Cheltenham Gold Cup day tickets on verge of selling out - but sales for other days lagging behind

Tickets for Cheltenham Gold Cup day next month are predicted to sell out imminently according to the racecourse's owners at the Jockey Club, although sales for the first three days of the festival are behind where they have been at this point in the past. 

This year's Boodles-backed Gold Cup on March 15 will mark 100 years of the race, with tickets in the Club enclosure already sold out and limited availability elsewhere for the finale of the four-day fixture. 

However, tickets for Gold Cup day were sold out by the end of January last year, while Cheltenham supremo Ian Renton is hoping sales for the early part of the festival can rally on the run-in with just over three weeks until the meeting starts on March 12.  

"This year's Gold Cup day is a particularly special one as we celebrate 100 years of the race, and tickets are now sold out in the Club enclosure for Friday, with limited availability remaining for the other enclosures," Renton said. "We anticipate selling out Gold Cup day completely in advance of the festival." 

Capacity was reduced on each day of last year's meeting to 68,500 after a bumper 280,627 people attended across the four days the previous year, but only Gold Cup day attracted a capacity crowd in 2023. 

According to Levy Board records, Tuesday's attendance was only 88 per cent of capacity, Wednesday's 74 per cent and Thursday's 90 per cent of what was permitted, with 40,024 fewer people coming through the gates compared to 2022, when record attendances were attributed in part to a "post-pandemic bounce". 

The high cost of living, railway and teacher strikes were all put forward as mitigating reasons for last year's fall. However, speaking after the conclusion of the 2023 festival, Renton said he had "total confidence" spectator levels would rebound this year, although ticket sales are not so positive at this point. 

Ian Renton: "We anticipate selling out Gold Cup day completely in advance of the festival"Credit: Edward Whitaker

Renton said: "One of the trends we have seen at all our courses over the past 12 months is that racegoers are waiting until nearer the event to purchase their tickets and that certainly seems to be the case for the first three days of this year's festival. 

"While ticket sales for the start of the week are not necessarily aligned to the numbers we have seen at this stage in previous years, they are following a recognised pattern at our other major events. Hospitality sales continue to be strong with many restaurants sold out already and limited availability remaining over the four days."

To improve the customer experience, capacity remains at 68,500 for the four days, with Renton excited to see the best of Britain take on the might of the Irish in little more than three weeks' time.  

"We are looking forward to four wonderful days of sport," he said. "It was brilliant to see so many exciting performances at the Dublin Racing Festival and we hope to see some of those big names take on the British stars next month.

"Preparations both on and off the track are going well and construction of all the extra facilities we put in place for the festival is now in full swing. This is always such an exciting time for the team as we see the racecourse transform day by day as the tented village expands."

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