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Hi guys , im thinking of going to this years breeders cup , has anybody been there before as i am looking for the cheepest way to fly and for the best areas to stay that are reasonably close to the track.
thank you
PaulPegamon is the man you need too talk to, he is a legand on both sides of the adlantic.
Arkle,
As regards flying you’ll just have to shop around – I flew to LA on American Airlines 2 weeks ago and they are competitively priced but not great service. British Airways and Virgin are recommended but there are lots of flights there either direct or (often much cheaper) via one of the hub cities like Chicago, Boston or Atlanta.
Santa Anita is in the Arcadia area of LA – to the North of the City (opposite side to LAX airport). Pasadena is the best place to stay if you want some nightlife and to be close to the track. Anywhere around the Beverly Hills/Sunset Strip/Hollywood area will still be close but more expensive.
Staying near the airport is great for Hollywood Park but a no-no for Santa Anita.
Check with Santa Anita’s website for details of tickets – usually best bought in a package to include both the Friday and Saturday of Breeders’ Cup. I’d plump for reserved seating in Turf Club if you want somewhere nice to watch the racing from. Ask me if you’ve any spcific questions.
ADRIAN
Thanks for replying, looked at BA VA and AA flights for 3 week stay and all are quoting around £450 give or take a couple of pounds. I understand that it is around 15 hours flying time to get there, is that correct. If the journey does take that amount of time, is there much to do on the plane, as i find it difficult to sleep and i will be traveling economy. If i decided to travel, say to New York and then take a internal flight would i be saving much money and would it take much longer.Also would it be worth going self cattering / accomodation, instead of using a hotel, and is there a need to hire a car.thank you
PaulI went last year, had a great time. You can stay anywhere in LA really – just catch the Gold Line Metro train, which starts in downtown LA, to Sierra Madre. There’s a courtesy bus from this station to the track (couple of miles). I am staying near Pasadena this year for convenience.
I would recomend Expedia as they’ve got some decent hotel + flight deals which saves you the rigmarole of booking both items seperately. They’re pretty much the cheapest also.
If you don’t want all the rigmarole of booking hotels and staying in the area you can effectively do the trip as a day trip with overnight flights both ways – you can fly from Heathrow 17:10 Friday evening arriving LA 08:34 with a return flight 23:50 arriving back in London 7:55 Monday morning (and you get a few hours to explore Washington on the way back)
If you really did want to stay on for longer, and for the life of me I cannot see why anybody would want to stay within 100 miles of LA. Then I would suggest staying somewhere like San Francisco, Palm Springs or Las Vegas (depending on your personal tastes) and just fly into town for the day.
No way it’s 15 hours, more like 10 or 11. Virgin tends to have the in-flight video system that lets you choose from dozens, if not hundreds, of movies etc. It’s a long flight, but once you’ve watched a few films it’s surprising how quickly it goes. You won’t save anything much going to New York and changing – £225 each way to go to California is really pretty good when you consider that it’s nearly £100 to get a train from London to York.
The timings are quite good too, if you get a late morning flight from Heathrow you arrive mid-afternoon. By the time you’ve cleared immigration and got to your hotel, it’s time to have a bite and a couple of beers and hit the sack at 8.00 local. You sleep for 12 hours, and wake up ready to go at 8am.
Agree with Adrian that Pasadena is the place to be. Not far from the track, loads of bars and restaurants and a bit of character.
If you are going for 3 weeks then I’d expect you will want to travel about and breaking your journey in New York sounds great – don’t forget that they will be racing at Aqueduct (near JFK) from October 28th until 2010.
Santa Anita will be racing from Wednesday of Breeders’ Cup week through until Nov 8th when it moves to Hollywood Park.
I’d definitely suggest you also go racing on Friday 6th. Last year, on the Friday, there were 5 Breeders’ Cup races that day – Filly & Mare Sprint, Juvenile Fillies Turf, Juvenile Fillies, Filly and Mare Turf and Ladies Classic (the old Distaff).
I also recommend going to see at least one morning’s track work during the week of Breeders’ Cup.
Go to Clockers Corner for breakfast and see all the owners/trainers and watch the horses working out – Breeders’ Cup runners will be wearing purple saddle towels with names for easy identification.
