Racing Post set to reveal results of biggest ever racecourse prices study

The results of the most comprehensive study of racecourse prices ever carried out by the Racing Post are set to be shown in full in Sunday's newspaper.

Prices for admission, food and drink have been analysed and broken down by racecourse group, quality of track and region, as well as compared to other sports and form of entertainment, for a major article featuring thoughts from the likes of Jockey Club chief executive Nevin Truesdale, Punchestown's Conor O’Neill and sports marketer George Foster.

There are some extremely eyecatching findings, but among the least surprising is Cheltenham's place at the top of the table when it comes to Guinness.

The £7.50 being charged at last year's Cheltenham Festival, and again at all race meetings this season, drew stinging criticism which intensified when it was discovered last weekend that the racecourse was charging snooker fans just £6 at the World Grand Prix.

A Guinness at Cheltenham cost 50p more than Epsom, the only course demanding £7 at the time of the Racing Post’s visit, while Royal Ascot and Goodwood charged £6.80.

Cheltenham's £7.50 also dwarfed the average of £6.43 at Jockey Club racecourses overall, but Truesdale defended charging more at the home of jump racing than the group's other tracks.

"When considering how to price food and drink, we benchmark against comparable venues locally, while also factoring in any associated costs, like temporary facilities and increased staffing to cater for significantly larger crowds," he said. "That's why a pint of Guinness at, say, Exeter is £6, while it is more expensive at a world-class sporting venue like Cheltenham, which has very different overhead costs."

Nevin Truesdale: has defended Cheltenham's cost for a pint of Guinness

Former Racecourse Association chief executive Stephen Atkin, who also served as finance director for the England and Wales Cricket Board as well, said it was reasonable to expect to pay more for food and drink at the races than other venues.

"I do think you would expect to pay a premium for food and drink at a sporting event compared to going to a pub. The question is what the premium should be.

"What I tended to find when I was at the RCA is there were a lot of people who would talk about the cost of going racing and bemoan how expensive they considered it to be, but when you drilled down it became apparent that they didn't go anywhere else. They had an anecdotal view that racing was expensive, but they had no personal comparisons with things like Premier League football or international rugby matches."

Read the full results and analysis of the Racecourse Prices Index in The Big Read, available in Sunday's newspaper or online for Members' Club Ultimate subscribers from 6pm on Saturday. Click here to sign up.

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