- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,153,000
- Reaction score
- 59
The Kentucky Derby is a day of fashion, a chance to look good and make an impression.
However, a different kind of fashion is on full display in the infield.
To be sure, many of the thousands who flock to the large, grassy area encircled by Churchill Downs’ dirt racetrack still dress in fine garments, but things are markedly less glamorous. There’s no raw bar with lobster, for instance, and you’re largely exposed to the elements.
At the 152th Run for the Roses in the infield, Louis Grant was among those showing up and showing out. Standing along one of the infield’s main thoroughfares, where he made sure he could see all manner of passersby, the West Buechel resident was dressed in an American flag complete with inflatable American flag wings and a top hat in celebration of the country’s 250th anniversary.
Grant, an infield regular, has bought general admission tickets for the past couple of decades, he said.
“That’s not what made the Kentucky Derby,” Grant said, gesturing behind him toward the reserved seating stands. “This is what made it. This infield environment with all the local people and the visitors who come here and mingle. We’re all from Louisville today.”
Grant, 53, said he typically buys tickets to Sports Illustrated's Club SI on Thurby, but tickets to the club on Derby Day are outside his price range. This year, general admission infield tickets started at $136, a Starting Gate Box seat started around $2,200, and a two-day pass on Millionaires Row cost upward of $12,000.
The lower prices have an understandable appeal to younger crowds. But there were plenty of serious, older racegoers in the infield as well.
Debbie Allen was achieving her own Triple Crown at the Derby. The New York native has attended the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, but it was her first time at Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby.
"I almost prefer this, because you feel so much closer to it," Allen said, gesturing toward the final turn, a dozen yards from her seat at the fence. "It's more of a day in the park than sitting in seats and bleachers."
On the other side of the track at the first turn, Steve and Susan Reider and friends were staking out their spots, spreading tarps and setting up folding chairs. As a girl in the 1960s, Susan Reider watched races from the stands. Generations of her own family now watch from the infield.
"It's the circle of life," Reider said. "We started here, we went there, we're back here."
The infield appeals to the Reider and Roush families because it gives them the chance to be together in a more relaxed setting.
"When we got tickets over there, your friends can't afford it," Anita Roush said. "We were lucky to get tickets, but you were never with your friends. Here you can be with your friends and have a good time."
Part of the appeal of the infield for George Davis, 71, is that he can dress how he wants. Sporting jeans, a T-shirt and a hooded sweatshirt, the East End resident is like Grant in that he usually comes to the racetrack and buys reserved seating on less busy days of the Spring Meet.
But rain or shine, the infield is the place to be on Derby Day.
One year, it's pouring rain and you're freezing to death, he said, "and you're saying 'I'm never doing this again'... 'til next year."
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky Derby 2026 infield crowds create different kind of style
Continue reading...
However, a different kind of fashion is on full display in the infield.
To be sure, many of the thousands who flock to the large, grassy area encircled by Churchill Downs’ dirt racetrack still dress in fine garments, but things are markedly less glamorous. There’s no raw bar with lobster, for instance, and you’re largely exposed to the elements.
At the 152th Run for the Roses in the infield, Louis Grant was among those showing up and showing out. Standing along one of the infield’s main thoroughfares, where he made sure he could see all manner of passersby, the West Buechel resident was dressed in an American flag complete with inflatable American flag wings and a top hat in celebration of the country’s 250th anniversary.
Grant, an infield regular, has bought general admission tickets for the past couple of decades, he said.
“That’s not what made the Kentucky Derby,” Grant said, gesturing behind him toward the reserved seating stands. “This is what made it. This infield environment with all the local people and the visitors who come here and mingle. We’re all from Louisville today.”
Grant, 53, said he typically buys tickets to Sports Illustrated's Club SI on Thurby, but tickets to the club on Derby Day are outside his price range. This year, general admission infield tickets started at $136, a Starting Gate Box seat started around $2,200, and a two-day pass on Millionaires Row cost upward of $12,000.
The lower prices have an understandable appeal to younger crowds. But there were plenty of serious, older racegoers in the infield as well.
Debbie Allen was achieving her own Triple Crown at the Derby. The New York native has attended the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, but it was her first time at Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby.
"I almost prefer this, because you feel so much closer to it," Allen said, gesturing toward the final turn, a dozen yards from her seat at the fence. "It's more of a day in the park than sitting in seats and bleachers."
On the other side of the track at the first turn, Steve and Susan Reider and friends were staking out their spots, spreading tarps and setting up folding chairs. As a girl in the 1960s, Susan Reider watched races from the stands. Generations of her own family now watch from the infield.
"It's the circle of life," Reider said. "We started here, we went there, we're back here."
You must be registered for see images
The infield appeals to the Reider and Roush families because it gives them the chance to be together in a more relaxed setting.
"When we got tickets over there, your friends can't afford it," Anita Roush said. "We were lucky to get tickets, but you were never with your friends. Here you can be with your friends and have a good time."
Part of the appeal of the infield for George Davis, 71, is that he can dress how he wants. Sporting jeans, a T-shirt and a hooded sweatshirt, the East End resident is like Grant in that he usually comes to the racetrack and buys reserved seating on less busy days of the Spring Meet.
But rain or shine, the infield is the place to be on Derby Day.
One year, it's pouring rain and you're freezing to death, he said, "and you're saying 'I'm never doing this again'... 'til next year."
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky Derby 2026 infield crowds create different kind of style
Continue reading...
