So DH, DD and I are headed to the Derby! We’ve only got general admission, but thought we’d try to hang out near the paddock since we’re not into the wild party stuff of the infield. Any advice? Can you bring chairs to use in the paddock area? I’m pretty sure I won’t be able/willing to stand up for 10 hours. Anything else I should know? TIA!
No personal chairs allowed last time I was aware of the admission policies . No place to set them up for one thing, it’s too crowded, for another, they sell places to sit. I think most are not aware how small the paddock at CD really is, its not Santa Anita, it’s tight.
Bring a waterproof coat and headwear, wear comfy waterproof footwear. Mid 50sf forecast , been raining, looks like it will keep raining through the weekend. It’s still fun but you have to dress for it.
You won’t be able to bring a chair in and you won’t be able to see anything in the paddock unless you are fortunate enough to work you way near the railing and stay there. No bathroom breaks etc. Your best bet is to find a spot where you can see that new huge screen because without a ticket you are unlikely to get as much as a glimpse of a horse the entire day.
The paddock area is so… freaking… crowded!
I think Churchill has the worst General Admission setup out of any track I’ve ever been to, and that’s on a normal day. Then you have the insanity that is the KD. The limited amount of apron that is usually available on GA gets absorbed into the ticketed seating, making the ground floor and paddock area even more impassable. Stuff on the second floor (and up) that you can usually access on GA either becomes ticketed or is just too difficult to get to with the masses.
My advice: get there as soon as the gates open. Hopefully you can snag one of the few benches in the paddock (or search around until you find a spot you like). Place your bets early, get food and drink early, try to use the restroom early. The area will fill up as the races begin; if you actually want to SEE the paddock, you’ll have push yourself up to the rail and stand the remainder of the time. Earlier in the day, you will probably be able to trade off so one person holds your spot and the other places bets and gets food. Later in the day, you’ll just have to stay put if you want to keep your vantage point.
If you go to the far ends of the infield early, you should be able to find a spot on the rail away from the drunken debauchery with a view of the track, so you can at least see some horses whizzing by. Bring a program so you can keep up with what race they are on, because you’ll be pretty much cut off from knowing. And you’ll still have the same problem with having to hold your spot the closer it is to the big race, as people will swarm the area for a vantage point.
Hey thanks for the advice. After I posted I checked ticket prices on TickPick just one more time and amazingly was able to score 3 bleacher seats at a price I can afford. So at least we’ll have a place to park our bums. I’m still expecting total chaos, but everyone says you should do the Derby at least once, right?
Everybody stands up, mostly ON their bleachers, so chances of seeing anything are limited. On Oaks Day we watched the saddling up enclosure and got closeups of some of the horses.
Derby day we had front row seats near the start box and as it was, staff had to come frequently to check our i.d. and seats because of the rudeness of the crowds. Mint Juleps were the answer, I guess. Bring the souvenir glass home.
We took plastic ponchos as they are small, cheap and easy to pack - we looked like little green turtles leaning over the rail.
We went with Premier Tours and found the organization excellent - busses laid on, tours, nice hotel, etc. If I did not again I would make sure we got good seats as this time it was remarkable luck of the draw.
Met interesting people from all corners of the States - like a geography lesson - and people who had interests in common.
Was one of my best weeks ever.
OP, how was it?
We had a GREAT time! Tons of people of course–great people-watching, hat/outfit evaluation (women and men). Amazingly, just about everyone was friendly and polite (got a hug from the ticket-taker when he found out it was my first Derby), no pushing or shoving despite the crowds. We had bleacher seats on the second row from the rail at the top of the stretch. For the Derby the starting gate was only a couple hundred feet from our seats–in the youtube video, at the start, the outrider on the chestnut was about 20 feet away from us. The turn for home was really exciting–I’ve seen races in person before but never this close so I was unprepared for how fast the field went flying by.
Downsides: It rained a little. We didn’t like all the cigar smoking (yuck) and food wasn’t very good–we apparently didn’t have access to the food court where the good food was. Tons of trash at the end of the day, but no different than other major sporting events.
Overall, the good things outnumbered the bad by far. Can’t say if we’ll do it again, but maybe.
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Just wanted to mention a couple of things we did to save a few $$$:
- drove to Louisville (about 6 hrs)
- stayed in a hotel outside of Louisville (in Shepherdsville, only about 25 min away)
- packed food to eat in our hotel room instead of going out for dinner
- parked at Papa John’s stadium but walked the 1.2 miles to CD (shuttle=$15/person)
If we go again, we’ll probably pack food/drinks to take into CD.
