by Donald Wood
Last updated: 10:00 AM ET, Fri April 10, 2015
Photo courtesy of Thinkstock
One of the crazes sweeping the tourism world is the selfie stick, but officials at Churchill Downs have outlawed the photograph-enhancement tool at its upcoming 2015 Kentucky Derby and Oaks events.
According to Jonathan Lintner of The Courier-Journal, selfie sticks are the latest on a long list of items banned by the race track. Other camera-based items outlawed include drones, cameras with detachable lenses, tripods, camcorders and laptops.
Visitors who attempt to enter the park grounds with any of the items on banned list will have to dispose of them or return them to their vehicles. The full list of items banned from the 2015 Kentucky Derby can be found at the official website.
Banning selfies sticks isn't the only major change Churchill Downs is making before its biggest event of the year. Unlike previous years, guests with tickets will not be re-admitted once they leave the facility early.
When asked about the policy changes and why the decisions were made, Churchill Downs Racetrack's general manager, Ryan Jordan, told The Courier-Journal:
"This change in policy is intended to improve the arrival experience of our guests by shortening the entry lines into the facility and to better safeguard our guests from purchasing counterfeit tickets outside of our gate. Our previous re-entry policy made it a fairly simple task for ticketed patrons to exit the track and quickly generate copies of their tickets and wristbands for sale outside of our grounds. Those who purchase counterfeit items are denied access when they arrive at our admission gates, and thus have lost their money and, in many cases, the Kentucky Derby and Oaks experience they had hoped for either becomes an unpleasant memory or is ended altogether."
The hope from race organizers is that banning selfie sticks and not allowing re-entry will help keep patrons safe and speed up admittance lines. Officials also claim that the always-packed Gate 3 will feature a much shorter wait this year.
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