Lee-Butte honored with Dogwood Dominion Award

Mary Lee-Butte, executive director of the Blue Grass Farms Chaplaincy, and a

woman known for her passion for helping more than 1,500 Kentucky horse farm

workers and their families each year, has been named the 2009 winner of the

Dogwood Dominion Award, it was announced by Dogwood President Cot Campbell.

"In a state whose Thoroughbred industry is currently short on good news, the

Blue Grass Farm Chaplaincy (BGFC) is a shining star -- an extraordinary program

which helps, on many different levels, the sometimes invisible farm employee,"

Campbell said. "Mary is the epitome of what the Dogwood Dominion Award stands

for. Growing up with a father who was a Standardbred trainer, she has always

appreciated and understood the hard work and dedication it takes to make a

living in our industry. Her background has given her a keen sense of what farm

workers -- and their families -- need."

For many years, Lee-Butte was virtually a full-time volunteer for the BGFC

and became its executive director in 2007. The small but mighty chaplaincy

provides counseling, educational programs, health services and financial

assistance to horse farm workers in several counties in Central Kentucky. The

chaplaincy has an enrichment center at its Lexington office that boasts a

computer lab, counseling services and classrooms where subjects such as English,

farm safety and financial planning are offered.

Lee-Butte is also the founder of the Chaplaincy's Ladies Guild, the main

fundraising arm of the BGFC. Through the Guild's efforts there are such "fun"

programs as Moms Night Out, children's bowling and picnics in the park. Close to

400 children receive a Christmas they might not otherwise have had each year

when the BGFC hosts the Festival of Christmas.

As the 17th recipient of the Dogwood Dominion Award, which annually honors

one of racing's "unsung heroes," Lee-Butte will receive $5,000 and a bronze

statue of Dominion at a luncheon at the Reading Rooms in Saratoga Springs, New

York, on August 5. She was selected from more than 30 nominations by judges Anne

Campbell, Jay Hovdey and Todd Pletcher.

The Dogwood Dominion Award was inspired by the multiple stakes winner

Dominion, who was campaigned by Dogwood in the 1970s and went on to become a

leading sire in England. It was created upon his death in 1993 to recognize the

unsung heroes in the racing industry. Former winners are H.W. "Salty" Roberts,

Howard "Gelo" Hall, Peggy Sprinkles, Grace Belcuore, Nick Caras, Donald "Peanut

Butter" Brown, Danny Perlsweig, Katherine Todd Smith, Julian "Buck" Wheat, Jim

Greene and Shirley Edwards, Neftali "Junior" Gutierrez, Pam Berg, Jo Anne

Normile, Pete Lizarzaburu, Phyllis Shetron and Vincent Garibaldi.

Past honorees, friends and family of the 2009 winner, and various racing

enthusiasts and industry leaders will attend the Dogwood sponsored luncheon at

Saratoga.