LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Kentucky Derby Festival officially introduced the 2022 Royal Court. The five women will serve as princesses for this year’s Festival. The Royal Court serves as ambassadors for KDF and will attend over 70 events this spring. 

80 women representing different colleges and universities around the state applied for the Royal Court Program. Preliminary judging took place in Nov. 2021 and 25 applicants made it to the final judging process. Every one who applies to be a Derby Festival Princess must maintain a 3.0 grade-point-average and three out-of-state judges make the final selection. Each woman is judged on Derby Festival knowledge, poise, intelligence, personality and campus involvement.

This year’s court is:

Nancy Ngo of Louisville. The 23-year-old is a 2nd-year graduate student at the University of Louisville. Ngo is studying Public Health with a concentration in Health Policy. She is the Director of Professional Development in the Graduate Student Council, a Trustee’s Scholar and has earned Departmental Honors in the Psychology Department for success defense of her thesis.

Jimi Porter is a 21-year-old UofL senior studying Computer Information Systems and Marketing. Porter is a Woodford R. Porter Scholar, a student worker in the Admissions Office, President’s Office and Campus Housing Department. She is also a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

20-year-old Sarah Rhodes is from Louisville, but is a junior nursing major at Northern Kentucky University. Rhodes has received several academic scholarships and is a peer ambassador working to end college campus violence. Rhodes is active in NKU theatre and is an accomplished harpist.  

Molly Sullivan of Campbellsville is a senior at the University of Kentucky majoring in agricultural economics, marketing, and management. The 22-year-old is a member of the Delta Gamma sorority, serves as the Director of Public Relations for UK’s Student Philanthropy Board and is the founder of her own organization, Sunshine!

Haven Wolfe is a sophomore at NKU pursuing a triple major in Communications Studies, Journalism and Electronic Media and Broadcasting. Wolfe is from Butler and is a David and Ruth Iler Scholar, a College of Informatics Ambassador and also is an advocate for the Ronald McDonald House Charities.

Lauren Carter, a junior at UK and Olivia Andrews, a senior at UofL, are alternates. If one of the other women cannot serve, they will become KDF princess.

A spin-of-the-wheel at the annual Fillies Derby Ball will crown one of the five women of the Derby Festival Queen. Each woman receives a $2,000 scholarship - $1,000 from the Fillies and $1,000 from the Kentucky Derby Festival Foundation. The Fillies Derby Ball is April 9, 2022.

 They crowned the first Derby Festival Princess in 1957, the second year of the Festival. Previous Princesses include Former Kentucky governor Martha Layne Collins and the late Gail Gorski, the first female pilot ever hired by United Airlines.