Churchill Downs Racing Returns With New Twilight Thursdays' 5 P.M Post; Mother's Day Dining Still Availabe

May 06, 2015 John Asher

After a spectacularly successful weekend during which the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands and the Longines Kentucky Oaks attracted record combined attendance of 294,276 to Churchill Downs Racetrack (“CDRT”), the track resumes its 38-day Spring Meet on Thursday, May 7 with the first of its new Twilight Thursday programs.

Twilight Thursdays are scheduled each week of the Spring Meet that continues through Saturday, June 27. Post time for the first of eight races on each Thursday programs is 5 p.m. (all times Eastern), and each Twilight Thursday will offer live music, popular food trucks and $1 draft beer specials in the Plaza from 5-7 p.m. The first Twilight Thursday of the Spring Meet will feature the music of Maiden Radio from 5-8 p.m. on the Plaza Stage.

The carryover pool for Churchill Downs’ new Lucky 7 Jackpot wager climbed to $55,290 on Kentucky Derby Day and that 10-cent minimum wager with a 15 percent takeout begins with Thursday’s second race at 5:30 p.m. The Lucky 7 Jackpot requires bettors to select seven consecutive winners and the entire pool is paid-out only if there is a single winning combination. Otherwise, 70 percent of that day’s Lucky 7 wagering is returned to bettors with the most winners and the remaining 30 percent goes into the carryover pool. There has been no single winner in the Lucky 7 during the first six days of the 2015 Spring Meet.

Admission gates will open at 4 p.m., one hour before post time for the first race on each Twilight Thursday. The 5 p.m. post time for the Thursday program offers a wonderful opportunity to enjoy Churchill Downs racing after work and provides business visitors an opportunity to enjoy racing and entertainment at the historic track during their stay in the city and region. With only eight races on each program, the final Twilight Thursday race will be run at 8:30 p.m., a schedule that provides fans ample time to enjoy other activities after the races or head home to rest for the conclusion of a traditional work week on Friday.

General admission pricing for Twilight Thursday racing is $3, and reserved box seats and reservations for dining in Millionaires Row 4 and the Matt Winn Room are available online at www.churchilldowns.com, by calling (502) 636-4450 or stopping at Churchill Downs’ on-track box office located near the track’s Gate 1 entrance. Custom reservations are available for groups of 24 or more.

The Twilight Thursday debut launches a four-day post-Kentucky Derby racing week that will be capped by Sunday’s always popular celebration of Mother’s Day at Churchill Downs.

Dining reservations for Mother’s Day are going fast, but seating remains available in the Trophy Room and the Stakes Room. Reservations for Mother’s Day dining can be purchased for $52 for adults and $27 for children, with no charge for children under three.

Reserved box seats also are available for online purchase or with a stop at the on-track box office. A reserved box seat costs $10 and includes admission, a reserved seat and a racing program.

Apring Meet operating hours for the on-track box office are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The box office is open on Twilight Thursdays from 12-6 p.m. and 1-9 p.m. for “Downs After Dark” racing dates on Saturday, June 13 and the meet’s closing night on Saturday, June 27.

Post time for this week’s racing programs on Friday, Saturday and Mother’s Day is 12:45 p.m., and admission gates open each of those days at 11:30 a.m.