Draw for Derby, Oaks seats

For the second straight year, Churchill Downs will hold a public drawing for fans to purchase a limited number of seats to the Kentucky Derby. The track is selling 500 pairs of tickets, or 1,000 total, to the 134th Derby on May 3, as well as 210 pairs of tickets to the May 2 Kentucky Oaks.

The drawing will be held Saturday at 7 a.m. Eastern at the Louisville, Ky., track. Fans wishing to participate can begin assembling outside Gate 10 as early as 6 p.m. the previous day.

The first 710 fans in line will be assigned numbers based on their order in line. Those fans then will have a turn to draw from one of two ticket hoppers, one with Derby tickets and one with Oaks tickets. The vouchers they pick out will reveal the location of their tickets.

Available tickets are in 14 different sections on the first and second levels of the grandstand (sections 120-125 and 223-225) and the ground level of the clubhouse (sections 111-114 and 118).

Until last year, when a similar drawing was held, Churchill had never offered Derby tickets to the public at large. The allocation of all other Derby seats is conducted privately by the track. General admission, which comes without seating, is always available to the public on Oaks and Derby days.