February crowd figures showed year-on-year increase - correction

A report in the Racing Post on April 2 incorrectly stated that the average attendance figure at British racecourses in February was the lowest since BHA records began in 1995, outside the Covid years.

It stated that British meetings over jumps and on the all-weather in Britain attracted an average of 1,402 racegoers. The figure was sourced from the BHA’s industry statistics dashboard and measured against previous years via the same source.

The correct figure for February was 1,552 racegoers per meeting, although seven fixtures - four at Chelmsford and three at Ayr - have yet to provide data.

As a result, February is likely to record the highest average crowd figure since 2015, when crowds hit a mean of 2,183, buoyed by Tony McCoy's farewell tour.

Total attendance at British racecourses in 2022 was 4,838,401, a significant drop on the 5.6m who went racing in 2019, the last pre-Covid year. However, the first two months of 2023 have now both seen year-on-year increases.