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Breeders' Cup Seating and Tickets

Updated: 10/05/02

Update: The Trackside Village seats have been cancelled. This was to be a tent at the Trackside OTB on the far turn and would have included a viewing stand to see at least a glimpse of the races. Citing slow ticket sales (only 200 of the 2000 seats had been sold), Arlington decided to scrap those plans. People who had purchased those will get the regular Trackside seats instead. That leaves only about 100 Trackside seats (inside the OTB with no view of the track), 100 grandstand seats, and 500 seats in the clubhouse turn just returned to the track by the Breeders' Cup. These clubhouse turn seats include food from a dining tent and are $185 each on a first come, first served basis. Order ASAP via this form to get these! After those 700 tickets are sold, the Breeders' Cup will be officially sold out.

Reserved seats at big events can be difficult and expensive to obtain and the Breeders' Cup is no exception. This year tickets were once again sold via a lottery among all the people who had signed up as wanting tickets. Because Arlington Park is a very small venue compared to past Breeders' Cups, with a grandstand only holding about 5000, most of the seats available are temporary seats and there is NO general admission. Some of these are around the clubhouse or final turn and won't give a very good view of the races. In addition, these seats will NOT include any access to the grandstand or paddock areas. Because of this and a higher price for most seats, ticket requests are way down from previous years. You can probably still request seats and get offered something, although you may not be pleased with the location.

To order tickets, you should go to this form and follow the instructions. Tickets now must be ordered online with a credit card now due to the late date and include parking, all of which will be offsite and shuttled in. All that is left as of September 12th are quarter pole and trackside seats. Quarter pole seats are bleachers which wrap around the final turn. Trackside seats are in the Trackside OTB at the far turn and only the Trackside Village has any view of the track at all. You can view a photo of the quarter pole sets taken from the end of the regular grandstand here and the clubhouse turn seats here. You can view the apron boxes here and the $285 clubhouse turn seats and tent here.

As in past years, there will be lots of tickets for sale outside the gates on Breeders' Cup day, but be very careful if you try to buy tickets that way. Scalping for more than face value is illegal in Illinois and the cops are sure to be watching for it. If you are busted trying to buy (or sell) tickets for more than face value and are caught, they will not only confiscate the tickets but your money too! Don't be afraid to buy tickets outside the gate, just don't pay more than the price printed on the ticket.

If you really want to go, there are tons of them available via ticket brokers but be prepared to pay up to 10 times the face value. Face value prices for reserved seats start at $45 for quarterpole seats, which are currently $170 and up from the brokers. Before I paid those high prices, I would try the various online forums, classifieds, and auctions like Yahoo and eBay to get one at a more reasonable price.

Below is a seating diagram of Arlington for the Breeders' Cup. Remember most of the seats are temporary seating and do NOT give you access to the stand or the paddock area. The trackside area does not even give you a view of the track at all!


Arlington Park Seating Diagram for the Breeders' Cup
Larger Version

Good luck with your trip to the Breeders' Cup! It looks to be a grand day of racing once again. Here are some more links to help you get ready:

Breeders' Cup graphics courtesy of the Breeders' Cup Limited

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