Del Mar’s 2025 interns: (L to R) Peyten Seltzer, Isabella Holway, Del Mar CEO Joe Harper, Customer Service Manager Trish Stiles, Luka Givelber, and Colby Kiesling. (Benoit Photo)
Jim Charvat/Del Mar
A brand-new Thoroughbred season is upon us at Del Mar. A chance for owners to show-off their prized horses; for trainers to reap the fruits of their hard work, and for horseplayers to pad their pocketbooks.
It’s also a chance for young, aspiring college students to learn what it takes to put on a major Thoroughbred meet. Since 1977, Del Mar has sponsored an intern program which provides students with the opportunity to spend a summer at the racetrack and experience the many different jobs that go into putting together the Del Mar summer meet.
This year, four new interns will be roaming the grounds, soaking up the sun and whatever knowledge comes their way. A racing experience unlike any other.
Let’s meet this year’s interns:
Isabella Holway is a 19-year-old rising junior at Oklahoma State University. She’s majoring in Sports Management and hopes to one day work in professional sports. She’s already had hands-on experience with horses. She’s on the Division I equestrian team at school.
“They recruit you in junior year of high school,” Holway says. “I toured a few schools and really loved Oklahoma State. I’d never been to Oklahoma before that and loved it.”
Holway does both jumping and flat and since OSU is a Big 12 school she gets to travel to other schools like TCU and SMU.
“I’ve been riding horses since I was three,” Holway notes. “We went to a family friend’s home in London and they had horses. I fell in love with it and kept riding. I just came back from Holland where I worked with a trainer there. So I got to show some horses internationally which I had never done before.”
Holway was born and raised in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, about five minutes north of Del Mar. She graduated from La Costa Canyon High School and has spent many a day at the seaside oval. Being a close friend of Craig Fravel, former president and CEO of the Breeders’ Cup (as well as president at Del Mar), provided her with many unique experiences.
“Craig Fravel is a really close family friend,” she explains, “and we always came (to Del Mar) with him growing up. I love (Triple Crown Champion) American Pharoah and, with the Fravels, I got to go and meet him (in his stall) with my friend.”
Peyton Seltzer has also competed in equestrian events. A rising sophomore at USC, she grew up in Rancho Santa Fe and graduated from Bishops in La Jolla.
“I grew up riding horses,” Seltzer says. “I did hunter jumper/ show jumping since I was 6 years old. I competed on the West Coast and a little bit across the country. I did it until I went to college and now, I’m taking a little break. I do it for fun and hope to get back into it.”
She also has a strong connection to the track. Her father and grandfather are racehorse owners.
“In 2016 we had a Breeders’ Cup winner at Santa Anita,” Seltzer proudly notes. “Her name is Finest City, and she won the Filly and Mare Sprint. She went on to win an Eclipse Award.”
Finest City also provided Peyton with a chance to go to her first Kentucky Derby. She watched her horse run a game second that day in the Humana Distaff, now known as the Derby City Distaff.
Like most people her age, Seltzer doesn’t know yet exactly what she wants to pursue but she has a general interest in the business world. She’s majoring in Business Administration and is attracted to the overall view of the racing industry that the Del Mar internship provides.
“Just to see all the different departments like marketing and finance,” Seltzer claims. “Just how everything works behind the scenes; it’s such a cool way to get involved.”
Colby Kiesling is a sports enthusiast who has been coming to the races with his family since he was four. He’s now a senior at the University of Kansas, majoring in Business Marketing. Colby grew up in Carlsbad and graduated from Stage Creek High.
“After that I went to Montana State in Billings for a year where I played baseball,” Kiesling says. “I played first base and some corner outfield. It was fun and I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t for me, so I decided to hang-up the cleats, call it a career and focus on academics.”
As part of that switch, he shifted to Kansas, where his dad Brian had matriculated in the ‘90s.
Kiesling looks at the internship as an extension of his education.
“I get to learn from a great selection of departments,” he explains. “Learning more from the business perspective, how they make their money, how they get people to come in, how they get their sponsorships.”
Colby doesn’t quite have the hands-on experience with horses that Isabella and Peyton both have but his love for horses is just as strong. He’s experienced the highs and lows of playing the horses and has felt the emotions every horseplayer can relate to.
“I love watching them,” Colby admits. “I’ve been coming to Del Mar since I was a little boy and the past couple of summers, I’ve been coming here a lot with my dad. I remember betting one horse to win. Threw a decent amount of money on it. He was in first place the entire race until the last few seconds when he got lapped by a horse and finished second. I was super excited the entire time, the whole mile. I go from winning a decent number to nothing. My heart was beating so fast, but I was so disappointed.”
Colby has gone on to bet other horses who stayed on and won. Point being, though, he’s now a real racing fan.
Luka Givelber is also a lifelong sports fan who is hoping to make a career out of professional sports. He was born in Tacoma, Washington and moved to the Carmel Valley area (near Del Mar) when he was 11. He also is a graduate of Bishops in La Jolla and is now a rising junior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, majoring in Economics.
“I’d only heard good things about it (Wisconsin),” Givelber says. “So, I thought ‘why not, try something new’ and I don’t regret it…though it does get cold.”
Like the rest of his fellow interns, he’s back home in San Diego for the summer and the Del Mar internship seemed like an ideal way to spend the break.
“I’ve been to Del Mar a handful of times,” Givelber says, “and I really enjoyed it. I heard about this opportunity to work at such a great and iconic sporting venue. Being a massive sports fan, that was my biggest motivation.”
He was also attracted by the variety of learning experiences the internship offered.
“We’re not with one department,” Givelber notes. “We’re kind of doing everything and I’m hoping to gain a lot of experience in lots of different fields. Maybe see if working in sports or in the entertainment business is something I would like to do when I get older and this would be a good way of learning how putting on events works.”
Luka has already found one fascinating aspect of the horse racing industry he never knew would interest him.
“I’m studying economics in school,” Givelber points out, “so I’m really interested in the business financial aspect. I was just talking to the guys who work in the racing office putting together the actual races. That was really interesting.”
For an industry that’s striving to bring in a younger demographic, the Del Mar internship program is the ideal tool needed to peak a young person’s interest. And the four intelligent and personable students participating in this year’s class are exactly the type of individuals this sport can use.
