Mixed messages as crowd figures revealed for the first three months of 2025

Fewer people went racing in the first quarter of this year than last, but the Racecourse Association (RCA) has been quick to put that down to Easter falling earlier in 2024.

A comparison with January to March the previous year, when the first major holiday of the spring was outside that period, showed crowds were up by 0.2 per cent in 2025.

The RCA revealed that total attendance for the first quarter of this year was 666,483 according to figures collated by the Levy Board, down by 2.3 per cent on 2024.

The average crowd was 2,282, which was 1.7 per cent down on 2024 but three per cent up on the previous year.

Newbury was among the courses which enjoyed significant increases in attendances at key fixtures. Its BetVictor Jumps Season Finale drew its largest turnout since 2019, with the crowd figure of 5,266 a 26 per cent increase on last year.

Attendances were also up for the Betfair Hurdle card (by 13 per cent), and the BetVictor Weekend raceday (by 32 per cent).

Other meetings to attract notable increases included the Midlands Grand National at Uttoxeter (up 6.4 per cent), the St Patrick’s-themed day at Chepstow (up 27.3 per cent) and New Year’s Day at Musselburgh (up 6.4 per cent).

RCA chief executive David Armstrong said: "The overall attendance returns for Q1 represent another consistent quarter for the sport with encouraging signs of growth. We have seen multiple racecourses post strong attendance figures at significant fixtures during this period, and while 28 abandonments is still a large number of races lost, we have been fortunate to see the overall number of abandonments in the quarter drop.

“As we report on attendances based on the calendar year, there will be natural peaks when key Bank Holidays such as Easter fall in different months. A more natural comparison for 2025 is therefore 2023, as that year also saw Easter come in April.

"Both total and average attendances have increased since then, and we have seen particularly strong growth in non-festival fixtures in the quarter. This is a really encouraging metric which demonstrates that our grassroots product is resonating with the public, and bodes well for the marquee fixtures remaining in 2025.”

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