Lingfield offers £20 three-day ticket for Winter Million but loses ITV coverage

Lingfield's eyecatching offer of a £20 three-day ticket has led to strong sales for the track's forthcoming Winter Million festival – but the meeting has suffered the blow of losing ITV coverage.

The Surrey venue's big meeting, where more than £1 million in prize-money is on offer, takes place from January 20-22, with the first and final day over jumps and an all-weather card taking place on day two.

The inaugural Winter Million festival was hailed a success last year and Arena Racing Company (Arc), owners of Lingfield, hope the flexibility of the three-day ticket offer will help surpass last year's crowd numbers, with a peak attendance of 2,198 racegoers on day two.

Last year's winners Metier and Two For Gold are set to return to the fixture, with the last-named potentially taking on Grand National hero Noble Yeats and Bristol De Mai in the £165,000 Fleur De Lys Chase.

Mark Spincer, managing director of Arc's racing division, said: "January is traditionally always difficult to sell tickets as people tend to have a quiet month post-Christmas, so we wanted to look at making the meeting as accessible as possible for those looking for a fun event and a few days out. The Winter Million was a success in the first year, with some excellent racing over the three days, and we wanted to build on that momentum.

"We are encouraged with how sales are going, with the three-day £20 ticket offer selling particularly well. The hope is it offers flexibility for those who want to book early and have the choice of coming to as much of the event as they would like, and obviously we hope to see them return each day.

"As with most events, the advance offer is limited, so we'd encourage anyone keen to take advantage of it to book early."

The Racing Post understands a clash with other sporting events has led to the meeting not attracting ITV coverage this year, with the terrestrial channel showing the World Grand Prix Snooker – staged at the Centaur Arena at Cheltenham racecourse – and Nordic Darts Masters across the weekend, whereas last year there was no clash.

The feature jumps action was televised on ITV4 last year, with four races shown alongside Market Rasen on Friday and five races – plus two from Thurles including Allaho's Grade 2 win – on Sunday.

Spincer said: "It is of course disappointing to not have the ITV cameras with us this year, but it doesn't reflect ITV’s appetite for covering the sport at all. The World Cup has had a knock-on effect for the scheduling of a variety of sports over recent and coming weeks, but we look forward to the Winter Million hopefully returning to their schedule going forward.

"The aspiration for the Winter Million meeting is that it becomes a real flagship event in the racing calendar and we'll be making sure to keep on developing the meeting to help it meet those aspirations."

Love Envoi (right): was successful at the meeting last year before going on to win at the Cheltenham FestivalCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

West Sussex trainer Gary Moore saddled seven runners at the festival last year, winning the 2m4f handicap chase on day one with Zhiguli, and is targeting more success.

Moore said: "It's my Cheltenham Festival. I'll take the strongest team I can and there are a good few races that will suit. I might even run Goshen in the Weatherbys Hurdle he was third in last year. I know he can't go left-handed, but at least he'll get his ground. I hope to run Nassalam as it will be the first time he gets the ground he wants and Movethechains will go there."

Daryl Jacob missed the fixture last year due to a fractured hip, but felt it was a good addition to the racing calendar and looks forward to being involved this month.

Jacob said: "The prize-money is great at the Winter Million and 'double green' are very happy to support the tracks where the prize-money is.

"There was plenty of praise for the meeting last year and quality horses went down there. It was fantastic and the racing was good to watch, so it's great to have a couple of good rides there this time."

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