RCA chief hails 'positive trend' for British attendances with numbers up for third quarter of the year

Attendances in Britain were up in the third quarter of the year, according to figures collated by the Levy Board and released by the Racecourse Association on Wednesday.

A total of 1,694,163 racegoers visited a British course across 405 fixtures between July and September, giving an average attendance of 4,183, a rise from 4,090 during the same period in 2022.

That was an increase of almost 75,000 on the same period last year, a 4.5 per cent rise, with the average attendance per meeting up 2.27 per cent.

The average attendance in the third quarter of 2019 was 4,663, which is 480 higher than this year.

The total attendance in the first nine months of 2023 was 0.49 per cent below last year after a slow start in the first two quarters. The average crowd was up by 1.18 per cent as the number of fixtures staged has decreased and there have been 25 per cent more abandonments than in 2022.

Several major festivals showed a significant boost in attendances, including the July meeting at Newmarket (up 9.7 per cent on 2022), the Cambridgeshire meeting (21.6 per cent), Glorious Goodwood (4.8 per cent), the Sprint Cup meeting at Haydock (8.2 per cent) and the Ayr Gold Cup meeting (4.3 per cent).

There was also a near 25 per cent increase in those attending summer jump racing, and the crowds for the month of September, when the King and Queen were among those who flocked to Doncaster for the St Leger, beat those set in the pre-pandemic year of 2019.

RCA chief executive David Armstrong said: "I am heartened to see the attendance figures from quarter three continue to show a positive trend for British racecourses.

"This is our busiest period of the year with racecourses putting on fantastic events to celebrate the great British summer, and it is great to see the public's demand for horseracing remains strong.

David Armstrong: "I am particularly pleased to see attendances stand up to a number of headwinds facing the country"

"I am particularly pleased to see attendances stand up to a number of headwinds facing the country, notably the ongoing national industrial action and cost of living crisis. Both have had a significant detrimental effect on people's lives and we remain grateful that the public choose to spend their hard-earned time and money at a British racecourse."

The latest figures come after the RCA dubbed a 3.9 per cent fall in the number of people who went racing in Britain through the first six months of the year a "cause for optimism" given the continuing buffeting from economic headwinds that the public faces.

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