Evening: Introduction session. Get acquainted with your fellow program attendees during the introduction session. The coordinator will facilitate a meet-and-greet experience for the entire group during which each participate will introduce himself/herself. Participants generally share information about where they live, the type of work they do or have done, their favorite pastimes and hobbies. After the discussion, the group may visit on their own. Late arriving participants will receive their program materials and orientation information at the hotel front desk.

Lodging: Hyatt Place

Meals Included: Dinner

Breakfast: Continental breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: This morning's presentation prepares us for our afternoon field trip to Churchill Downs. Hear the History of Kentucky Thoroughbred Racing, presented by a nationally recognized authority on the subject of thoroughbred horse racing and the Kentucky Derby.

Lunch: Lunch on your own at Churchill Downs.

Afternoon: Attend the afternoon races, in Louisville, at Churchill Downs, the "World's Most Legendary Racetrack!" Your admission ticket entitles you to a seat and a program. You may want to celebrate horseracing at Churchill Downs with a mint julep.

Dinner: Dinner, en route to Lexington, at local restaurant features multiple entrée choices.

Lodging: Hyatt Place

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: Continental breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: Expert-led exploration of Keeneland, a combination Thoroughbred race course and sales company in the heart of Kentucky's famed Bluegrass Region. Keeneland provides superior year-round training facilities and annually conducts race meetings of the highest caliber in April and October. Thoroughbred sales are held five times yearly. Keeneland strives to maintain Thoroughbred racing's finest traditions while promoting the industry through three lines of business: sales, live racing, and simulcast racing. You will see the nooks and crannies that are behind-the-scenes to everyone else. Your guide will also answer all your horse track questions. Spend some time browsing the gift shop or investigating on your own. On to Woodford Reserve Distillery, the official Bourbon of the Kentucky Derby. Docents reveal how the final product is carefully hand-crafted and painstakingly selected by the Master Distiller from only the finest maturing whiskey. Long years of slumber in the longest-surviving aging house in the Commonwealth have produced a bourbon of exceptional depth and character, with a complex, full-bodied taste and uniquely smooth finish.

Lunch: Lunch at the Kentucky Horse Park.

Afternoon: Spend the afternoon at the Kentucky Horse Park. This 1,200 acre working horse farm is surrounded by 30 miles of white plank fencing. The park features two museum, two theaters, and nearly 50 different breeds of horses. Here you'll find the gravesite of Man o' War, one of the greatest racehorses of all time. Attend some or all of the daily attractions including the Parade of Breeds presentation, horse-drawn trolley tour, Hall of Champions presentation, Thou Shalt Fly Without Wings, Draft Horse Exodus, International Museum of the Horse, American Saddlebred Museum, and much more.

Dinner: Dinner at local restaurant features multiple entrée choices.

Evening: Evening presentation.

Lodging: Hyatt Place

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Continental breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: Go behind the scenes at the Thoroughbred Center, a working thoroughbred training facility. Learn about a normal working day in the lives of thoroughbreds, trainers, and grooms.

Lunch: Lunch at the Thoroughbred Center.

Afternoon: From the Executive Director of the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association hear about hot topics in the horse racing industry. An amatuer rider, former marketing executive with Santa Anita, associate coordinator of the University of Arizona Racetrack Industry Program and son of the noted Daily Racing Form cartoonist Peb will discuss both the Associaton and the Derby.

Dinner: Dinner at local restaurant features multiple entrée choices.

Lodging: Hyatt Place

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Continental breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: Field trip to Old Friends - A Kentucky facility for retired thoroughbreds. Old Friends began as a retirement and rescue facility for pensioned Thoroughbreds. Then news broke of the inconceivable death of Kentucky Derby winner Ferdinand in a slaughterhouse in Japan in 2002. The discovery gave even more impetus to this organization. "We went from getting five emails a day to hundreds," noted President and founder Michael Blowen. We knew such a death must never happen again. And so the plan became to bring at risk racehorses--those whose racing and breeding careers had come to an end--to Old Friends, provide them with the dignified retirement they deserve, and open the space to the public. By promoting these one-time celebrated horses through a campaign of education and tourism, we realized we could draw attention to all retired Thoroughbreds and all equines in need. Old Friends is the only thoroughbred rescue / retirement facility that accepts stallions. The organization takes exceptional pride in their pensioned champions, among them 1988 Eclipse-winning Turf Champion, Sunshine Forever & one of the last great sons of Damascus, Ogygian. In addition to the pensioned stallions, Old Friends is home to some very deserving retired mares & geldings.

Lunch: Boxed Lunch

Afternoon: Simulcast of the Kentucky Derby at Keeneland.

Dinner: Dinner en route to hotel.

Evening: Closing reception.

Lodging: Hyatt Place

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Continental breakfast at the hotel. Departures.

Meals Included: Breakfast