Noble Bird, right, with Shaun Bridgemohan up, wins the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs on Saturday, June 12, 2015, in Louisville, Ky. (Mark Cornelison/Lexington Herald-Leader/TNS via Getty Images)

TNS via Getty Images

Churchill Downs

Louisville


Churchill Downs is the landmark racetrack that hosts the epic Kentucky Derby in May. But there's plenty of action besides that: warm-ups and other thoroughbred races take place from late April to late June and again in September and throughout November. Tickets start at $5. You also can go on a guided tour of the grounds year-round via the onsite Kentucky Derby Museum.