Worshipping at Churchill Downs

~ A new chapel offers a place for the Kentucky racetrack's "backside" workers to worship.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Every Monday evening, Osmeldo Morales strolls from the barn where he tends race horses to a chapel where he prays, reflects and listens to readings from the Bible.

Morales, who walks and grooms horses at the Churchill Downs racetrack, is far away from his wife and three children in Guatemala. Among other things, he worries about being injured on the job, and attending church helps him be at peace.

"It's dangerous," Morales said. "We have to ask [God] to give us job opportunities and keep us safe."

Until last month, Morales and dozens of other so-called backside workers worshipped among pool tables, TVs and betting windows in the track's recreation building. Then Churchill Downs donated land and the Kentucky chapter of the Race Track Chaplaincy of America helped raise $630,000, mostly in private donations, to build a chapel.

With a steeple on top and a cross and altar inside, it's a true sanctuary for people who work with the horses at the home of the Kentucky Derby, Chaplain Ken Boehm said.

Ed Donnally, development director for the Race Track Chaplaincy of America, estimates between 100,000 to 150,000 people live and work among racetrack stables across the country. Chaplains from the organization try to build a Christian community while reaching out to a population with many needs.

"They're really some of the most forgotten people on earth," Donnally said.

He estimates about 75 percent of the workers in the stables at tracks nationwide are Hispanic. They work difficult hours and often move from track to track. Many are far from home and don't have access to transportation or resources outside of track life.

"Loneliness, isolation and depression are a major concern for our people here," said Boehm, the Churchill Downs chaplain. "We become their family."

More than 50 chaplains serve at 90 racetracks and breeding centers in the United States and Canada through the Race Track Chaplaincy of America. At some tracks, including Churchill Downs, assistant chaplains who speak Spanish help translate religious services.

Yurian Santiesteban, Churchill's assistant chaplain and a native of Cuba, said it's important for the Hispanic workers to worship in their own language and feel comfortable coming to church.

"They can come right from the barns," he said. "It doesn't matter if they're not dressed up."