Attendances significantly up for first Welsh Racing Festival as focus on value for money pays off

An emphasis on delivering value for money has led to an attendance boom at Chepstow this weekend, with crowds significantly up for the first Dragonbet Welsh Racing Festival.

Friday's card, headlined by the Persian War won by Sticktotheplan, was up 29 per cent on last year when it featured as part of a two-day jump season opener.

The new festival was launched after Sunday's Welsh Champion Hurdle card was moved from Ffos Las to Chepstow, with a three-day weekend ticket for £39 proving extremely popular with racegoers.

Saturday's card was watched by around 5,000, a small rise on 2025, but last year numbers were boosted as it was a student raceday. That will instead take place on Sunday, with 4,500 people expected on course.

Chepstow's general manager Luke Admans said: "We were up 29 per cent on Friday which is really good and Saturday's crowd has been really strong too. We're up 3-4 per cent, but it's particularly good because we had the students on this day last year and they're coming on Sunday.

"Overall it's been really, really strong and we've seen the benefit of the three-day pass. The importance of value for money is the main thing we've got out of this. The three-day pass broken down works out at £13 a day, with loads of entertainment and quality racing. Value is at the heart of what we want to do.

"We wanted to establish this as the place the jump season starts and we've ticked that box and will continue to work hard on it. We've launched the same name for next year, it'll be the Dragonbet Welsh Racing Festival moving forwards and we'll build on what we've done."

Field sizes were the one disappointment of the first two days due to quick ground, particularly on the chase track. Five of the seven declared runners were withdrawn in the 2m novice handicap chase on Saturday.

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