I’d suggest that self catering may not be easy to arrange over there on a short team basis but there are loads of cheap motels to keep the costs down. There are 2 Comfort Inns within 3 miles of the track, A Hampton Inn, a Motel 6 and plenty of Hiltons and Marriotts which aren’t expensive – a huge choice.
Take a look at http://www.breederscup.com for more details of ticketing etc.
Ignore Paul – he must have had his tongue firmly in his cheek when he made that posting!
If you don’t want all the rigmarole of booking hotels and staying in the area you can effectively do the trip as a day trip with overnight flights both ways – you can fly from Heathrow 17:10 Friday evening arriving LA 08:34 with a return flight 23:50 arriving back in London 7:55 Monday morning (and you get a few hours to explore Washington on the way back)
Jeez Paul, I’m kinda fond of my own bed these days as well, but that’s really taking it to the limit
If its a hotel you want in Pasadena, the Sheraton there is pretty good. Might get a good deal if your lucky.
Ignore Paul – he must have had his tongue firmly in his cheek when he made that posting!
Not totally tongue in cheek Adrian – the long day trip it is a viable option and one I did seriously consider (albeit a very expensive one). The outbound trip includes a 11 hour stopover in Seattle, so you can get a kip in the airport hotel. The return trip has ten hours in Washington, OK for sightseeing, but the overnight flight back means you can get a decent kip as well.
As for the other suggestions – whilst I like most of the US I am no fan of the LA area and I would certainly stay in one of the three cities I mentioned and "commute" in for the racing.
Suggest you look into flights to Burbank International, or Ontario airport. Both cheaper than LAX and closer to the track. To do so you may have to change at your entry into the US.As the first day is a Friday and you stay over night and leave on Sunday make sure your rented car can be returned on a Sunday before renting .The Embassy Suites charge about $170 per night .You get 2 beds, breakfast and a happy hour free every night. So with two sharing it is really a great deal costs about $260 for the two nights all inclusive.Not bad for 2 people. Renting a car is as good as hiring a taxi since you can see a little of LA on Saturday night.
I suggest Glendale EmbassySuites. embassysuites@res.hilton.comGood call on Embassy Suites Andy – that is where I stayed last year and will do so again (they have free drinks during happy hour and free breakfast is always a bonus!).
Paul – LA offers all things to all people. I’ve been there many times and never failed to find things to gladden the heart. This year driving through Clearwater Canyon to get to Beverly Hills from Santa Anita and spending 4th of July on the beach at Playa del Rey took some beating. Hope to make the Getty Museum when over for Breeders’ Cup this Fall. If you let me know your particular interests I’ll point you in the right direction! Also would you seriously go all that way and not go to the Breeders’ Cup on Friday?!
EVERYONE
Thank you for the responce it’s been fantastic.Adrian, my interest is horse racing and food , and for the other half, the beech with plenty of sunshine. I have never been to the U.S.A. before so im not really sure what to expect, but one thing i have always wanted to try is one of those big massive steaks you see people eating on the television, are they really that big.
Arkle,
You’ll love LA then as lots of great beaches (I like Playa del Rey and Manhattan myself but sure the Northern beaches good as well), everytype of food possible – the steaks are good of course but can be quite expensive depending on where you go – and there are few more attractive tracks than Santa Anita. You’ll particularly love it if you go on a non-Breeders’ Cup day when you can get a better seat for your money.
Back stretch tours (via tram) are also recommended and you’ll love morning track work in the days before Breeders’ Cup (get there around 6.30am if possible – you’ll be awake anyway).
Don’t forget the 8 hour time difference with the UK so you will probably get a fair degree of jet lag but just try to adjust to local time as quickly as you can.
Paul – LA offers all things to all people. I’ve been there many times and never failed to find things to gladden the heart. This year driving through Clearwater Canyon to get to Beverly Hills from Santa Anita and spending 4th of July on the beach at Playa del Rey took some beating. Hope to make the Getty Museum when over for Breeders’ Cup this Fall. If you let me know your particular interests I’ll point you in the right direction! Also would you seriously go all that way and not go to the Breeders’ Cup on Friday?!
Adrian I have really have tried LA on more than one occasion and there is absolutely nothing that could commend it to me – it’s just one of those things trust me
Much as I want to go to a BC I think will wait for Churchill Downs in 2010, I have waited this long another year will not hurt.
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