Boehm is not a veterinarian, an equine health expert or anything like that. And he had no connection with Eight Belles.

Boehm is the track chaplain — the man who puts the church in Churchill Downs — and he instinctively knew that ministering would be necessary during such a tragic turn of events.

"As I witnessed the accident, I immediately left the grandstand to check on the filly," recalls Boehm, a Lutheran pastor who came to the famous track in 2003 from Tampa Bay Downs. "Along the way I saw (Eight Belles trainer) Larry Jones, who was having difficulty getting through the crowd to go to the track. I yelled for him to follow me and led him through a back hall to get to the racetrack. I then made my way to have a prayer over Eight Belles just after she was euthanized."

Boehm says he finds that after such a tragedy, those who suffer most are the owners, trainer, groom and hot walker.

"Yes, we prayed together, thanking the Lord for the opportunity to be part of the life of such a magnificent animal (and) for the joy she brought to so many, and asking the Lord to make something good from such a disaster as this.

"We asked for strength to meet the coming days, and for patience in dealing with reporters and a public, many of whom simply could not or would not understand the depth of loss felt by the Porters (the filly's owners), the Joneses, or Corey York (Eight Belles' groom).

"My heart broke for Larry as he exited the stall to answer the unrelenting questions of a sea of reporters who seemed to already forget what an incredible performance was exhibited by so majestic a filly in the race."

Boehm then turned his attention to York, who "daily cared so lovingly for Eight Belles. We, too, found a quiet spot to talk and pray. We remembered the strength and grace of the filly. We remembered the joy — sadly, a lifetime may not be enough to forget the grief, nor would we really wish to," Boehm adds.

Boehm and chaplains like him are as necessary to the well being of a racetrack as veterinarians, farriers (horse-shoers) and grooms.

Boehm belongs to a network of chaplains that make up the Race Track Chaplaincy of America, a non-profit organization that has been around since 1971 to mentor and minister to the backside communities of racetracks. There are currently 77 chaplains that work with 117 tracks around the U.S.

The backside culture is a world of its own — trainers, exercise riders, farriers, jockeys, grooms and hot walkers who dedicate their lives to taking care of the Thoroughbreds.

"It's a community with several thousand people; they work all year round and don't have many days off and holidays, as they have to take care of the horses daily," says Scott Wells, president and general manager of Remington Park in Oklahoma City. "It is good there is Sunday service at the tracks for the individuals who decide to go."

Many backside employees often come from broken families or speak little or no English, and generally are paid meager wages. They often live in small rooms with few furnishings right at the track. They face daily issues, and chaplains such as Boehm are there to offer guidance and support, and also operate clothes closets, food pantries and other services for the horsemen.

Boehm says his most memorable moment at Churchill Downs came not from meeting the many celebrities he's met over the years, such as film director Steven Spielberg. Instead it came from a groom who asked to see the chaplain after a Monday night worship service a few years ago.

"He was in tears, his life was in shambles, his marriage had collapsed," says Boehm, who was instrumental in getting a chapel built on the backside at Churchill Downs in 2006. "His children wouldn't speak to him. He found his job unfulfilling, he had plunged into a drug- and alcohol-induced stupor, and he had decided that his life was invaluable and not worth living.

"He had tried to hang himself earlier that evening and had the deep purple bruise ring around his neck as evidence of his effort."

But Boehm says the Lord had something more in store for the groom. "He met Jesus face to face — not a condemning Jesus, not an uncaring Jesus, not a far off and aloof Jesus, but a personal, forgiving, loving, and encouraging Jesus," says Boehm. "The message that evening was about a forgiving God who can take broken lives and make them whole."

Boehm used an Etch-A-Sketch to demonstrate how God "turns our lives over, shakes them up and allows us to start with a clean slate and when we go to Him in humble and sincere repentance.

"That man came that night broken, but he left mended. Before he left he gave me the rope he had used to attempt his suicide along with a note he had written for whoever found him. That very night he began to put his life back together. A couple of weeks later he was baptized."

Hall of Fame jockey and Kentucky Derby winner Pat Day is a spokesperson for the RTCA. He says he found God in 1984, and says the group has gone through ebbs and flows and enjoyed some growth, but with the economic downturn, fundraising has suffered. Yet he says the horsemen groups are happy with the work of the chaplains.

"At the tracks with the chaplains, the performance of the backside is better," says Day. "The chaplains bring hope to the backside of the racetrack and the negative issues are less — not eliminated, but decidedly less."

At Remington Park, the chaplaincy is manned by "Chaplain Carl" Crisswell, 60, who has been a chaplain at 14 different tracks around the U.S. For the Crisswells, chaplaincy is a family affair. His brother Pete, a former jockey, founded the chaplaincy at Remington Park and currently is chaplain at Charles Town in West Virginia. A sister is a chaplain in Kansas and another brother is a chaplain in Colorado.

"Pete and Carl have become family mentors and (provide) a valuable service," says Wells.

"We help counsel the workers with drug and alcohol problems, anger management and with financial situations," says Carl Crisswell, who adds they are also teachers. "We have Bible study, with English and Spanish classes. … I am here 24/7 to assist and to help."

Corey Johnsen, president of Kentucky Downs, in Franklin, Ky., and a major supporter of the RTCA, says the chaplains provide prayer services for the jockeys in the jockey room, praying for safe riding, with Day setting the tone as a leader in ministering the jockey colonies.

The RTCA also has counseling programs to help in the aftermath of catastrophes, says Johnsen, such as Hurricane Katrina and a tornado in Colorado.

The economic downturn has affected people in all walks of life, but Boehm says it does not affect the message.

"The message of faith is one of hope and encouragement, particularly in difficult times," he says. "The advice remains the same — be diligent in your work, sober in your judgment, gentle in your words, kind in your deeds, humble in your spirit and unwavering in your faith.

"The Lord is still on the throne, still in control, and knows our needs."

Yet it's not always all work and no play for the chaplains, though there is a no-gambling policy. Humberto Chavez, chaplain for the tracks that comprise the New York Racing Association, says one of his most memorable experiences came during a race about five years ago.

"I had just been named chaplain days before," Chavez says. "Amy Bondon, a horse owner and advocate for the RTCA, had a horse running that day, and asked if we could see the race with her.

"This was the first race where someone I knew had a horse running in it. … I screamed from the top of my lungs for Seven Come Eleven to win the race (which it did).

"I'll never forget that day, standing there in the winner's circle. That day is so memorable to me, reminding me of a new beginning of the ministry in the racehorse industry."

Boehm, meanwhile, couldn't be more excited to be a part of the world's most famous horse race.

"To be the chaplain for the Kentucky Derby is an honor beyond words," he says. "I sometimes stand at the backstretch fence to watch the morning training with tears in my eyes. Horsemen will ask if I'm okay, and I am.

"It's just overwhelming to realize that the Lord has blessed me with so great a privilege to be associated with the horsemen and management at the most legendary racetrack in the world. There's not a finer congregation in any church anywhere."

Boehm hopes and prays the 135th Derby on Saturday goes off without any tragedy, let alone one of the magnitude of Eight Belles. But, he says, the filly's legacy lives on.

"Her remains rest under a tree behind the Kentucky Derby Museum where the world can pay tribute to her remarkable racing spirit, while new and better safety measures have been enacted and implemented.

"I do not know what the future holds, but I do know who holds the future — and with God minding the shedrow all is bright for the future of the chaplaincy."