| Kentucky Derby tickets
Dear Ticket Guy,
I have sent requests by mail for tickets to the KY Derby for years, but have never gotten seats. Last year I sent about 20 separate requests. How would you recommend that I get good seats for the KY Derby? Darrell Mullins
Charlotte, NC Dear Darrell Mullins,The Kentucky Derby, my personal favorite event. Its a sport, there is
gambling, big beautiful animals, tiny but wonderful athletes riding two ton
wonderful athletes, lots of booze, Louisville's version of spring break out
on the infield and lots of beautiful and rich people in their Sunday best in
the grandstands and in the paddock area. You just have to love it. Go baby
go!
But to answer your question. I am very surprised that you have not
received tickets. You could be hurting your chances with the multiple
entries especially if they are all coming from the same name and address.
The ticket office could very well think that you are a broker trying to get
a bunch of tickets to resell with so many requests.
I would suggest that you personally send in just one request and make it
very well written. Tell them that you are a big fan and that you have been
sending in requests for years with no luck and that you will keep sending in
a request each year until you get tickets because it is very important to
you. Be very polite and sincere. It is human beings processing these
requests and a well written letter will stand out.
I also suggest that you have every family member, friend, co-worker,
etc. that has a seperate name, address and
phone number do the same to increase your chances. I would also spread out
when the requests get sent in, I am sure
there is some luck involved with the timing too. You just might catch the
right person reading a particular request.
One more tip for making requests. I have been told that requests are
favored by the distance from Louisville. The Kentucky Derby likes being an
international event, Churchill Downs likes saying that people have tickets
from all 50 states and however many number of countries. If you have any
friends or family in Alaska, Hawaii or even better Thailand, have them send
in a request. I know that if I was processing requests and someone wrote me
a letter from some exotic location and told me that it was always their
dream to visit the United States and see the ponies run for glory in the
world's greatest horse race, the Kentucky Derby, I would make sure they got
tickets.
Last but not least, I will share a great trick for getting good seats
cheap. Simply wait until later in the day to
buy tickets. Go in with a general admission ticket that you can buy at the
gate, have a Mint Julip, and watch the first 3 or 4 races from the paddock.
Check out all the beautiful people and there are plenty of them that will
hang out in the paddock area and relax and have fun. The mint julip will
certainly help in the relaxation department.
After the 4th race wander outside, the scalpers will be near the
souvenir tent outside of the museum or hanging out just outside of the
clubhouse entrance. Trust me, there will still be scalpers, myself included
usually, and you will be amazed at the deals that will be available at that
time. The ticket brokers have filled all their orders by this time and the
big spenders are already in having fun. Anybody that wanders up late with
extra tickets (and they do wander up late) have to take whatever us scalpers
offer and we do not offer much. You should see some of the tickets I have
scored late for the Derby. Through the years I have sat with celebrities and
many people that make about 500 times what I make a year and at crazy cheap
prices.
Its a great event. Good luck.
Carl "The Ticket Guy" White
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