DEL MAR — As thousands of fans packed the Del Mar Racetrack for the Breeders’ Cup this past weekend, gathering beneath purple banners and fresh flower displays to watch gleaming thoroughbreds, hundreds of backstretch workers labored quietly behind the scenes.

Starting as early as 3 a.m., grooms, hotwalkers, exercise riders and stable hands were already at work — mucking stalls in the shedrow, brushing down million-dollar horses with rubber currycombs, and legging riders up for morning workouts ahead of racing’s premier event.

Moving among them was Chaplain Eli Hernandez, a former drug and alcohol counselor from East Los Angeles who now leads the ministry serving backstretch workers at Del Mar and Santa Anita race tracks.

Before spectators filled the grandstands and suites — wagering more than $180 million for the third-highest total handle in Breeders’ Cup history — Hernandez and volunteers held a small barbecue behind the barns, offering free meals, backpacks filled with school supplies and Bibles for more than 300 workers.

“Our goal is to serve the people with an open heart,” Hernandez said. “We want to let people know that we care about them. We love them.”

Hernandez begins most mornings on the backside of the track, greeting stable hands pushing wheelbarrows of manure and hauling hay bales and buckets of feed; grooms tightening girths, adjusting bridles and tacking up; and the gate crew checking hinges and clanging the metal doors of the starting stalls.

He also visits backstretch workers in their rooms — many of whom live on site during meets — offering friendly conversation, rides to appointments or a quiet place to rest in his office near the stables.

Hernandez belongs to the Race Track Chaplaincy of California, a nonprofit organization that serves the racetracks of Del Mar, Santa Anita and San Luis Rey. The group provides on-site support for workers who live and labor behind the scenes.

Chaplains walk the grounds daily, visiting injured workers and jockeys in hospitals and offering food, clothing, transportation, and English and GED programs. They also lead pre-race prayers, interdenominational services, weddings, funerals and crisis counseling.

The ministry began in 1970, when former exercise rider Salty Roberts, who knew firsthand the hardships of backstretch life, organized the first chapel service in a repurposed paint shop near the quarter pole at Calder Race Course (later renamed Gulfstream West).

Fifty-three years later, Roberts’ effort has grown into a national network of 45 chaplains serving racetracks across the country.

“The racetrack is a different community,” said Dan Waits, executive director of the Race Track Chaplaincy of America. “A lot of them work seven days a week, and they can’t go to church like everybody else. So, we bring the church to them.

“Overall, I think the chaplaincy is as strong as it’s been in a long time. The chaplain’s presence on the racetrack makes everything better for everybody. But not for our glory, for God’s glory.”

“Some of them will sit on our sofas and fall asleep, and that’s okay,” Hernandez said. “These are the hardest-working individuals. And what I notice more than anything… they don’t complain.”

A small team of chaplaincy workers and volunteers regularly distributes groceries and basic supplies and assists workers with paperwork or transportation for medical care.

During difficult financial times, resources such as food and supplies become significantly more valuable commodities.

“You wouldn’t believe what a difference it makes for these people,” said Kevin Dougan, director of development for the Race Track Chaplaincy of California, who spent decades working at Del Mar. “A bag of groceries now is expensive… and they’re walking out with two bags.”

As part of his rounds, Hernandez also visits the jockeys’ room and the starting gate crew, offering short devotionals for those in high-risk positions.

For Hernandez, his daily work as a Christian-based chaplain centers on support rather than sermons.

“The main thing I need to do is listen to them, and I try to listen with my heart,” he said. “One person at a time.”

That care extends into moments of deep personal grief. Earlier this year, a backstretch employee’s 16-year-old daughter was killed in a hit-and-run. Hernandez said the woman came to his office in the days that followed, where they sat together, talked, prayed and cried.

“I would visit her at the barn every day and remind her to come to my office because it was more private,” he said. “We would talk. We would pray. We would cry. We would pray again.”

His goal, he said, was simple: to make sure she knew she wasn’t facing the loss alone.

“We want to be the first responders,” he said. “Whatever we can do, we’re going to be here for you.”

Exercise rider Max Corrales, who has worked at Del Mar since 2004, said Hernandez provides a vital service for the unseen workforce behind the horses.

“We’ve known each other a long time, and he’s a great guy who brings people together,” Corrales said. “If anybody has a problem, they go to him and he fixes it. And if he can’t fix it, he’s trying to fix it.”

Many workers, like Corrales, stay out of view, performing the pre-dawn labor that keeps the racetrack running but rarely earns them public attention. They live and work behind the grandstands, often in small dorm-style rooms or shared trailers, quietly facing financial stress, language barriers and separation from their families.

Miguel Meza, 76, has spent four decades tending thoroughbreds on the Del Mar backstretch. He lives on the grounds in a small concrete-block apartment furnished with only the essentials — a sleeping bag on a thin pad, a metal folding chair and a portable cook stove beside a small bag of tortillas and canned food.

For many, the work is steady but the pay is low — some have received the same wage for decades — and injuries or missed days can mean the difference between stability and crisis.

“They’re so beaten down in life that they don’t trust anyone and they’re very secretive,” Dougan said. “If we can make their life a little easier and less expensive, we do it.”

As racing fans crowded toward the paddock last Friday, Hernandez continued his rounds in the shedrows, greeting workers as part of his morning ritual.

Asked what keeps him on the backstretch instead of in the winner’s circle, Hernandez pointed to the people around him.

“People ask me all the time, ‘Do you love the horses?’” he said. “I say, I like them a lot, but it’s the people I love.”

To donate, please send checks to: Race Track Chaplaincy of California, P.O. Box 2008, Downey, CA 90242, or make a donation online. To volunteer, call Chaplain Eli Hernandez at (562) 479-4924 or email them at dean@rtccal.org.