Bumper young crowd praised as over 29,000 racegoers on track for British Champions Day at Ascot

Nick Smith, Ascot's director of racing and public affairs, believes Qipco British Champions Day "delivered on all levels" on Saturday and described the presence of so many young people as part of a bumper crowd as a "real achievement". 

A total of 29,016 racegoers attended the meeting, marginally down from 30,412 for Frankie Dettori's farewell last season but significantly up on the previous year, when 23,872 people passed through the turnstiles. That was the lowest attendance since the inception of British Champions Day in 2011. 

The track recorded its highest attendance this year outside of the royal meeting, boosted by more than 6,000 racegoers aged between 18 and 26. A number of young people accessed discounted tickets through the sponsor's Club 26 and Invades, which offers raceday packages for students.

"It was a great day with a really good attendance," said Smith. "It was positive to see a massive crowd in the context of British Champions Day attendance figures. Invades and Club 26 worked really well to bring more young people in and everybody seemed to really enjoy the meeting.

"It's been a particular mission of the sponsors for British Champions Day to partly serve as an open day for the sport, which at this time of year can be a challenge because of the weather. To get nearly 30,000 people attending, including so many young people, was a real achievement. The sponsors have been the driving force in saying it's a day for the purists and newcomers, and that was probably realised more than any other year."

Silvestre de Sousa: celebrates aboard Charyn after winning the Queen Elizabeth II StakesCredit: Edward Whitaker

A number of activities took place away from the racecourse, including a masterclass with champion jockey Oisin Murphy, but Smith said the racing remained at the heart of the meeting, and racegoers were treated to impressive performances from the likes of Kyprios, Charyn and Anmaat. 

"It was a great event but that would mean nothing if it was not also a great raceday," said Smith. "The races themselves were phenomenally high-class and the fact we were balloting horses out of Group 1s is a sign in itself of the popularity of the meeting. People really have it on their agenda.

"It's been around for quite some time but it feels established now. People know what it is and how it sits between the Arc weekend and Breeders' Cup. We saw some world-class racing. Charyn is arguably the best miler in the world, while Kyprios has shown he's the best stayer in the world."

Read reports from Saturday's action

'I put my binoculars down halfway up the straight and thought we had no chance' - Anmaat flies home to land 40-1 Champion Stakes shock 

'He's just an unbelievably classy horse' - Kyprios makes it seven from seven this season with comfortable Long Distance Cup win 

'He's shown he's a true champion' - Charyn confirms his class after seeing off Facteur Cheval in Queen Elizabeth II Stakes 

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