Marc Blackford on adding Churchill Downs to Venatour Racing’s trip offerings, the eye-watering cost of The Kentucky Derby, why Blackford and co offer more than just a day at the races and plans to organise F1 tours.
Watch the full chat with Marc Blackford below:
A new Venatour venture
Cheltenham-based Marc Blackford has a pretty cool job. I spoke to him after he’d just returned from a scouting trip at The Kentucky Derby – with a view to adding trips to Churchill Downs to those offered by Venatour Racing. In fairness, he’s built this career himself and seems more enthusiastic than ever.
“It’s a new venture for us, kindly invited by Churchill Downs who we’re planning on partnering with for the next few years. It was an eye opener for sure. One hundred and sixty thousand people, it was electric, everyone is dressed up in all kinds of colours,” Blackford told Sport and Life with a big smile across his face.
Of course, Cheltenham boasts arguably the biggest horse racing event in the UK, but Blackford says the Derby dwarfs even a packed Prestbury Park.
“When we say Cheltenham’s busy with fifty-five thousand people we’re talking about three times the amount of people that’s at Churchill Downs.
A fantastic facility
“But it’s such a vast race course that it doesn’t feel busy. And I think it’s the only race course in the world that’s it’s free when you walk through the gates.”
Free when you walk through the gates, but only after punters have dispensed with giant sums of cash for a ticket. The numbers are enough to make a Cheltenham regular’s eyes water.
“You have to buy in two-day batches so it’s Oaks and a Derby day. The cheapest is one thousand dollars. The most expensive, which I was lucky enough to go and have a look at, is called The Mansion. That is eighteen thousand dollars per person.
“It’s a fantastic facility overlooking the finishing line and the food was amazing and everything else.”
Of course, the whole idea of Blackford’s business is putting the best deal possible together for clients – including travel and accommodation. And most of the trips don’t come with a Kentucky-Derby-sized price tag.
“A lot of our weekend stuff would be around a thousand pounds. So I doubt very much if people can do it much cheaper. The idea is you secure a better deal for the customer.
“But the benefit of booking through ourselves is we do everything. We get them money can’t buy kind of experiences. Most of our trips would have a stable visit or a stud tour.
“The famous part of each day, we would walk the course so they get a chance to go and see the famous fences.”
Creating a great experience
So, how do you get into work like this? Well, Blackford had a background in hospitality and had invested in horse ownership for many years. So he decided to combine his expertise into a company dedicated to racing holidays.
“People like Chris Coley, who we know very well, encouraged me to give it a go. Chris used to own a company, which was the first company that did what I’m doing now.
“It’s making sure it’s all about customer service and looking after everybody and making sure they have a great experience.
So far Venatour Racing, which is headquartered on the Gloucestershire Airport site, count more than 30,000 happy customers. They’ve organised racing trips to 38 countries.
Watch out for F1 trips
He’s a busy man then, but Blackford isn’t slowing down. He’s planning to add Formula One experiences next year.
“A lot of our racing trips would be long weekends away. Formula One would be exactly that. And they’re pretty cunning in F1, aren’t they? They just look at all the best places in the world and decide to stick a track there.
“The likes of Monaco, Singapore and Melbourne. It’s coming together quite nicely, we’re looking at 2027 for a starter for our tours.”
Sounds like the dream job just got dreamier! Someone has to do it and here’s hoping thousands of more Gloucestershire sports fans get to enjoy a trip with Blackford and his team.
For more on the racing and F1 trips CLICK HERE to contact Marc and his team.
