The greatest two minutes in sports includes an all-day party at Turfway Park, which will host its annual Kentucky Derby Party in the Paddock and Derby simulcast from noon to 7:30 p.m., Saturday, May 6.
With a win in Turfway’s $500,000 JACK Cincinnati Casino Spiral Stakes (G3) March 25, the colt Fast and Accurate earned a spot in the Kentucky Derby starting gate. Playing off the Spiral winner’s name, Ultimate Air Shuttle will sponsor two random drawings for two tickets each, one flight to Chicago and the other to Charlotte, North Carolina.
No Kentucky Derby party is complete without a Derby hat contest, and Turfway will offer prizes in four categories: most traditional/elegant for women, most traditional/stylish for men, most bizarre for both men and women, and a separate category for children 12 and under. Judging will take place at 5:45 p.m. in the paddock.
New this year is a $300 reservation package in the paddock’s individual saddling stalls. Guests can reserve their own covered stall that includes a 55” flatscreen for private viewing, seating for 10 guests, standing room for five more and a menu of appetizers, mini-Kentucky hot browns and brisket sliders.
Reservations with buffet service are available for $45 and $50 per seat in the Homestretch restaurant on the first floor and the dining room on the fifth floor; both areas are smoke-free. Reserved seating without buffet service is available in Players’ Row—individual handicapping stations on the first floor—for $5 per seat in smoking and non-smoking sections.
Reservations are available by calling (859) 371-0200. For more information, click here turfway.com.
For those without reservations, first-come, first-served seating is available in the paddock and in smoking and non-smoking areas of the second and third floors of the grandstand. Fans may bring lawn chairs to the paddock party. Coolers are not permitted.
The Kentucky Oaks card on May 5 and the Kentucky Derby card on May 6 offer some of the world’s richest pari-mutuel wagering pools. Friday’s wagers include the Oaks-Derby double and a Pick 3 that covers Friday’s Kentucky Oaks and Saturday’s Woodford Reserve Turf Classic and the Kentucky Derby. On Friday, Turfway will accept advance wagers on the Derby card.
Bettors are advised that while the ten-cent Superfecta is a popular wager the rest of the year, on Oaks and Derby days the minimum Superfecta wager is $1.
Turfway’s doors will open at 9 a.m. Friday and Saturday, and each day’s card from Churchill Downs will be simulcast in its entirety beginning with the first race at 10:30 a.m. The Oaks is the 11th of 13 races Friday and goes to post at 5:49 p.m. The Derby is scheduled as the 12th of 14 races Saturday, with post time at 6:46 p.m.
Turfway Park
