Churchill Downs preparing to serve 13,000 guests at annual Thanksgiving Day meal

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A historic horse racing track in Louisville is preparing for its annual Thanksgiving meal for thousands of guests.

Churchill Downs will welcome thousands of people on Thursday as part of a tradition for many families. Churchill Downs executive chef Robert Lopez said Thanksgiving is "second to Derby" as the race track will feed up to 13,000 people in the premium areas.

"It's all the subtle nuances we do during Derby, just more of a family tradition, keeping the tradition alive, more of a family focus," Lopez said.

Lopez said there are several dozen chefs who've been working together over the past week to get ready for the event.

"It is quite an orchestra if you will, it's very orchestrated," Lopez said.

Lopez said Churchill Downs will produce more than 3,000 pounds of mashed potatoes and 5,000 pounds of ham and turkey.

"We have been doing a substantial amount of roasting over the past couple of days so it is numbers that people aren't normally used to seeing. When you see a tractor trailer pull up with 16,000 cookies it kind of turns heads," Lopez said.

For more than 50 years the track has hosted horse racing on Thanksgiving during the fall meet, along with the popular Thanksgiving meal.

As the horses take to the track, guests get to watch 12 races happen throughout the day. Gates open at 10 a.m. and the first race is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.

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Churchill Downs preparing to serve 13,000 guests at annual Thanksgiving Day meal