We're less than a week away from the Kentucky Derby, or as we prefer to think of it this year, the second time in a month when we'll be permitted to wear big, stupid hats (the first being The Royal Wedding). Although it's a tad too late to score the best boxes where the mint juleps come served in proper silver cups, there's plenty of tickets left for the infield, aka general admission, for the big horserace on Saturday, May 7. ]]>
The Final Four is over, so it’s time to look forward one of the next big sporting events. The Kentucky Derby is just over a month away, so if you’ve haven’t made plans to get yourself to Churchill Downs now is the time to do so. We’ll let you know how to get tickets and access to the first leg of the Triple Crown, but then we're relying on you to figure out where to buy the appropriate hat.
We always kind of assumed that getting tickets to the Derby was going to be pretty challenging, but it’s actually not too tricky at all. There’s still plenty of seats available too, so no need to resort to hitting the ticket brokers and scalpers in the parking lot. ]]>
Last year, we went out and bought a big white churchy hat and preppy purse to match for a Kentucky Derby party in midtown Manhattan. After several strong mint juleps, we finally watched he horses on TV dash around the track at Churchill Downs, and today we can't even remember the name of the winning horse. Oh wait, that's right—it was "Mine That Bird."
Well, Mine That Bird is taking this year off and the current favorite for the finish line is a lithe brown horse by the name of Lookin at Lucky, jockeyed by Garrett Gomez. The horse has some promising odds of 2-to-1, with "Devil May Care" a second favorite with 6-to-1 odds. We typically pick our favorite in the a super subjective manner: what horse name most tickles our fancy. This year it's "Awesome Act," just because it's be awesome to have a horse with "awesome" in its name go down in horseracing history.
Who's your favorite? A complete list of the racers is here, and don't forget to tune in for the brief race on Saturday at 6:24pm EST on NBC. That is, unless you're actually going, in which case we say put a couple dollars down on Awesome Act for us, okay?
Related Stories:
· Kentucky Derby favorite Lookin at Lucky will start in first position [Washington Post]
· How to Get Tickets to the Kentucky Derby [Jaunted]
· Sports Travel [Jaunted]
[Photo: KentuckyDerby.com]]]>
Get out your best hat and heels because The Kentucky Derby is right around the corner and we have all the scoop on getting the best seats in the house.
All of the seating inside Churchill Downs for the derby, which takes place on May 1, is reserved seating. These tickets can only be purchased online but should be purchased in advance since they usually sell out pretty fast. Right now, there are still reserved seats available starting at $60.
Cheaper options, after the jump]]>
The Kentucky Derby may not be a huge draw for average joes this year, but it's still reeling in A-listers.
Well, at least the Derby-eve party on Friday night is. The notorious Barnstable Brown bash is hosted by Louisville's locally-famous socialite twin sisters Priscilla Barnstable and Tricia Barnstable Brown, in their opulent mansion in the tony Bonnycastle neighborhood. The 21-year-old fiesta has made enough of a mark on the socialite set that it even draws celebs who don't bother to stick around for the race.
In addition to Hilton, Tom Brady, Brooke Shields, and Kid Rock will be among the boldface names at the twins' house. For the first time this year, the bash will be followed by an after-party at the Sports and Social Club, a brand new downtown club, so there could be a chance to get in some late-night celeb-sightings.
Related Stories:
· Kentucky Derby 2009 Barnstable-Brown gala guest list [Courier-Journal]
· Where to Make Your Own Last-Minute Kentucky Derby Hat [Jaunted]
· Kentucky Derby Tickets Still Available, Compliments of The Recession [Jaunted]
[Photo: casaroger] ]]>
With the Kentucky Derby only three days away, we're darn sure that milliners within 100 miles of Churchill Downs are working overtime to craft last minute hats and add extra feathers for optimum flash.
Observing the parade of outrageous headgear at the Derby and downing a few Mint Juleps is as much a part of the spectacle as the horse race itself. In these economic times, noting that a spectacular hat typically ranges from $150 to $500, we fully expect more women to take to crafting their own brims or even redecorating last year's masterpiece. For this, we turn to Dee's Crafts in Louisville.]]>
This may not come as much of a shock, but we can add horse racing to the list of things getting battered by the recession.
We're just three weeks away from the Sport of Kings' biggest day, but this year's Kentucky Derby appears to less of a hot commodity than in years past. WHAS Louisville reports:
Normally, you'd have a hard time finding a hotel room in Louisville for Derby. But not this year. Some of the area's most popular hotels still have vacancies….Those who normally shell out thousands of dollars to attend the Kentucky Derby are scaling back their spending. What’s the main reason? The Derby is an event often referred to in the industry as an "incentive event", like the Super Bowl or Final Four, something given as a reward to companies' top employees or customers.
Ahhh, so that's who was always able to afford things like the $1,900 infield suite two-day package. But, even if your boss isn't putting you up in fancy digs for the May 2 Derby, the race is still doable on a much smaller budget: $40 general admission tickets are still available.
Related Stories:
· Kentucky Derby [Official Site]
· Hotels, restaurant reservations and Derby tickets still available in troubled economy [WHAS]
· Kentucky Derby Hotels [HotelChatter]
[Photo: Velo Steve] ]]>