Vibrancy of Royal Ascot casts a light on where the Cheltenham Festival has gone so badly wrong

The Ascot executive could have been excused for fearing the worst this time last week. High mortgage rates and the cost of living crisis overshadowed the build-up to Cheltenham and Aintree, where crowd numbers fell. Yet Ascot bucked the trend by posting increased attendances on each of the five days.

There was a vibrancy distinctly lacking at Cheltenham, where regulars bemoaned a lack of atmosphere and the uncompetitive races laid before them. Cheltenham was not without moments to savour but the big difference between the flagship festivals was in the composition of the respective racing programmes. Even a perfunctory comparison makes it clear where Cheltenham can make significant improvements.

For starters, Cheltenham stages 13 Grade 1 races over four days to Ascot’s nine over five days. That is simply too many; there are not enough top-class horses to sustain such an ambitious programme. One stat tells the story: there were seven odds-on favourites across 27 races at Cheltenham whereas Ascot’s 35 races featured just one.