There's been lots of noise - but just how did the Cheltenham Festival fare on its key objectives?

There has been much debate about whether the Cheltenham Festival began to turn a corner last week following criticism of a 2024 meeting which suffered depressed crowds and too many uncompetitive races. Changes were made to the programme and there has been a renewed focus on providing a better customer experience. 

While so much of the success or otherwise of an event is bound up in storylines, drama and emotion, there are some key metrics by which the Jockey Club's efforts can be judged.

Field sizes

Changing two of the Graded chases to handicaps – the Princess Royal National Hunt Chase and the Golden Miller Chase – was designed in part to limit the number of options among the leading novices from four to two, yet the remaining Grade 1s, the Arkle and the Brown Advisory, drew a combined 12 starters between them, so the effect is yet to be fully felt.