College students have been counting down the days until the groomed tracks of Keeneland open. The Lilly Pulitzer dresses have been steamed and the Southern Tide suits have been dry cleaned in preparation for the kick off of the 2017 Spring Meet on Friday, April 7 for the annual College Scholarship Day.

The smooth lines of the groomed track, the fresh cut grass on The Hill and the dressed to the nines attendees all make for a flawless trip to Keeneland, which is how UK College Ambassador Meredith Trent described her experience working with the the company as. “Next to flawless,” she said.

Trent has worked for Keeneland as an ambassador and a promotions intern for more than a year. She decided to come back this season as a college ambassador again because she “really believes in them as a company and what they do for Lexington.”

This season, there will be 10 $1,000 scholarships awarded and a single $10,000 scholarship awarded to students who enter in the raffle on race day.

The single $10,000 scholarship or the Runhappy Scholarship is donated by Jim and Linda McInglave, who own the racehorse Runhappy, who ran at Keeneland. This will be the second consecutive year of the scholarship. 

“We are able to give out scholarships to a diverse and unique set of students, and they are truly grateful for the scholarship they receive,” Keeneland Promotions intern Cecelia Tio said.

Both Tio and Trent said their favorite part of College Scholarship day is getting to announce the winners of the scholarships and handing out the prizes. 

“As the races go off, you get to call back the winners of all the scholarships and that’s really special to see the people running back. 10 different people are winning $1,000,” Trent said.

There are 29 Keeneland college ambassadors total from different Kentucky universities and colleges, including Transylvania, Centre College, Western Kentucky University, Georgetown College, University of Louisville, North American Racing Academy and Thomas More College.