Walk Up Ticket For Belmont

infield_line · #1 06-03-2008, 06:20 AM

I'm considering driving in from CT on Sat, early... Do any of you have tickets...? thought it could not hurt to ask. But the real question is do you think there will be any difficulty buying tickets, even GA, on the street and what do you think I will have to shell out to get them.

Do you know how many GA seats are released Sat morning?

Thanks!

I/L

Holland Hacker · #2 06-03-2008, 06:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by infield_line

I'm considering driving in from CT on Sat, early... Do any of you have tickets...? thought it could not hurt to ask. But the real question is do you think there will be any difficulty buying tickets, even GA, on the street and what do you think I will have to shell out to get them.

Do you know how many GA seats are released Sat morning?

Thanks!

I/L

I think you can walk right up to the gate and pay your $10 and get GA. If you can get a seat outside that typically includes the $10 admission charge as there is a stub on the bottom of the ticket for admission.

TheSpyder · #3 06-03-2008, 06:55 AM

I'm selling tickets on my new site....www.Spudhub.com

Seriously though you'll have no problem walking up...jsut may not be good seats but your in.

Spuder

slotdirt · #4 06-03-2008, 08:09 AM

I have said this before, but it bears repeating:

Just get there butt early, find your spot on the rail, and guard it with your life. Guaranteed to see some horse flesh.

ptgiven · #5 06-03-2008, 08:38 AM

i'm driving down from upstate NY and just purchasing a general admission ticket and finding a spot somewhere

NoLuvForPletch · #6 06-03-2008, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slotdirt

I have said this before, but it bears repeating:

Just get there butt early, find your spot on the rail, and guard it with your life. Guaranteed to see some horse flesh.

By butt early, he means before 9am...

I think the gates open at 830. Before the beer ban the place was a mob scene (in the park behind the track anyway) by 10-1030. Since they put the ban in place, there hasn't been an attempt at a triple crown, so we are really in uncharted water here. I remember the first year of the ban how empty the place was, and it really hasn't been crowded since 2004 (Smarty plus beer = 120,000+ people). There were only 61,000 in 2006 and 47,000 last year so you could've walked in after the Manhattan and found a place along the rail.

I still think the ban on beer will limit the total number of people going to Belmont that day, but the people going will be those who want to "see" the races and therefore viewing areas will be at a premium. I've heard some outlandish predictions on the attendance, but I'd be shocked if it got too far over 100K.

ateamstupid · #7 06-03-2008, 10:02 AM

There'll be 120,000 people, beer or no beer. You can't bring beer into the Derby, and that doesn't stop 150,000 people from showing up every year.

As for the question, GA doesn't get you a seat, which I don't think is necessarily a bad thing. You can roam the track and look for a good spot in the morning, and $10 is way better than some of the absurd prices people are paying that won't get them a great view anyway.

Don't buy a GA ticket from anyone on the street. Walk up to the gate and buy one. I doubt they'll turn anyone away, but if they do, it'll probably be in the afternoon.

westcoastinvader · #8 06-05-2008, 11:49 PM

I've made the Belmont in 1977, 1987, and 1989....all with the Triple Crown on the line. Yes, a few years ago, I know.

I walked up without a ticket each time, and had no difficulty.

For Slew in 1977, I was in college and we made it to the Elmont area from a Manhattan bar at about 3AM. Found a closed gas station in a quasi residential neighborhood and slept in the car there for a couple hours until the owner woke us up at about 5:30. Got in line at the track at 6AM, and literally were in the first group of five to go through the turnstile. Ended up with finish line seats in the grandstand.

And, after the fact, realized that Son of Sam had the area where we slept on his targeted ground zero for his 1977 killings...

For both Alysheba and Sunday Sillence I arrived between 9AM and 10AM, and still had no trouble at all parking in the general lot and getting in. I wasn't picky about the seats, as I knew I planned to roam.

For both Alysheba and Sunday Silence I staked out a place on the paddock rail about the 5th or 6th race, and ended up with great photos of the horses before they took the track.

If I were to offer a recommendation, it would be to make the focus objective of your Belmont day to get an unobstructed close up look of Big Brown in the paddock walk.

And a photo to prove you were there at the paddock at the time and on the day.

ateamstupid · #9 06-05-2008, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by westcoastinvader

I've made the Belmont in 1977, 1987, and 1989....all with the Triple Crown on the line. Yes, a few years ago, I know.

I walked up without a ticket each time, and had no difficulty.

For Slew in 1977, I was in college and we made it to the Elmont area from a Manhattan bar at about 3AM. Found a closed gas station in a quasi residential neighborhood and slept in the car there for a couple hours until the owner woke us up at about 5:30. Got in line at the track at 6AM, and literally were in the first group of five to go through the turnstile. Ended up with finish line seats in the grandstand.

And, after the fact, realized that Son of Sam had the area where we slept on his targeted ground zero for his 1977 killings...

Hell of a story man.

westcoastinvader · #10 06-06-2008, 12:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ateamstupid

Hell of a story man.

Thanks.

:-)

Another true story is that I made my first Kentucky Derby in 1975, and loaded up on Master Derby (well, $20 across the board in my youth) as he ran 4th in the Foolish Pleasure year.

My most vivid memory of that day was seeing people I had gone into the infield with at about 8AM puking in Kentucky Fried Chicken buckets at 10AM from drunkenness.

THAT'S a helluva story, too!