Originally Posted by oracle80

You don't wanna stay all the way out there. Piss on that. You'll spend the whole day driving. On the outskirts of the Lousiville metro area on Hurstbourne Road you can get a room at a reasonable price without having to commute that far each day.
Skip Lexington, its as boring in that town as watching paint dry or watching grass grow. Used to stay there years ago and its a drag.
Lots of things to do in Louisville Derby week. If you like baseball head on down to Slugger Field and check out the reds Triple AAA farm club take on the Yankees triple AAA farm club(they always schedule the yanks farm team to be in town that week knowing it draws in visiting northeasterners), its a spectacular ball park.
Hit Jeff Ruby's for drinks and dinner one night, its on West Main Street downtown.
Head on out to works in the morning, which will be hard if you are all the way out in Frankfort, grab a room on Hurstbourne instead.

Originally Posted by Cardus

I've watched those "sessions" at Ashford. The first stallion that I saw was King of Kings (about three years ago). Damn!

Since watching him do his thing, I have referred to him as the "Aptly named King of Kings."

As for the plunger guy, it's a tough job, but someone has to do it.

Originally Posted by DerbyCat

Thanks for the input so far everyone, I appreciate it. I started looking at hotels, car rentals, ticket brokers, major sights I need to see and I've got to be honest - it's overwhelming! I'm contemplating doing a travel package deal that provides tickets, hotel, transportation, and farm tours - it costs more but it may be worth it to have someone else take care of the logistics... I know a lot of you have done the Derby for many years and you've got your itinerary down cold but for a newbie like me I think a package might be best... any thoughts?

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

Definitely try and get down there for the Post Position draw. It was pretty cool how they had it this year in the open air on 4th Street.

Elizabethtown is definitely a good option if you are looking to keep the price down. It is a wicked easy commute into Louisville, 30-40 minutes, all highway driving. Also E-town is already half way to Mammoth Cave if that sort of thing interests you on the Sunday after.

Don't sweat it if you can't get tickets. You don't have to go to the infield. We went general admission last year and there is a section of lawn around the first turn that is nothing like the infield and you can actually see things. They also bring all the horses past you before and after the race so you wind up getting a much better view of them there than you get in the crowded paddock. Here are some of my pictures from last year to give you an idea of how close you can get down there:

http://www.finalturngallery.com/Sniper-s-Pictures

Originally Posted by Thunder Gulch

Agree that the post draw party is a great idea to catch.

Disagree with a lot of what is being posted here. Derby is a party in Louisville, so if you don't like Louisville and you don't like good times, choose another time to visit the farms in Lexington, Mammoth Cave, and the Derby museum. Those are all nice, but not what my group of 20 goes for (mostly 30 somethings). Lighten up and spend a few late nights on the town.

Shepherdsville, KY is only about 10 miles south from the track and there are a couple of reasonable lodging options there. Taxi ride only $30 or so from there.

We bought tickets for $125 outside the gates last year, and there were numerous ones floating around.

Originally Posted by BellamyRd.

Lexington is not cheaper/nicer than Louisville
in fact, I find the opposite to be true
if you stay in Lexington you'll never forgive yourself
and why waste time at a horse farm that week
when there's so much going on in Louisville
no one has addressed tickets
be prepared to drop some $$ there
If I find a deal I'll let you know

Originally Posted by pdrift1

sry but lexington is cheaper . alot of hotels require 3 night min stay at outrageous prices in louisville. he already said notta on the hard partying and thats what most of it is. and lexington is far better then louisville. if you want to drink and party stay in louisville if you want to see horses head to lexington

Originally Posted by paisjpq

I agree with Euro that you will probably have better luck and better pricing if you stay in Frankfort...and the drive isn't bad. Farm tours are an absolute must...I don't know if they are open to the public but try to get into Winstar...place is great, both the stallion barns and the training section and the foaling barns. Hands down my favorite farm in the area. Three chimneys, Ashford, Juddmonte, Gainsway, are Lane's End are also must sees. And make sure you check out keeneland even thought they won't be running. The library there is incredible.

Originally Posted by BellamyRd.

Don't get me wrong, Lexington has it's place
just not during derby week