Ok, here we go:
First, I can not stress enough that I was not brought up a horse guy. I grew up out in the country, but never owned a horse, never visited a race track, and have no idea what drew me to the sport.
But somewhere around Easy Goer / Sunday Silence, I was hooked.
Since the early 2000's, we have treked to various OTB's , racinos, etc, for each of the three races of the Triple Crown. I can't begin to tell you how many bets I made for friends back home that were scribbled out on a beer coaster.
Then, in 2010, we made a "day trip" from our house in Pennsylvania to Baltimore to see the Preakness. -- The next year (and each year since) we roll into Baltimore on the third Saturday in May with a small entourage , ages 25 - 45. We sit inside behind the glass for the "main event", but we are still young enough to party with the kids in the infield for a few hours as well.
But deep down, "The Derby" always called. Every year we always seemed to find reasons not to go. (Too busy with work, paying for college, etc). We were the people at the OTB, who would always say "maybe next year".
But life is funny. Our son grew up to be a fine young man, he also loves the "game" and now he makes a little money of his own. Just after Derby day 2013 he reminded me that "I wasn't getting any younger". Then maybe you hear about an old work buddy that falls over dead of a heart attack at 40 something, and you realize, its time to get some of this important stuff out of the way. And that (in a round about way) brings me to last November, and the scheduled "presale" for the Kentucky Derby 2014 tickets.
-------------------------------
After endless conversations , I had signed up in October for a special "presale" on churchhildowns.com. Having been to dozens of events in my life (concerts, races, NFL playoffs, etc) I thought I had seen it all in terms of ticketing, but the Derby takes things to a new level. The "rules" of the early presale were quite strange. A few things come to mind: 1) You MUST agree to buy Derby and Oaks tickets on your order. 2) You MUST agree to buy a $25 souvenir "gift card" with your order and 3) You MUST pay a "premium" for first crack at the tickets. (Yes, above face value) -- So, if you are keeping track at home, you are required to buy a bunch of things you may or may not want, pay extra for "honor" of buying the tickets and be prepared to send them your money a full six months in advance
All of which I happily did
See, prior we had searched the internet in advance for those "tour companies" that offer "Derby Experiences" and found them to he horrendously overpriced. Overpriced tickets, bundled with over priced rooms, and sold to people who don't know any better. I guess they are easy and simple, but I still work for my money, and I am a pretty resourceful guy, so after much conversation, we sucked it up, and went the way of the presale. We considered "the infield" (decided against) and in the end, we simply bought the best tickets we could afford. We were going to make this happen.
During the first few moments of the presale, we landed 4 tickets in section 124 - Row "A" . (trackside!) The face value is $154.00 each -- We will also be at the Oaks on Friday in the same seats -- A $100 face value.
Our total investment for four (4) tickets in the lower grandstand (both days) was about $1300.00
I should point out that we could have waited and entered the regular "public sale". We also could have bought tickets later on the secondary market. We CHOSE to go the "presale" route, and in the end are happy with the results.
Within an hour of landing the tickets, I began to feverously shop for a hotel in Louisville. (Most of which I learned are "blocked out" year to year by the big tour companies). I found rooms close that were VERY expensive. And rooms far away that were rather reasonable. The trick is to find a close room that is reasonable.
-- After reading a few online reviews, we settled on the "Red Roof Inn" located at Louisville Fair and Expo Center. I understand the hotel to be about 4 miles from Churchill, and it really was "highly recommended". - Early in the week, the rates are very reasonable ($85.99) however, as the Derby gets closer, the rates rise. (Thursday, Friday and Saturday came in at nearly $325.00
per night).
Our hotel bill for 5 nights is $1200.00
NOTE: I booked the above hotel in November. If you are planning a trip of this nature, I would highly recommend you do the same, as they sell out FAST.
I'll stop there for tonight, but I will say this, like most "big events" there is a bit of a "cash grab" going on with the derby. The semi strange ticket practices, and the tripling and even quadrupling of nightly hotel rates are an example. However, for us this is probably a "once in a lifetime" event, and I'm a "glass half full" kind of guy. We will pay it, and we will make the most of it and we will have a BLAST. . After all ,
ITS THE DERBY! --
I hope I am not boring you to tears , and also I hope someone who is considering a similar trip can learn something from my story and experiences.
We hope to arrive in Louisville on Tuesday and spend some time sightseeing, and going on the "Bourbon Trail" tours before getting down to business at the Oaks on Friday.
Up Next: The Preakness ticket experience
- 
