Julep Cup Jaunt Raises $103,000 for Preemies

By Benjamin Waldrum

Around 300 guests decked out in derby attire gathered for the 13th Julep Cup Jaunt at UAMS, held May 7 in the Fred W. Smith Conference Center on the 12th floor of the UAMS Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute. Sponsored by the UAMS Consortium and benefiting the UAMS neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), the event is central Arkansas’ premier derby watch party, featuring derby-themed food and drink, as well as a live and silent auction.

The event raised more than $103,000 this year, with proceeds benefiting the Mom & Baby Postpartum Wing Renovation Project.

Julep Cup Jaunt is central Arkansas’ premier derby watch party, featuring derby-themed food and drink, as well as a live and silent auction.

Julep Cup Jaunt is central Arkansas’ premier derby watch party, with live and silent auctions benefiting the UAMS NICU.

The UAMS NICU cares for infants of high-risk pregnancies, premature births, and newborns with special medical needs. It features private rooms for patients and web-based cameras known as the ANGEL Eye system, allowing parents and family to view babies via a secure website.

Ashley Ross, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics and interim chief of neonatology, spoke about the importance of the NICU and thanked those in attendance. “Each and every year, we can provide intensive care not only to babies but the families, and it’s because of you guys and your generosity that we can do that,” he said.

The standing-room-only crowd was awash with a kaleidoscope of bright colors, derby hats and fascinators. Dresses of every color, from white lace and cobalt blue to hot pink and lime green, added to the festive atmosphere. Men sported business casual attire with shirts in bright or pastel colors, with one guest donning a seersucker jacket covered in pink horseshoes.

Prior to the race, UAMS Consortium Chair Nikki Lovell thanked the crowd and introduced 9-month-old Jag Robinson, who was brought onstage by his parents to cheers and applause. Jag spent his first four months in the NICU last year until he was discharged to his parents, Kelsey and Brian, in December.

Pre-race festivities included a hat contest, won by Sarah Davis for her elaborate green fascinator.

Pre-race festivities included a hat contest, won by Sarah Davis for her elaborate green fascinator.

Born at 11:01 a.m. on Aug. 6, Jag weighed 1 pound, 5 ounces and was 13 inches long. He was so small that each foot was about the size of his mother’s ring finger.

The Robinsons addressed the crowd in a video. “The doctors at UAMS gave him a fighting chance to make it, to grow,” said Kelsey Robinson. “We were lucky that that’s all he needed to do, was just grow. This is the place that he needed to be to get better, and to grow.”

Pre-race festivities included a hat contest, won by Sarah Davis for her elaborate green fascinator, as well as both live and silent auctions. Pictures of Jag ringed the silent auction table, as well as prints of his tiny hands and feet, showing his progression and improvement in the NICU.

Silent auction items included exclusive autographed memorabilia, dinner packages, club memberships, kids’ items, jewelry, artwork and much more. The live auction included a White River fly fishing trip for two, a 10-person private tour of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and an expense-paid trip for 12 to Oaklawn with box seats at the Hot Springs track, which is home to the Arkansas Derby. The fly fishing trip went for $550, and the Crystal Bridges private tour and Oaklawn trip went for $1,200 apiece.

A live feed of the race was shown on the large 12 ft. by 24 ft. theater-style auditorium screen. UAMS Consortium members Wess Moore and Alyson Courtney served as emcees.

A live feed of the race was shown on the large 12 ft. by 24 ft. theater-style auditorium screen. Wess Moore and Alyson Courtney served as emcees.

A live feed of the race was shown on the large 12 ft. by 24 ft. theater-style auditorium screen.

Nyquist, the prohibitive favorite, stayed close to frontrunner Danzing Candy for most of the race before breaking through in the home stretch and winning by 1 ¼ lengths as the crowd cheered. Second-place finisher Exaggerator made a spirited final push that had race fans anxious until the final moments. Gun Runner placed third, just ahead of a crowded field.

Leslie Harmon, B.S.N., R.N., and Prentice McIntosh were the co-chairs for the event, with Wess Moore and Alyson Courtney serving as emcees. The UAMS Consortium is a council of advocates for UAMS made up of business professionals who serve as ambassadors for the university.

Sponsors for the event included the Hat Club, TC Print, Tanarah Luxe Floral, Glazer’s Distribution, CenterPoint Energy, Bankers Assurance, JPMS Cox, IberiaBank, EGP PLLC, Bank of the Ozarks, Quattlebaum, Grooms & Tull PLLC, Shackleford Road Veterinary Clinic, US Foods, UARK Federal Credit Union, Ferstl Valuation Services, Windstream, Mitchell Williams, Robin Dee Enterprises, Simmons Bank, Golden Eagle of Arkansas, Prentice and Trey McIntosh, Harriet and Warren Stephens of Stephens Inc., Bemes Inc., Huffman Drywall Co., The Tavern, and Powers of Arkansas.

UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,275 students, 890 medical residents and fellows, and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 12,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.

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