Horse racing is a hugely popular sport all over the planet. Yet, you may wonder how easy it is to get to some of the biggest events in different parts of the world.
The good news is that you can very easily fly to some incredible races. Here a few of the options that you might like to consider the next time that you plan to catch some racing.
The Dubai World Cup
This is currently the richest horse race in the world, with the 2019 event having a spectacular purse of $12 million. The Dubai World Cup takes place at the end of March, on the last Saturday of the month. It is held at Meydan Racecourse, which is a sparkling modern setting with a 5-star hotel, a horse racing museum, and a 9-hole golf course next to it.
If you fly into the UAE, it makes sense to arrive at Dubai International Airport. This is the country’s busiest airport, which handles close to 89 million passengers each year and continues to grow as more visitors come here each year.
The airport and racecourse are just 12.5 miles apart. With an excellent transport system in this city, you can choose from options such as a taxi, bus, or hire car to you there in half an hour or less.
Melbourne Cup
The most important horse race in Australia is held over 3,200 metres as part of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival in November. It takes place in the city’s Flemington Racecourse.
Getting here by land transport is easy, as it has its own railway station and trams also stop here. If you are flying into Melbourne then you will probably arrive at Melbourne Airport, which is the second biggest in the country.
The distance to be covered from here the racecourse is about 9 miles. In a taxi, it will take you some 15 minutes or so. There are a variety of other options including buses and trains, but the fact that you need to make a connection increases the journey time to over an hour.
The Kentucky Derby
Fans of horse racing will already know that this race is the highlight of the week-long Kentucky Derby Festival and is commonly known at the "Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports". It is run over 1 and ¼ miles at Churchill Downs.
This is one of the easiest horse races to get to, as there are several airports within a reasonable distance. The closest is Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, which was renamed after the boxing great in 2019. At under 2 miles away, you have a variety of fast, simple transfer options to choose from.
Another option is Blue Grass (Lexington) Airport. At 65 miles away, it is a lot further than the Louisville airport. However, you can drive in about 1 hour and an a half, or take a relatively cheap bus trip at about 3 and a half hours. You can even check the odds to win the Kentucky Derby on your way there. Take in consideration that the Derby, which normally occurs in May, has been postponed to September due to the Coronavirus epidemic.
The Cheltenham Gold Cup
One of the most thrilling moments of the British racing calendar takes place at Cheltenham Racecourse in March every year.
This place is located roughly the same distance from the international airports in both Birmingham and Bristol (around 50 miles). Taking the train from Birmingham gives you a journey of just over an hour. From Bristol, you can expect a similar length of trip.
It is also possible to arrange to arrive by helicopter. This can be done by flying to the heliport next to the racecourse. During the week of the Cheltenham Festival, this becomes the busiest temporary airfield in the country.
