Limited Number of Tickets Available for Derby Day 2013 Festivities at UNA

Apr. 30, 2013



By Terry Pace, UNA Communications and Marketing

FLORENCE, Ala. – A limited number of tickets are still available for the University of North Alabama’s all-new signature event for town-and-gown audiences.

UNA Derby Day 2013 will take place from 3-6 p.m. Saturday, May 4, on the grounds of historic Coby Hall on the UNA campus. The gala event coincides with the American cultural phenomenon known as the Kentucky Derby, described this year as “the 139th Renewal of the Greatest Two Minutes in Sports.”

“We’ve had tremendous response to Derby Day from both the campus and the surrounding community,” according to Kim Mauldin, UNA’s Director of Admissions, who is co-chairing the Derby Day steering committee. Proceeds benefit the UNA Foundation and its efforts to support the university’s institutional goals.

“We have just a few tickets available here in the final few days before the event,” Mauldin added. “We’re hoping as many people as possible will join us as we come together at Coby Hall to watch the Derby and celebrate a new tradition in the Shoals. It’s also an ideal way to honor our area’s deep, rich connection to the Derby itself.”

The horseracing heritage of the Kentucky Derby can be traced back to James Jackson, a 19th-century Irish immigrant who became one of the founding fathers of Florence and America’s first breeder of thoroughbreds. All modern-day thoroughbreds in America are descended from Jackson’s horse, Glencoe, who trained north of the city at the Jackson plantation known as the Forks of Cypress.

Derby Day 2013 features a buffet dinner, drinks, games, prizes and other activities.

The actual 5:24 p.m. “Run for the Roses” – which takes place each May at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky – will be broadcast on big-screen televisions for UNA’s inaugural Derby Day audience. Although “Derby dress” is not required, those who attend are encouraged to wear traditional Derby-themed attire, from colorful hats for the ladies to seersucker suits for the gentlemen.

Tickets for Derby Day are $100 per person. In case of rain, the festivities will be moved to the Atrium of the Guillot University Center. To purchase tickets, or for more information, call 256-765-4201, e-mail advancement@una.edu or visit una.edu/derbyday.

High-resolution photos of Derby Day are available for media use at: http://www.unalionsden.com/archive/album.php?album=DERBY%20DAYS&year=2013.