Tracks report 'extraordinary' rise in attendance as festive crowds swell across Britain

Spectators embraced the festive racing in Britain with several courses reporting increased attendances from last year, headlined by a 48 per cent rise in the crowd at Newbury on Saturday.

Shaun Hinds, Newbury's chief executive, labelled the attendance for the Grade 1 Challow Novices' Hurdle fixture as "extraordinary" after spectator levels rose to 9,983 this year compared to 6,763 in 2023.

Hinds said: "We're up 48 per cent from last year and that's really good news. It's a pattern we're seeing here, but post-Christmas a lot of other courses are seeing this trend too.

Go racing in January

"The racing on the track has been awesome. We saw some brilliant horses and the crowd had a great time. I'm very pleased and this is very much a bellwether of what we can do if we put our minds to it. We want to put on great racing, but also a great day out so things come together. My job is to make sure this all continues next year.

"I'd say we've seen a trend generally when attendances have been up, but what I'd say in the last three months is that the gap is getting bigger. The percentage in which we're up is growing, culminating in this meeting. It's extraordinary."

Chepstow recorded a late flurry of interest for its signature Coral Welsh Grand National day with an attendance of more than 8.500, up from 6,900 last year.

Despite a dry day, an offer that racegoers would get a free ticket for a future event if it rained was still triggered as a goodwill gesture due to the thick fog.

Chepstow's general manager Luke Admans said: "We saw a big uplift in general admission attendance, with a particularly strong period of sales in the week leading up to the day.

"We're thrilled to be able to also activate the wet weather guarantee as a gesture of goodwill due to the poor visibility on track. That will enable all ticket holders to return with a free ticket to any of our racedays between January and March."

Prior to Christmas, Ascot welcomed a record crowd of 19,449 for its Grade 1 Long Walk Hurdle card, while Wetherby and Kempton also benefited from higher numbers of spectators for their festive fixtures compared to a year ago.

A total of just under 21,000 people were at Kempton for the two-day King George VI Chase meeting, which featured standout performances from Constitution Hill in the Christmas Hurdle and Sir Gino in the Wayward Lad Novices' Chase.

Il Est Francais leads the field past the stands in the King George VI Chase at KemptonCredit: Edward Whitaker

The overall figure was around 1,000 higher than last year, with an increase on both days of the meeting and positive feedback from those who attended.

Wetherby hosted its biggest crowd since before the coronavirus pandemic on Thursday, with an attendance of over 10,000 for its December 26 raceday for the first time in eight years.

The figure was an increase on last year’s attendance of 9,276 and chief executive Jonjo Sanderson said: "It makes a difference when Leeds United are playing away on Boxing Day and the good weather helped – a bad forecast can make people nervous, but there was never the prospect of any threat to racing. It felt like a big crowd and we're very pleased."

Read more:

What's on this week: more Grade 1s, Cheltenham's New Year's Day bonanza and the veterans' big day  

Go racing this January: the best racedays to visit - including the all-new Berkshire Winter Million, Festival Trials day at Cheltenham and ladies' day at Uttoxeter 

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