Epsom boss to go 'back to basics' in bid to boost Derby festival after notable drop in attendance

Epsom's new general manager has said that "everything is on the table" in his mission to improve the Derby festival after a notable drop in crowd numbers at the track's flagship meeting.

Jim Allen, a former trainer who took over the role in November, plans to adopt a stripped-back approach to bolstering the appeal of the Derby meeting after crowd figures dropped by more than 4,500 to 22,312 on Saturday compared to last year, with a similar drop of 3,000 to 15,133 on Oaks day. 

"There's a lot to review here, as Sinndar [in 2000] was my last Derby experience," Allen said. "I've spent the time taking in the sheer size and scale of the venue and I've very much been observing everything. 

"I went into every enclosure, building and hospitality room over the Oaks and Derby days, and in general there were a lot of compliments and virtually no crowd issues.

• 'It's dead everywhere' - one of racing's crown jewels is being tarnished by Epsom's crowd crisis 
• Epsom boss to go 'back to basics' in bid to boost Derby festival after notable drop in attendance 

"I've seen things I'd like to change and the plan going forward is to analyse the performance of every enclosure and structure. Everything is on the table. I'll be looking at pricing, what the offer of each enclosure is and how it compares nationally and internationally. 

"I want to strip it right back to the basics and approach it from the idea of if it was my own business, what would I like to do? 

"We need to make ourselves more appealing. I want to see attendances going in the other direction and that means there will likely be some enclosure changes."

While Epsom faced the brunt of an unsettled forecast, which included a yellow weather warning on Derby day, Allen acknowledged it was not the only factor in reduced sales and a diminished showing on the free-to-access Hill.

"We'd been tracking on par with last year's ticket sales until the final six to eight weeks, when things just didn't pick up like we'd expect," he said. "I think the long-range forecast probably didn't help, but there are other factors in play too, including the cost of living crisis which is a national issue.

"Attendances at the Derby have been declining, but I think a lot of focus has been put there, and it's not really the most important number we should be looking at. We're very hopeful our customer experience scores will be very high. 

"I'm keen to improve attendances, but it's still an event attended by tens of thousands of people. My focus this year has really been on making sure everyone had a good time and there's been lots of great feedback." 

Among the positive reactions from the meeting has been the increased field size for the Derby, in which 18 runners went to post for the first time since 2017. 

Allen said: "I would love and hope to get 20 runners every year and I'd like to make that a key success indicator going forward. I was delighted we had French runners and I really hope they keep coming back after they ran great races. I'd want to get overseas runners from elsewhere too. 

"Overall the race is fantastic, but we have opportunities around the site to further enhance the whole day. I've got thoughts for that and they've been going around in my head since I started, but we'll discuss it as a group before we make any decisions."

Read more:

Aidan O'Brien says Derby double is on the cards for Epsom hero Lambourn as he bids to join illustrious group 

'To win a British Classic would be the ultimate dream' - syndicate behind 50-1 Derby runner-up aiming big after Epsom heroics 

£470 for a family of four? Epsom has lots of issues but reducing scandalous kids’ prices should be an easy win 

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