Del Mar’s 2024 intern class gathers in the paddock on opening weekend. From left to right: Kailey Levin, class overseer Trish Stiles, Luke Seltzer, Del Mar CEO Joe Harper, Ryan Anderson, Lilli O’Connell, Alyssa Dollase, Claire Morton and Camerson Holway. © Benoit Photo
Anyone who participated in an internship at the beginning of their careers can tell you without hesitation where it was and what they did. Internships tend to harbor fond memories of one’s early adult life. Eyes wide open, ready to soak in any and all information and experience that comes their way. Not caring if they were handed the scrub jobs. Just as long as they were part of the team, working in the setting they had dreamed about for years. It more times than not whetted the appetite and pushed them to do whatever it took to stay in the vocation of their choice.
Every year Del Mar offers an intern program for those aspiring to make a living in the horseracing industry, or at the very least, learn about its inner workings. Some are drawn to the horses, some are attracted by the electric environment of the racetrack and still others are curious about the business aspect of the place.
This year seven new students have been accepted to be a part of the Del Mar intern program, which dates back to 1977. They come from various backgrounds and have taken different paths to get here. But all share the love of the horse which already puts them on the same plain as everybody else who works at Del Mar.
Kailey Levin is a fourth year Equine Business and Sales Major, and Business Administration Masters at Midway University in Kentucky. Her experience with horses dates back to her childhood growing up a few miles up the coast from Del Mar in Cardiff By the Sea.
She rides the hunter jumper circuit and manages a stable in Rancho Santa Fe. She’s trained for show jumping barns in California, Florida, Kentucky and Michigan, apprenticing under some of the top trainers, riders, veterinarians and business people in the industry.
“I worked for a lady in Wellington, (Kentucky)” Levin says. “I managed her farm. She had a horse with Kent Farrington, who’s an Olympic show jumper, and Tiffany Foster (Canada’s top show jumping rider). I got to go to their barns and met a lot of people and work with them. I also got to apprentice under one of the Olympic show jumping farriers. So I got to meet a lot of people traveling the east coast show jumping circuit.”
Kailey is hoping to transition from riding to the management end of the business.
Lilli O’Connell is a senior at UCLA where she’s studying Public Affairs. She grew up in Carlsbad, California and has been coming to Del Mar since she was young.
“We used to come with my dad and my sister’s godfather and watch the races when I was six or seven,” O’Connell says. “They would tell me about the jockeys and how they were short like me. They would tell me the basic things: ‘Here’s the horse and here’s their number and pick your favorite number to root for.’ It was always a fun atmosphere. There was always something going on.”
“You see all of the horses in the paddock,” Lilli continues, “and all of the flowers and then you look and there’s the ocean. It’s just such a beautiful place and so energetic. A very unique experience every time you come here.”
She says she doesn’t know a lot about horse racing but she’s making it work to her advantage.
“We’re running some of the Tik Tok for Del Mar,” O’Connell notes, “Not dumbing it down but, not having knowledge about racing, I can make it easier to understand for kids my age.”
Outside of the track, Lilli also works as an intern for Teach for America, a non-profit organization that fights academic inequity in low-income communities. Additionaly, she’s the Coca-Cola Campus Ambassador for UCLA.
“It’s a marketing internship,” O’Connell says. “I work closely with Coca-Cola’s marketing schedule when they push out new products. I give out free drinks to students on their way to class.”
Cameron Holway is a senior at Texas Christian University majoring in strategic communications and interning at Holland Collective, a major PR firm in Dallas-Fort Worth. She’s also part of the school’s PR agency, ROXO, where she’s a copywriter and editor. She’s a San Diego native, born and raised in Encinitas and remembers coming out to Del Mar every summer.
“We’re good friends with Craig Fravel (CEO of the Stronach Group), so I’ve been coming to Del Mar for years,” Holway says. “I remember coming here, super little with my little Breyer horse, all dressed up and super excited.
“One year my friend and I won a ton of money,” Cameron continues. “I usually pick the pretty horse and if I win everybody gets mad because I put no thought into it.”
When she’s not working, she’s teaching workout classes at Corepower. Working out is one of her passions as well as traveling and trying new restaurants.
“My favorite restaurant here is Pacific Coast Grill,” Holway says. “and I love Fish 101 which is also over there in Cardiff. I’m really into pokie and sushi and fish stuff.”
Cameron is especially interested in the marketing of the racetrack and is looking forward to sitting in on the marketing meetings, gaining experience and learning from as many people as she can.
It’s probably safe to say that Alyssa Dollase has the most horseracing experience of the interns. Afterall, she’s the daughter of veteran trainer Craig Dollase, who was the youngest trainer to ever win a Breeders’ Cup race. At 27 he won the 1998 Breeders’ Cup Sprint with Reraise, who was later awarded the Eclipse Award for top sprinter in the country. Alyssa’s horseracing roots date back even further to her grandpa, Wally Dollase, who was one of the top trainers of his time.
