The Finish Line Pavilion and VIP Chalet provide an excellent view of the Kentucky Downs races, as when Private Creed won the 2023 Franklin-Simpson Stakes. (Grace Clark photo)
New “Stretch Run” admission gives tent, rail access at eighth pole
Kentucky Downs Release
FRANKLIN, Ky. — Reserved seating is now on sale for Kentucky Downs’ unique seven-day race meet, the most lucrative in America.
Tickets are on sale at www.themintkentuckydowns.com/tickets. Kentucky Downs runs Aug. 29, 31 and Sept. 1, 5, 7, 8 and 11. Reserved seating is available every day in the popular open-air Finish Line Pavilion, which has been expanded, and every day except Saturday Sept. 7 in the air-conditioned VIP Chalet. Reserved seating tickets include buffet, snacks and open bar.
Reserved seats are sold in sets of two, four and a full table of eight and include food and beverages, including bar. Individual tickets may be available for purchase on race day, depending on inventory, at www.themintkentuckydowns.com/tickets or at the track at the Admissions Tents entering the ticketed venues.
Horsemen who have a horse running that day in a stakes will receive up to eight complimentary reserved tickets and up to four for a horse on the undercard. Additional horsemen’s tickets can be purchased in advance at the Kentucky HBPA rate of 50 percent off the public price. (The discount does not apply to race-day purchases.) The new procedure for horsemen to procure their race-day tickets is on page 50 of the Kentucky Downs condition book.
New in 2024 is an admission option called the Stretch Run, offering access to the rail around the eighth pole and jumbotron viewing for the lowest price point. Guests have access to a 40 X 100-foot tent with tables and chairs, with seating on a first come first served, non-reservable basis. Food and beverage is a la carte, with burgers, hotdogs, beer, wine and soft drinks available for purchase. The Stretch Run, sold as individual tickets, costs $25 on weekdays and $40 on weekends, with no availability on Sept. 7.
“We keep having to come up with creative ways to find more seating in a finite amount of space,” said Ted Nicholson, Kentucky Downs’ Vice President of Racing. “Every year our demand for reserved seating and dining grows, which is a great challenge to have. More and more owners are wanting to come watch their horses run, and we keep expanding our horsemen’s hospitality. At the same time, we continue to be an ever-growing annual stop and bucket-list destination for both racing and sports enthusiasts.
“With The Mint Event Center and the SpringHill Suites Franklin Mint construction over, we were able to create the Stretch Run to provide a more relaxed and lower price point to the VIP Chalet and the Finish Line Pavilion while allowing guests great viewing in mid-stretch.”
Free general admission is available throughout the upper stretch and into the turn, where tailgating also is an option. The area will be blacktopped this year; tents that can be secured without stakes are still allowed. The area is serviced by food trucks, mobile mutuel clerks and self-betting machines.Guests who are 21 or older have easy access to The Mint Gaming Hall, simulcasting on the second floor and the building’s restaurants and bars.
Parking is free at Kentucky Downs. Post time is 12:25 p.m. Central every day except for Sept. 7, when it will be 11:30 a.m. CT.
