That’s DMTC CEO Joe Harper in the middle with Del Mar’s 2018 intern crew (from left): Riley Golden, Cory Moore, Tricia Warren, Patricia Scholle, Jack Cesari, Carter Ballard and Julianna McDowell (not pictured).
By Hank Wesch
The 42nd class in a Del Mar Summer intern program that started in 1977 has assembled, seven strong, for the 79th season at the seaside track.
By the numbers, it breaks down to six San Diego County products and one Arizonan; five with primary interests in the marketing, business or operational aspects of the racing industry and one each interning to specialize in photography and videography.
A look at the Class of ’18 in alphabetical order:
Carter Ballard, 20, from San Marcos and Palomar Community College, is the videographer, an occupational goal for him for several years. His father, Todd, works for the GoPro company and using the compact anytime/anywhere camera quickly became a major interest for Carter.
Connections between his father, Del Mar Thoroughbred Club director of sponsorship Walker McBride and digital content manager Claire Crawford (intern Class of 2013) led to the job. “Now I’m here and I’m excited,” Ballard said. “I’ve been using GoPro equipment mostly, but I got a new Sony in January and I’m excited to use it here as well.”
Jack Cesari, 19, who moved with his family from the San Jose area to San Diego as a first grader, is a sophomore at the University of Colorado in Boulder where he’s majoring in economics. He became aware of the intern program a year ago at a time he was already committed to another one, but followed up this year with family friend Craig Dado, one of DMTC’s executive vice presidents and its chief marketing officer. “Probably the biggest thing I hope to get out of the program is to get some insight into how the races work from the business and financial aspect,” Cesari said. “I’m looking forward to the experience and the connections I hope to make through this.”
Riley Golden, 20, from Carlsbad and Mira Costa College is the photography intern. “Photography started for me around my junior year in high school,” Golden said. “I picked up one of my sister’s cameras that she barely ever used and I liked it and just stuck with it. I think coming here and working at the racetrack is going to give me a whole new perspective on action sports photography and what it really is.
“It will be a great experience to be around other photographers in the field and videographers and learn from them. Things like where to be (for optimum shots), how to work with clients and other things that I need to know. ”
Golden and videography intern Ballard are longtime friends and it was through Ballard that Golden heard about and pursued the internship.
Julianna McDowell, 21, from San Marcos, is a recent graduate of San Diego State with a degree in journalism. Her father, Mike, an executive with the San Diego Tourism board and later the San Diego Sports Commission, had played a role in Del Mar’s selection as site for the 2017 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, although Julianna missed the big two-day event last November.
“I was interning in the mayor’s office,” she said. “I’ve actually only been here once for the races.”
She’s open to any experiences this summer, but hopes that somehow there may be a keyboard involved.
“I’ve done a few internships in public relations and I really like writing,” she said. “Anything that involves writing is what I’d really like to do, even social media, which I really haven’t had a lot of experience in doing.”
Cory Moore, 22, from Solana Beach, is another graduate in May from San Diego State with a degree in marketing. “I lived very close to here and since I was very young my parents brought me here and I’ve thought about working here,” Moore said.
“I met Craig Dado when he spoke at a marketing meeting at SDSU and talked about the program here. I’ve worked for the Padres for the last three years and I really want to pursue sports marketing as a career so this would be a dream place for me to work and I’m really excited about it.”
Patricia Scholle, 22, is from Yuma, Arizona and is the 43rd Del Mar intern to hail from the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program of which she is a recent graduate.
The U of A program is designed to be completed in four years, but after switching from another major, Scholle completed it in three.
“Another professor talked about the racetrack program and I kind of realized that the classes I’d had before, I never liked,” Scholle said. “I love horses, I’ve been riding since I was four or five and I decided to just go with my gut, and I was in the program the next semester.”
While she admits her initial knowledge of racing was limited: “I knew who Seabiscuit and Secretariat were, but anything else I didn’t have a clue.” She’s made up for lost time, however. She’s been to, and worked at, racetracks in Kentucky, Arizona and, most recently, Pleasanton, CA, with an important stop at the Breeders’ Cup here last November.
“They brought a group of students over and we got to shuttle people back and forth to the track and other things,” she said. “We got so close to Gun Runner and Unique Bella and all those great horses and jockeys. I took a selfie with Joe Talamo and it was the best, like, two seconds of my life.”
She’s fresh from a customer relations position and looks forward to experiencing more of that and venturing into marketing and special events. “You guys do a lot of special events here.”
Tricia Warrens, 20, from San Diego, is a junior in the University of Louisville Equine Business Program, the sixth from the school to intern at Del Mar. “I’ve known about this program since my junior year of high school and knew it was something I’d like to eventually do,” she said. “My dad brought me to the races here every summer and I just gradually grew to love it more and more and realized it was something I wanted to do, potentially as a career.
“I’m really hoping to get some experience in the racing office and learn about that aspect. I’ve also done some photography and writing and would like to get some more experience in those areas as well.”