Need Derby tickets? Get in line

Churchill Downs will offer an opportunity to purchase tickets to the “Run for the Roses” and Kentucky Oaks in a public lottery on Saturday.

Churchill Downs will offer 1,420 reserved seats for the May 3 Derby that will be sold in pairs and 210 pairs of Kentucky Oaks tickets. The drawing begins at 7 a.m.

Customers may enter the clubhouse via Gate 10 to line up for Saturday morning’s ticket drawing at 6 p.m. Friday and will be able to maintain their place in line under cover of the colonnade.

The allotment of tickets for the drawing again includes many prime Kentucky Derby seats, along with a good collection of reserved bleacher seats for the Kentucky Oaks. Available seating: first-floor clubhouse box seats in sections 111, 112, 113, 114 and 118 and grandstand bleacher seats in sections 120-125 and sections 223, 224 and 225. The price ranges from $214 to $414 per pair, depending on location. Oaks tickets are for bleacher seats in sections 122, 123, 125, 127 and 128 at prices ranging from $82 to $92 per pair.