Sabertooth Sports & Entertainment (SS&E), a division of Predators Holdings, has partnered with Iroquois Steeplechase to offer Nashville Predators Partners, Premium Seat Holders, Season Ticket Citizens and all sports fans the exclusive opportunity to purchase individual, tailgating and VIP tickets for the 81st anniversary of the event – which will take place on Saturday, May 13, at Percy Warner Park in Franklin, Tennessee. A portion of the event’s proceeds will benefit the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt University.

“We are thrilled to partner with one of Nashville’s most historic and treasured events, the Iroquois Steeplechase, to bring together more than 25,000 people for a day of excitement and entertainment,” says Nashville Predators President & CEO Sean Henry. “For us, the event is much more than a race—it’s an opportunity to give back to the community. The Volunteer State Horsemen’s Foundation has been able to use Steeplechase as a vehicle to raise more than four million dollars for the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt University over the years, and we are grateful for the opportunity to get involved and help drive even more fans to Steeplechase and support the Children’s Hospital.”

Iroquois Steeplechase was first contested in 1941 in a valley at Percy Warner Park on a course that was constructed by the Works Progress Administration. Volunteers consisted of local fox hunters, among others. Those volunteers later created the Volunteer State Horsemen’s Association (now Foundation), which today remains the governing body of the race meet, under the leadership of Steeplechase Chairman Dwight Hall.

Events will be held throughout the day for children and families, and awards will be presented for the most stylish dress for males and females, along with others. Cash bars and food trucks will be available on the property for guests to purchase food, liquor, beer and wine. Attendees may also bring their own food and drinks if desired while utilizing special tailgating spaces created for Iroquois Steeplechase.

The Nashville Predators have signed both Michael McCarron and Kiefer Sherwood to one-year, $775,000 contracts ahead of the 2023-24 season.

McCarron completed his third season with the Predators in 2022-23, posting four points (2 goals-2 assists), 20 blocked shots and 75 hits in 32 games. He won a career-high 59.4 percent of his faceoffs in 2022-23, the best mark on Nashville among those who took at least 100 draws. The 6-foot-6, 232-pound forward also averaged a career-high 1:12 of shorthanded ice time, helping the Predators finish with the joint fourth-best penalty kill in the NHL this season at 82.6 percent. At the AHL level, McCarron suited up in 16 games for Milwaukee, recording six points (2 goals-4 assists).

In 2021-22, the Grosse Pointe, Mich., native established career highs in nearly every category with Nashville, including games played (51), goals (7), assists (7), and points (14). During an AHL career that has featured 262 games with Milwaukee (57), Laval (115) and St. John’s (90), McCarron has picked up 141 points (58 goals-83 assists) and was named to the 2016 AHL All-Star Classic after posting a career-high 17 goals and 38 points with St. John’s.

Sherwood established NHL career highs in goals (7) and points (13) in 32 games with the Predators this season, his first with the organization. He also added six assists, matching his career high initially set as a rookie in 2018-19 with Anaheim, and 103 hits, placing him in the NHL’s Top 30 in hits per 60 minutes at 14.2 (among those with at least 30 games played). The 6-foot, 194-pound forward closed out the regular season with two goals on Friday vs. Colorado, scoring Nashville’s final goal of 2022-23 after notching the team’s first tally of the campaign on Oct. 7 vs. San Jose in Prague as part of a two-point night (1 goal-1 assist). Sherwood also appeared in 42 games for Milwaukee (AHL) this season, recording 22 goals and 38 points.

At the AHL level, he has produced at nearly a point-per-game pace, recording 172 points (92 goals-80 assists) in 186 games with San Diego, Colorado and Milwaukee since the 2017-18 campaign. In 2021-22, Sherwood was named to the AHL’s Second All-Star Team after leading Colorado and finishing fifth in the league in points with a career-high 75 (36 goals-39 assists); his 36 goals were also a career high and the third-most in the AHL.

The Nashville Predators Foundation, empowered by SmileDirectClub, partnered with Compassion International to kickstart Fill the Arena, an urgent effort to rally those in the Nashville area and beyond to feed children and their families — 17,159 children to be exact — the same number of seats in Bridgestone Arena.

The Preds hosted their first Fill the Arena night on Saturday (April 1), where the community gathered at Bridgestone Arena to watch them play the St. Louis Blues and to support Compassion International’s mission to feed children. The second Fill the Arena night will be on Thursday (April 6) when Nashville hosts the Carolina Hurricanes.

“Big changes often start with small things that move one person into action,” says Compassion CEO & President Santiago “Jimmy” Mellado. “Every seat in the Bridgestone Arena represents a child in need and every meal provided will give children a real chance to thrive. Every athlete and artist partnering with Fill the Arena is committed to answer the call to help vulnerable children around the world.”

Spearheaded by past and present Predators players including Mike Fisher, Ryan Johansen and Roman Josi, as well as country music star Chase Rice and more, the Fill the Arena team is ready to do their part to address world hunger. These elite athletes and artists understand that their leadership and participation can help bring much-needed attention to this worthy cause.

“We are facing a global hunger crisis,” says Fisher. “Fill the Arena is Nashville’s answer to the global food crisis, both across the globe and here in our own backyard. We are extremely passionate about filling every seat in this arena and are confident that people will step up and help us Fill the Arena!”

Compassion International previously teamed up with professional athletes from numerous sports to complete Fill the Stadium, an effort in direct response to food shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The campaign raised over $36 million and provided life-saving food and support to 76,473 children around the world.

Founded in 1952, Compassion International is a Christian child development organization that works to release children from poverty. Compassion revolutionized the fight against global poverty by working exclusively with the church to lift children out of spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty. Compassion partners with more than 8,000 churches in 25 countries to deliver their holistic child development program to more than two million babies, children and young adults. Their child sponsorship program has been validated through independent, empirical research. In just two years, food insecurity has doubled  to affect 276 million people.

The Nashville Predators Foundation and SmileDirectClub have announced that The New Beginnings Center, a resource facility helping women of low income to discover the strength in themselves through coaching in nutrition, fitness and behavior change, will be presented with a SuperGrant totaling $10,000 tonight (March 24) as the Predators host the Seattle Kraken at Bridgestone Arena. The SuperGrant will be used to support salaries as the need for additional part-time coaches grows.

“We are proud to partner with SmileDirectClub and provide The New Beginnings Center with our fourth SuperGrant of the season,” says Nashville Predators Vice President of Community Relations Rebecca King. “The New Beginnings Center offers life-changing programs for women while supporting their physical and mental well-being, and the Preds Foundation is thrilled to recognize this non-profit and the positive impact they are making in our community.”

The New Beginnings Center opened in 2011 and has since empowered over 3,500 women and teenage girls in the Middle Tennessee community. In 2022, the organization started the Iron Souls program, a holistic health and well-being program for teenage girls. The results of these programs provide improved health trajectories, reversed symptoms of preventable diseases and increased confidence.

“We are so grateful to be awarded a SuperGrant during Women’s History Month,” says The New Beginnings Center CEO Tash Weddle. “It brings a spotlight to the increasing need for services that support the physical and emotional well-being of women and teenage girls. Every day we witness lives being transformed with quality coaching that meets women and girls right where they are. This SuperGrant will help us develop and grow our coaching staff – our key deliverable for generating healthier bodies and minds and creating sustainable change. I am so proud of The New Beginnings and Iron Souls coaches who dedicate themselves to teaching and encouraging healthy lifestyle behaviors, one step at a time.”