'It's not disappointing' - Ascot happy despite record-low Champions Day crowd

Qipco British Champions Day attracted its lowest attendance on Saturday since its inception in 2011, but Ascot's director of racing and public affairs Nick Smith was far from disappointed, describing it as an "extremely healthy" crowd given the cost of living crisis.

The pulling power of Baaeed would have boosted numbers, but the 23,872 people who passed through Ascot's turnstiles was still down six per cent on last year's number of 25,324.

Saturday's attendance continued the trend of year-on-year decline since the second-highest figure for the meeting of 31,187 in 2017. Smith was more than happy, however, looking at the bigger picture in racing and society.