Keeneland Moves the Bluegrass Back to 4 Weeks Out

[tanner12oz]

Originally Posted by NTamm1215

Moving it up a week will also make no difference at all crowd-wise. Blue Grass day is packed no matter what, and it'd be hard to imagine the weather being better and the crowd being larger than it was this year.

umm its opening weekend which is also a huge weekend..your saying attendance won't change packing 2 monster attendance days into 1 ?

[NTamm1215]

Originally Posted by tanner12oz

umm its opening weekend which is also a huge weekend..your saying attendance won't change packing 2 monster attendance days into 1 ?

No. It will be packed on the new date, a la a normal Blue Grass day and will still be crowded the following week.

Your comparison to Breeders' Cup has little to no bearing as attendance is clearly going to be managed (limited ticket sales) by the BC for those days.

[saratogadew]

Originally Posted by NTamm1215

No. It will be packed on the new date, a la a normal Blue Grass day and will still be crowded the following week.

Your comparison to Breeders' Cup has little to no bearing as attendance is clearly going to be managed (limited ticket sales) by the BC for those days.

I agree with you that ticket sales will be "managed". We should not confuse the verbiage "limited ticket sales" to mean a low or controllable amount.

[ghartman02]

Only Fly in the ointment is if UK plays in Indy that day. That may diminish the crowd a bit. Bad weather may as well. Used to attend that day and had some nice days, ok days, and awful days. In 2007, I think it was 38 degrees and snowing. As a fan of The Ashland, I wish they would have moved that up to Friday. Having said all that, I hope the BlueGrass regains it's once prominent Derby Prep Position.

[tanner12oz]

I noticed its Easter weekend which might affect numbers. I'll probably be going again this year but might be disowned by my family in the process

[ghartman02]

Easter has been a part of BlueGrass Day many times, so I don't think that helps or hinders. The BlueGrass has gained a lot in attendance though. I remember when it was on Thursday, 9 days before the Derby and you'd get 15,000 or so. Now it's 40+k. It should be interesting.

[Kasept]

Opening Day is typically 20k with opening weekend luring 60k.

Blue Grass Day attendance has been 33k, 33k, 37k, 39k, 40k the last 5 years.