DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa. — Wayne Shambaugh and Tammi Knight are getting pretty good at designing Kentucky Derby hats. They've won the Hollywood Casino at Penn National derby day hat contest multiple times and this year, created another show stopper.
"I love coming to Penn National and watching the horse racing, " said Shambaugh, who is from Carlisle. "It’s exciting, they say it's the most exciting two minutes in sports and it is. I went to hockey games in Hershey and made signs and I thought this is alright, I thought why not make hats?”
This year's version included items specially ordered from Kentucky and recognized all 20 horses in the Kentucky Derby field. It's also special because Wayne is battling an illness.
“I’m stage five Chronic Kidney Disease and this is .." At this point, Tammi finishes Wayne's sentence. "Something he appreciates," she adds. Wayne then goes on to say that making the hats gives him joy.
"People look forward to it and they ask me are you going to make another hat next year? And I say, alright, yeah I will make another hat.”
The Kentucky Derby celebration is one of the biggest of the year for Hollywood Casino at Penn National.
"This is our Super Bowl event so we look forward to this day on the calendar every year that it comes," explained Vice-President and General Manager Tony Frabbiele. "It’s the kickoff to racing as we know it.”
Mystik Dan won the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby in a three-horse photo finish.