by Anne Doolin, for the Harness Horse Youth Foundation

Lexington, KY — Teenagers and parents from eight states will converge on Lexington’s Red Mile later this week to learn more about harness racing, as well as the careers and opportunities that are available in the sport.

The Red Mile is hosting the Harness Horse Youth Foundation’s Level Two Harness Racing Youth League, with 21 campers and over 40 parents in attendance Thursday through Sunday. Horse enthusiasts from as far away as Maine, Virginia, Delaware, New York and Illinois will join others from the Bluegrass State, Indiana, and Ohio.

The popular Harness Racing Youth League (Level One for kids 11 to 13 and Level Two for those 14 to 16) is now in its ninth year. The camps, run by Ellen Taylor, HHYF’s executive director, are held at racetracks and training farms in several states each summer.

The Level Two camp offers additional insight and learning opportunities beyond the Level One basics of racehorse care, nutrition, equipment and learning to handle a horse on the racetrack. The highlight of each of the Level One camps is an actual race, with assistance by a professional, in front of a racing crowd.

“Level Two offers kids and their parents the ability to become more involved in harness racing, as well as giving them a look at careers in the industry. It gives us the ability to get much more in-depth than we can in the first level,” said Taylor. “A new concept for this camp is having the campers job-shadow a trainer for a morning. Some of these Level Two kids attended a Level One camp, then disappeared for a year or two. It’s really neat how they’ve come back to learn more.”

In addition to activities at the racetrack, campers and their parents will visit several Lexington-area farms — Walnut Hall Ltd., Kentuckiana Farms, Peninsula Farm, and Brittany Farms — as well getting a tour of Hagyard Equine Medical Institute.

They’ll also attend the races at the Red Mile Thursday evening, and four Level One finalists will race in front of the Red Mile crowd on Sunday, August 10. The HHYF race will be contested at 6:05 p.m., just prior to the Red Mile’s first race post of 6:30 p.m.

The Harness Horse Youth Foundation, established in 1976, addresses youth education throughout the United States and Canada. A non-profit organization, the Foundation continues to enlarge and improve its programs, which also include educational materials and the administration of scholarships.