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1 5 8 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 4.14 In the next few weeks, three classrooms in the Backside Learning Center, a former racing ofce turned community center, will fll. For the frst time this past winter, the center ofered classes to children and wives left behind as the men traveled to other meets. About 75 to 80 percent of backside workers are Hispanic. Many want to learn English to help better communicate with trainers, hopefully leading to more responsibility and more pay. "Iglesias esta noche," Boehm, a limited Spanish speaker, reminds the men. Church this evening. His associate pastor, Chris Wong, hustles to the barn to assist. A 27-year-old seminary student of Peruvian and Chinese descent, Wong was recently hired as the frst full-time Spanish-speaking chaplain on the backside. A blend of earnest energy and boy-band good looks, he peers into the stall and spots a petite woman holding a horse to the back of the stall so the men can work on the gate uninterrupted. "Como te llamas?" he asks. "Ana," she quietly responds before the two launch into a conversation. Only about 30 percent of backside workers are female. It's difcult, physical work. Te day starts at 4:30 in the morning six to seven days a week. Horses can run hot tempers. But Bertila Quinteros, a veteran groomer, loves it. She feels a special bond between her and the animals. Much like with her own two kids, she's the frst to greet the horses in the morning and can easily read their moods. Just the direc- tion of their ears can cue her to whether the horse feels crabby or anx- ious. "Tey're very intelligent," she says. When asked if she's excited to return to work in April, her attractive, heart-shaped face breaks into an eager smile. She nods vigorously. Quinteros will probably earn roughly $400 to $500 a week. Hot- walkers, the folks who walk the horses after a workout or race for 30 minutes, make a wage as low as $275. For many workers, though, that money can help fund a college education for their children or build a new house for relatives back home. "Many come from a homeland where they have very little," Boehm says over the sound of peppy accordion norteño music playing through a nearby iPhone. "So they have that drive." As Boehm continues to walk the backside, weaving through its 47 barns, Churchill Downs' dormant season fades. A white van from the Kentucky Derby Museum carries a load of camera-toting tourists. A trailer hauling enough straw bales to overfow a city bus rolls in. But it's a fock of sparrows chattering in a leafess tree that suggests its time for a declaration: "Life returns to Churchill," Boehm says with a smile. Continued from page 97 Backside work employs about 1,000 during the spring meet, three- quarters of them Hispanic. 138-160 BACK.indd 158 3/20/14 10:33 AM