Event raises $60K for Vitek

About $60,000 was raised Monday night at a dinner and auction held on behalf of ailing jockey Justin Vitek at the Kentucky Derby Museum in Louisville, Ky., according to Jolynn Johnston, one of the event's organizers.

Vitek, 34, has been in and out of the hospital for the last two months since having been diagnosed in late February with acute myelogenous leukemia. Vitek, who was able to attend the event for about an hour, drew an emotional round of applause from the crowd of about 200 when he appeared for the first time when the house lights were turned on following a showing of the brief museum movie, "The Greatest Race."

Vitek, who began his career in 1993, has ridden primarily in Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana the last several years.