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LOUISVILLE — For surrogates of Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, there was a political horse race Saturday that outpaced the Kentucky Derby in importance.
The Run for the Roses is always a big draw for the rich and powerful, and prominent supporters for both Democratic presidential candidates rubbed elbows with them at Churchill Downs.
Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe called it a "great opportunity to network."
"You've got everybody under one roof," he said on the Churchill Downs red carpet, where celebrities entered the track. "This is it for me, it's like a kid in a candy store."
Clinton's daughter, Chelsea, was among those who strode the red carpet.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, among the leading Obama supporters at the race, spent time meeting with a group of Democratic superdelegates during his Kentucky visit.
University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato said the Derby is the ideal stage for politicking and building fundraising bases.
"The rich are drawn to Churchill Downs like bees to honey," Sabato said in a phone interview. "They're all in one place, and you can have a pretty good-sized fundraiser right there. You see a lot of people at once and you see them while they're in good spirits, and have imbibed the spirits. They're inclined to make commitments."
The presidential race was on the minds of some regular race fans, with some sporting Obama stickers specially made for the Derby.
With the Indiana and North Carolina primaries coming up on Tuesday, Richardson said if Obama has "a good week," then "maybe the time has come to unify the party" around the Illinois senator.
"Because we can't afford to go into the Democratic convention in August divided and uncertain with Obama firmly in the lead," Richardson said. "So my hope is we unify the party and come behind one nominee, Senator Obama."
McAuliffe said the momentum has clearly shifted to Clinton heading into the Indiana and North Carolina contests, and said she is running strongly in future contests in West Virginia and Kentucky.
"We're going to go on a good streak here now," he said.
Obama was in Indiana on Saturday but favored Colonel John to win the Derby, according to Clark Stevens, a campaign spokesman in Kentucky. During a Derby-week campaign stop in Louisville, Clinton urged her supporters to put some money down on Eight Belles, the filly who finished second in the Derby moments before breaking down and being euthanized on the track.
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Associated Press writer Antonio Gonzalez contributed to this report.
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