If horse racing fans "look carefully" at Keeneland Race Course this fall, they will "notice folks practicing how to put on next year's Breeders' Cup World Championships," according to Janet Patton of the LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER. In spots "normally reserved as Clubhouse parking, there is a double-decker tent," which organizers call a "Luxury Chalet." Keeneland VP & COO Vince Gabbert said that on the recent first weekend of Keeneland's fall meet, members of the Lexington host committee and others "were invited to have a look at the space, like 'a model home in a new subdivision.'" Xerox Corporate Communications Manager Chris Gilligan was "invited to spend the day" in one of the eight chalets, and said that his company "is considering a Breeders' Cup commitment." Gilligan: "It was beautiful, it was lavish, it was high-end." Breeders' Cup Exec VP & COO Bob Elliston said that prices "will be in line" with what the event "charges at Santa Anita and what has been charged at Churchill Downs in the past." Breeders' Cup officials said that tickets for individual tables in the suites "will be available if there are any left." Patton noted Keeneland "has actually increased the number of tickets." The temporary structures "have been reconfigured," resulting in a "net gain of about 200 tickets in premium on-track seating." The biggest change "might be the chalet near the head of the clubhouse turn, where ticketing looks to be expanded by more than 2,286 seats." In front of the "regular grandstand box seats, Keeneland plans to erect temporary box seats that will double the track-side box space." Meanwhile, Elliston said that talks are "taking place with Kentucky distillers about creating a special experience for fans at that chalet" (LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER, 10/13).
