Royal Court

The women selected to serve as Princesses in the 2012 Kentucky Derby Festival Royal Court are:

Jhalak Dholakia of Louisville, KY is a senior majoring in Anthropology, Biology, Spanish and Humanities at the University of Louisville. She is a Big Brothers/Big Sisters mentor and a Kentucky Health Racing Services Center volunteer.

Arielle Evans of Louisville, KY is a senior majoring in Exercise Science at Georgetown College. She is a Worship Leader at Calvary Baptist Church and an Advocate for Adoption Awareness.

Kaelyn Gault of Carrolton,, KY is a senior majoring in Communications at the University of Louisville. She is a volunteer for the Girl Scouts of America and Thursday's Child Special Needs Adoption Agency.

Irma Kocer of Versailles, KY is a senior majoring in Business Marketing at the University of Louisville. She is a volunteer for Kentucky Harvest and Habitat for Humanity.

Erica Lee of Louisville, KY is a freshman majoring in Accounting at the University of Louisville. She is an NAACP Youth Council Member and a volunteer at Fifth Street Baptist Church.

Taylor Sang of Louisville, KY is a junior majoring in Broadcast News at Western Kentucky University. She is a volunteer for Big Brothers/Big Sisters and the Ronald McDonald House.

Lindsay Baranowski, a student at the University of Kentucky, was chosen as the first alternate. Megan Lilly, a student at Bellarmine University, was chosen as the second alternate. They will become Princesses if one of the other women is unable to serve.

The six young women selected as Princesses will act as ambassadors for the 2012 Kentucky Derby Festival, attending nearly 70 events over a two-week period. 30 were selected as finalists out of the more than 100 original applicants for the six Princess positions, and all attended the final judging this weekend. None of them knew in advance who had been selected.

The court will represent the Kentucky Derby Festival and the city of Louisville as official ambassadors for the springtime tradition of the Festival. They will attend nearly every official Derby Festival event beginning with the Poster Premiere on January 25 to their appearance in the Republic Bank Pegasus Parade on May 3. In addition, they will attend the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs and make visits to schools to discuss the importance of volunteerism.

One of the six women will be crowned the Derby Festival Queen by a spin-of-the-wheel at the annual Fillies Derby Ball on April 20 at the Galt House East Grand Ballroom. Each woman will receive a $2000 scholarship ($1000 from the Fillies and $1000 from the Kentucky Derby Festival Foundation).


The Derby Festival's Royal Court Program is coordinated by The Fillies, Inc., a volunteer group that works closely with the Festival. Fillies President Patsy Allen joined 2012 Derby Festival Chair Wendy Jacob in crowning the newly appointed court.

Candidates for the Princess Program must maintain a minimum 3.0 grade-point average and are selected by a panel of three out-of-state judges. Criteria for selection includes knowledge of the Derby Festival, poise, intelligence, personality and campus and community involvement. The first Derby Festival Princess was crowned in 1957, the second year of the Festival. Previous Princesses have included former Kentucky Governor Martha Layne Collins and Gail Gorski, the first female pilot ever hired by United Airlines.

The Derby Festival is an independent community organization supported by 4,000 volunteers, 400 businesses and civic groups, Pegasus Pin sponsorships and event participation.  It entertains more than 1.5 million people annually. This involvement has made the Festival the largest single attended event in Kentucky and one of the leading community celebrations in the world.