Alyssa is approaching this internship as a chance to gain valuable insight into the day-to-day operation of the racetrack.
“I have the backside knowledge,” Alyssa says, “but I never really knew the operations behind running the track. So since I only knew the backside of the track I said I need to get to know the frontside.”
Dollase is from Pasadena and is currently a senior at the University of Kentucky double majoring in Marketing and Management with the goal to pursue a career in Sports Marketing. Whether it’ll be in horse racing, she says, is yet to be determined.
“I’ve been really enjoying the last couple of days here so it’s kind of pushing me a little bit more to look into it,” Dollase says. “I still play volleyball at school so maybe I’ll do something that way. My uncle works for Fanatics (the sports gear company), so I’m just kind of in that realm right now.”
One thing she’s sure about is she is not interested in following in her father’s footsteps but she hopes with her background and what she learns from the internship to come up with ways to encourage younger people to attend the races.
“The interns are actually doing a project on that right now,” Alyssa notes. “We’ve talked about reaching a young demographic through social media platforms, specifically Tic Tok. We think creative videos will invite more young people to come in.
“I go to school in Kentucky,” Alyssa continues, “and Keeneland is huge there and it is so cool to see how many people from my school go there. They have a young demographic going on the weekends and their college day.”
Claire Morton is also a San Diego native, hailing from Pt. Loma. She graduated from Cathedral Catholic High School and is going into her sophomore year at TCU where she’s a communications major.
“I love it though it’s very different,” Morton says. “There are a lot of California people in the TCU community so it doesn’t feel like I am in Texas. We do Texas things but it’s with people who are a lot like me and from the same place as me.”
Like many of her fellow interns, Claire was introduced to Del Mar at an early age and remembers coming out to the track with family and friends every summer.
“My grandparents started the Brigantine (the highly successful local restaurant chain),” Claire notes, “so I grew up around here at the races. I’ve always loved horses and watching them race, getting to pet them. Just the whole experience coming to Del Mar. It’s like Disneyland in a way.”
She says the most intriguing part of the internship at Del Mar is the opportunity it affords her to explore the various departments that make up the Del Mar operation.
“I always thought that it would be a really great opportunity to come and work here,” she says. “I’m not sure of what I want to be doing so I’m looking forward to learn about the different fields and experiences.”
Ryan Anderson was introduced to Del Mar on one of the biggest days of the year, Pacific Classic Day in 2019. He was born and raised in San Diego’s Mission Hills and spent the past eight years as an Assistant Kids Camp Director at Balboa Park.
“I went to the camp as a kid,” Ryan recalls. “I went there until I was 13 and then they gave me job as a counselor and then I was promoted into the assistant director role. Just running a camp of 300 kids. It was outdoors. Always a happy place to be.”
He’s been looking for ways to get into the horseracing industry ever since that fateful day in 2019.
“My friend brought me here a day after he had hit two pick fives,” Ryan says. “I’m not going to lie. The first time here it was kind of foreign. He showed me the Racing Form and it was all hieroglyphics to me. I’m pretty sure I lost every bet I made that day but it was exciting and I said I have to come back.
“Numbers are kind of my game,” Ryan continues, “so I learned how to read the Form and handicap and it held my interest.”
The internship program at Del Mar seemed like a great jumping off point to Ryan.
“It’s a super environment here,” Ryan notes. “I just love the atmosphere as a patron so I figured working here would be even better.”
Luke Seltzer is another native San Diegan from Rancho Santa Fe who is entering his sophomore year at USC, majoring in Business Administration with a minor in Sports Media Studies. He also has a leg up on the horse racing industry being the son and grandson of racehorse owners. His father and grandfather campaigned horses under the moniker Seltzer Thoroughbreds.
“It’s small, we have had anywhere from two to five horses,” Luke says. “We’ve had pretty good success. Our best was Finest City who won the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint up at Santa Anita in 2016. That was pretty awesome because the whole family went up there for that. I was in the sixth grade.
“We went back to Churchill Downs with her and ran in the 2017 Humana Distaff on Derby Day,” Seltzer continues. “She came in second. That was pretty awesome, too. Just the Kentucky Derby and the whole experience.”
Luke says he’s not sure yet if he wants to pursue a career in horseracing.
“I’m open to whatever at this point,” he says. “I’m just hoping to learn more about the ins-and-outs of the racetrack. This is my first job within the sports business world to see what it’s all about. It’s something I’m interested in in the future. I don’t know what sport or anything specifically about that yet.”
All seven interns are pleasant, engaging people aspiring to make meaningful contributions to the horse world. The horse racing industry will surely be better to have them come on board.
