Popular Indiana Derby Spotlights Caesars Entertainment Equine Specialty Hospital

July 15, 2022

Actuator took top honors as the winner of the feature race — Actuator took top honors as the winner of the Indiana Derby, and was recognized in the Winner’s Circle, which was officially sponsored by the Caesars Entertainment Equine Specialty Hospital.

Purdue’s Caesars Entertainment Equine Specialty Hospital took center stage last weekend as the distinguished Winner’s Circle sponsor for the 28^th running of the Indiana Derby at Horseshoe Indianapolis in Shelbyville. Commonly known as Indiana’s biggest horse-racing event of the Year, Indiana Derby Day was created to build a premier racing event for the young Indiana Thoroughbred racing program, and the race has since exceeded all expectations, achieving prestigious Graded Stakes status following the 2001 running of the event.

Dean Reed with bugler Garry Lauziere, who performed “Back Home Again in Indiana” for the Indiana Derby Day.

A plethora of quality horses have poured into the event over the decades, and this year’s Indiana Derby Day, which was held on Saturday, July 9, proved to be no different. With eight stakes races featuring purses in excess of $1.1 million, the event drew large crowds that flocked to the apron to see firsthand some of the nation’s best race horses running in 12 total races throughout the afternoon.

In true derby fashion, numerous trackside activities helped to enhance the race day atmosphere, including the Indiana Derby Hat contest, Cigar rolling station, strolling entertainment, and a performance of “Back Home Again in Indiana” by bugler Garry Lauziere.

In conjunction with the Caesars Entertainment Equine Specialty Hospital being the Winner’s Circle sponsor, Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine Dean Willie Reed hosted a group of some 30 guests who came to see the Indiana Derby Day races, from the first race posting at 12:20 p.m., all the way through the afternoon to the grand finale race, the Indiana Derby, at 6:40 p.m. “As a proud provider of services to equine athletes throughout the country with state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging, revolutionary sports medicine, and surgical expertise, we were pleased to celebrate these equine athletes, trainers, and owners at the summer’s biggest racing event of the year,” Dean Reed said.

In addition to the estimated 5,200 fans in attendance, many others saw the Indiana Derby televised live by FOX Sports 2. The big winner of the day was Actuator, who scored a tenacious half-length victory fighting off Best Actor late and surviving an objection to claim the $300,000 Indiana Derby prize.

Winning jockey in the Indiana Derby, James Graham, who rode the horse Actuator to victory, joined Purdue Veterinary Medicine Dean Willie Reed and his wife Dorothy (third and fourth from right) along with other PVM guests in the Winner’s Circle after the race.

Writer(s): Kelly Dold | pvmnews@purdue.edu

Recent Stories

“Paws Up” – brought to you by the PVM Wellness Committee

This week, we are proud to recognize Lorraine Fox, who is a business assistant with the Veterinary Medicine Procurement Center.

PVM Interview Days Move College Closer to Admitting the DVM Class of 2030

After a total of three afternoons dedicated to conducting in-person interviews with 226 prospective veterinary students, the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine is close to completing the process of admitting 84 members of the incoming first-year DVM class – the Class of 2030. The students invited for the interview days were selected from a total pool of 1,930 applicants from across the country as well as countries abroad.

Experts to Gather at Purdue for Conference Addressing the Public Health Threat of Antimicrobial Resistance

The ongoing challenges posed by multi-drug resistant infections will be the focus of a multidisciplinary conference taking place in three weeks at Purdue University. The Fourth Annual Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance is set for February 25–26, 2026 at Purdue’s Stewart Center in West Lafayette. Registration is still open for the event, which will bring together scientists and scholars from human and veterinary medicine, public health, research, and industry to address the determinants, dynamics and deterrence of drug resistance.

PVM’s Upcoming Coppoc One Health Lecture to Focus on Dogs as Sentinels of Environmental Exposure

The Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine brings a leading One Health scholar to campus each year to address vital health issues from a One Health perspective as part of the Coppoc One Health Lecture series. This year’s presentation, scheduled for February 26 in Lynn Hall Room 2026, is on the engaging topic, “One Health at Home: Dogs as Sentinels of Environmental Exposure.” The speaker will be Audrey Ruple, DVM, MS, PhD, DACVPM, MRCVS, the Dorothy A. and Richard G. Metcalf Professor of Veterinary Medical Informatics at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech.

“Paws Up” – brought to you by the PVM Wellness Committee

Today we are happy to acknowledge our Student Success Center Team.

One Health: A ‘digital twin’ model for predicting cancer outcomes

The striking similarities between invasive bladder cancer in dogs and humans have fueled research advances for more than three decades. Most of that work has looked at separate aspects of the disease — risk factors, early detection, symptoms, treatment and gene expression. But a new project at Purdue University that combines many types of available data in a “digital twin” model of bladder cancer may prove powerful enough to predict patient outcomes, starting with the probability of metastasis.

Purdue Professor Emeritus Bill Blevins Wins Lifetime Achievement Award at ACVR Annual Meeting

The American College of Veterinary Radiology (ACVR) gave its esteemed Lifetime Achievement Award for 2024 to Purdue Professor Emeritus Bill Blevins, who is well known to countless Purdue Veterinary Medicine alumni for the expertise he taught them about all things Diagnostic Imaging during his long Purdue career.