Newmarket hails 'fantastic start' after crowds slightly up on last year's Guineas meeting

Officials at Newmarket have expressed their satisfaction after the attendance for Saturday's 2,000 Guineas day enjoyed a 9.4 per cent year-on-year increase of 1,353. However, the crowd on day one of the three-day meeting on Friday and for Sunday's 1,000 Guineas were both down compared to 12 months ago.

After only 14,399 people attended the Rowley Mile to watch Frankie Dettori guide Chaldean to victory in last year's 2,000 Guineas, 15,752 made the most of Saturday's sunnier weather to see Notable Speech burst the bubble of City Of Troy in the first Classic of the season in Britain. 

That figure is the highest since the Covid pandemic and close to the 16,208 who attended in 2019. The race was run without spectators in 2020 and 2021. 

"The Qipco Guineas festival is always one of the highlights of the Flat racing calendar and those who were lucky enough to join us over the weekend saw thrilling renewals of the first two Classics of the season," said Sophie Able, director of Newmarket racecourses.  

"It’s easy to forget that while we stage nearly 40 fixtures at our two racecourses every year, our biggest festival actually takes place right at the beginning of the season, so I’m incredibly proud of the whole team for delivering such a brilliant three days.

“Everyone from the groundstaff and operations teams to those responsible for giving our racegoers and participants the best possible experience deserve huge credit. We’re also extremely grateful to Qipco, William Hill and World Pool for all their support for what was a fantastic start to this year’s British Champions Series."

The Guineas meeting became a three-day affair in 2022 having previously been staged over just two days, with 29,016 people attending this year compared to 28,459 in 2023. However, the attendance on Friday was lower than in both 2023 and 2022, and it was a similar story on Sunday, when the crowd dropped to 10,165, compared to 10,568 12 months ago and 11,157 in 2022. 

Attendances have been a hot-topic for Newmarket's owners at the Jockey Club this year, with the Cheltenham Festival suffering a notable attendance slump for the second consecutive year in March. The festival's failure to achieve anticipated profits led to a cut in the group's 2024 prize-money contribution of £750,000 and relinquishing the Premier status of five fixtures due to be staged later this year.

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