The 138th Kentucky Oaks is on Friday, May 4th, 2012. The 2012 Kentucky Oaks is held the day before the 2012 Kentucky Derby. Patrons are urged to wear pink, the official color of the Oaks, on this special day that continues its “Ladies First” focus and ongoing outreach effort on women’s health issues. Churchill Downs welcomes a new beneficiary in Stand Up To Cancer (“SU2C”) to raise vital funds and awareness for cancer research.

Churchill Downs is continuing many Kentucky Oaks traditions first introduced in 2009 when they made donations to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Acknowledging feedback from many Kentucky Oaks fans, the Churchill Downs marketing team opened a search last year for an organization that focused on funding innovative cancer research, and that represented a broader scope of cancers affecting women and their families.

Stand Up To Cancer raises funds to accelerate groundbreaking cancer research that will deliver new therapies to patients quickly and save lives through a collaborative effort throughout the cancer research community. The organization’s goal in accelerating cancer research is to help transform the disease from one that takes far too many lives to a disease that people survive.

Churchill Downs will donate $1 to Stand Up To Cancer for every person in attendance on Kentucky Oaks Day. Last year, the Oaks attracted 110,122 patrons for a day of fun, competition and celebration.

Additionally, Churchill Downs will donate $1 from each sale of Oaks Lilies, the official drink of the Kentucky Oaks, to Horses and Hope. Founded in 2008 by Kentucky First Lady Jane Beshear and the Kentucky Cancer Program, Horses and Hope helps provide breast cancer awareness, education and early detection and treatment referral in Kentucky’s horse racing industry.

The official color of the Kentucky Oaks is pink in celebration of all the ladies. The Pink Out encourages all Oaks attendees to wear pink or incorporate pink into their attire to show their support for cancer survivors. Kentucky Derby Tours has made sure our participants knew about the “Pink Out” since its inception. Churchill Downs will be decked out in pink as well, including pink-colored décor, flower beds, flags and jockeys’ and pony riders’ apparel. Churchill Downs bugler Steve Buttleman will sport a pink jacket as he calls horses to the post throughout Oaks Day.