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Ticket sales for 2010 Breeders' Cup ahead of pace With two months until the 2010 Breeders' Cup World Championships at Churchill Downs, advance ticket sales for this year's two-day event in Louisville, Kentucky, are outpacing sales over the same period last year by almost double, Breeders' Cup announced on Wednesday. Heading into the Labor Day holiday weekend, Breeders' Cup and Churchill Downs had sold $7.2 million in reserved seating for the two-day Breeders' Cup World Championships compared to $3.7 million in advanced sales for the same period in 2009, when the event was held at Santa Anita Park outside Los Angeles and total attendance for the two days was 96,496. To help meet increased demand, the Breeders' Cup is releasing for sale a limited number of Premium Box Seats overlooking the finish line and a limited number of premium tickets with indoor dining options. These seats had previously been reserved for Churchill Downs' personal seat licensees, 85 percent of whom elected to purchase Breeders' Cup tickets. In addition, while several sections of reserved seating are sold out, there are a limited number of Reserved Grandstand seats still available at single-day prices as low as $20. Breeders' Cup officials attributed the robust sales to a variety of factors, including strong local interest in the greater Louisville market, the capacity and variety of reserved seating options at Churchill Downs and the potential that undefeated super mare Zenyatta (Street Cry [Ire]) may go for a title defense in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) on November 6. "With its loyal fan base for racing, our home state of Kentucky is traditionally one of the strongest markets for the Breeders' Cup World Championships," Breeders' Cup President and CEO Greg Avioli said. "That interest combined with the broad range of choices at a state-of-the-art racing facility and the possibility of a truly historic Breeders' Cup Classic has produced the strongest pre-event sales in Breeders' Cup history. We're very excited to be running one of our premier races under the lights on Friday and we look forward to staging two days of the finest racing in the world at Churchill Downs." "Churchill Downs is pleased, but not surprised, by the enthusiasm displayed by racing fans in our region, around the country and throughout the world for this year's first visit by the Breeders' Cup to our track as a two-day event," said Kevin Flanery, president of Churchill Downs Racetrack. "We look forward to providing our Breeders' Cup guests with the highest level of service and unmatched dining options during two days of spectacular international competition, along with the historic opportunity to witness the first nighttime Breeders' Cup competition under our state-of-the-art lighting system at Churchill Downs." The 2010 Breeders' Cup World Championships comes to Churchill Downs on November 5-6 for the first time since expanding to two days in 2007, with the Friday's card culminating with the $2 million Ladies' Classic (G1) run under the lights. Championship Saturday could feature the undefeated Zenyatta looking to make history against the world's best Thoroughbreds in the Breeders' Cup Classic. The Breeders' Cup World Championships was last held at Churchill Downs in 2006, with 76,132 showing up for the eight-race program. Breeders' Cup Championship Friday will begin at 2 p.m. (EDT) and finish under the lights at approximately 7:30 p.m. with the Ladies' Classic. Saturday's card will begin at 12:05 p.m. and conclude with the Classic at 6:45 p.m. Fans can purchase single day tickets for either Friday or Saturday programs or take advantage of bundled seating and dining packages for both days of the Championships. All details may be found at www.breederscup.com/tickets. Those without online access can purchase tickets by telephone by calling toll-free at 877-849-4287. Ticket prices on Championship Friday for Reserved Grandstand and Clubhouse are available from $20-$75 and on Championship Saturday from $40-$150.
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