Royal Ascot targeting ticket sales at cheaper level where 'tracks are finding the most impact'

The cheapest tickets for Royal Ascot are proving the hardest sell according to the track’s director of racing Nick Smith, in an echo of the Cheltenham Festival.

The first three days of Cheltenham attracted 33,652 fewer racegoers than the previous year, with the cost of living crisis blamed.

Royal Ascot’s consumer marketing campaign launched this week to promote the five-day meeting in June, and Smith said: "In advance of Cheltenham we had seen extremely good numbers in the royal enclosure and hospitality.