LEXINGTON, Ky. — The winner’s circle is dedicated to the best horses, trainers and jockeys, but once a year it’s where kids like 5-year-old Boone Hearld stand. 

Boone was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a birth defect that affects normal blood flow through the heart.

“He had a surgery when he was 6 days old, he had one at 6 months old, and then the heart began to fail,” Mandi Hearld, Boone’s mom, said. “So he was put on the transplant list where he stayed for about 58 days and then he got his transplant.”

For 15 years, local thoroughbred farms and organizations teamed up with Keeneland to grant wishes for children. Along with presenting a trophy after each race, the families are treated to a VIP experience.

This year’s event had 10 races dedicated to 10 deserving kids.

“A child gets paired with a race and they’re a VIP for the day, so they get to come down to the saddling paddock and watch the jockeys get a leg up and they get to pick the horse they want to bet on and they get to be in the winners circle,” said Kara Heissenbuttel, senior director of operations and community relations at Keeneland.

For Boone’s mom Mandi, it’s a day her family will never forget. “Just the ability to have this experience for boone, that he can always look back and then again a way we can make memories and that we’ll always have those regardless of what Boone’s medical future may look like,” Hearld said. 

In the meantime, Boone is still receiving follow-up care and hoping his wish comes true.

“We like it but Boone has never been able to go because he has been sick or we actually had a family camper years back and had to sell it because Boone was very sick and it just wasn’t feasible at the time for our family,” Hearld said. “Then he asked for the camper and we thought of something we can travel and do.”

An opportunity to make forever memories for the Hearld family.

Since its inception, the annual Make-A-Wish day at Keeneland has granted more than 110 wishes and raised more than $1 million.