Why so many restrictions? It's time for racecourses to ditch enclosures and give punters more freedom

Who knew 30p could cause such a fuss? That was because the reduced cost for a pint of Guinness was the big talking point after Cheltenham unveiled a series of changes to enhance customer experience at the festival.

Amendments were rolled out last Tuesday by chief executive Guy Lavender in a bid to win back racegoers with Cheltenham Festival crowds plummeting by a fifth since the record-breaking 2022 attendances.

A new price of £7.50 is clearly not a guaranteed answer, nor is it going to lead to a major increase in sales, but it at least seems like Cheltenham is listening to its critics and acting to improve.

That in itself deserves praise and it does not come cheap either. Jockey Club statistics reveal that 265,000 pints of the black stuff are swigged across the four days, so by that logic turnover will be hit by around £80,000. It will be comfortably more considering there is usually a thirsty crowd among the 12 other fixtures at the track.

It is almost as if Lavender is having his own costly ante-post gamble, with the reward a reversal of declining crowds.

• Cheltenham moves to halt festival crowds slump with cheaper Guinness and reduced capacity among the changes  

• Drinks prices cut, crowds capped and car parking upgrades - Cheltenham's changes explained 

From my own experience of racing at Cheltenham, the one change which will make racedays far more enjoyable is the axing of the restrictions on where drinks can be taken.

Pints were previously banned from the majority of places you could watch the racing, which is hugely detrimental to the day. It leaves punters with a pretty poor dilemma between downing drinks, throwing an expensive purchase away or sacrificing seeing a race unfold in the epic amphitheatre to circle around a TV but with their drink intact.

Cynics will argue that a day at the festival, or indeed a desired crowd, should be more attentive to the action rather than having a drink, but the event stretches over a number of hours. It is impossible to negotiate being served and consuming drinks between races given the huge crowds at bars.

Cheering home a festival winner alongside thousands is an incredible experience and arguably the greatest hook for turning a casual into more of a racing fan. How many potential future regular racegoers have slipped through the net, deciding to sacrifice the live view to avoid wasting an expensive pint?

This is not forgetting how confusing it must be to new racegoers, fresh through the gates, a first pint in hand, form studied, excited for the opener, only to be stopped and ordered not to go any further. How is that for first impressions?

Racecourses can be confusing places at the best of times and perhaps this new way of thinking reopens the debate over whether enclosures should also be scrapped. How many times can you recall enjoying your day, strolling around a racecourse only to be stopped, ordered by a pernickety steward to display a flimsy cardboard badge to prove your entitlement to cross into another area?

Or trying to reach friends at other points on the track, only to then be faced with a dilemma in negotiating how to reach them with the pointless enclosure restrictions creating a puzzle.

Small things can spoil a great experience and while some racecourse staff are friendly, it can be unnecessarily intimidating for a customer who has already paid their hard-earned money to be there. Racecourses should pride themselves on being welcoming, among other things, and such rules undermine it.

Cheltenham: would the racecourse be better without enclosures?Credit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

Charging a customer substantially more for a slightly nicer experience always strikes me as a rather archaic approach. Racecourses have a huge advantage over other sporting venues in that customers can access a variety of views and facilities, unlike stadiums where you are limited to one seat.

Tracks should be lapping up the chance to give their customers complete access of places to bet, eat, drink or watch the day’s action. More expensive is not always better and enclosures somewhat encourage that undertone of snobbery. Nobody should feel out of place at a raceday and, if they do, they certainly will not come back.Major meetings require more structure in terms of enclosures due to the challenges which come with large crowds, while every effort should be made to preserve the pageantry and culture of signature meetings, none more so than Royal Ascot.

Meanwhile, loyalty should be rewarded, whether that be participants, owners, syndicates or members. It can be in the form of viewing areas or facilities, but the whole venue does not need to be completely segmented.

• 'It affects all the Irish' - Willie Mullins on the biggest problem with the Cheltenham Festival despite recent changes 

• Comment: cheaper beer is all okay but Cheltenham tweaks are mere window dressing in absence of much-needed changes to festival programme 

Yet, for the vast majority of fixtures, this long-standing, archaic way can be modernised to help evolve the sport for years to come.

The BHA launched Project Beacon last month, an initiative focused on customer research to drive engagement with the sport. It’s an impressive piece of work, considering the barriers to racing and what’s needed to build a bigger fanbase.

The first priority listed on the report on the BHA’s website is “improving the raceday experience”, while other areas include “demystifying the sport and making it easier to understand for newcomers”.Quite obviously, more open, dynamic and welcoming racecourses could help in a small way to drive this.

I am obviously biased as a local lad, but nothing can help racing’s fanbase more than a thriving Cheltenham Festival and I hope last week’s changes will be the catalyst for racing’s next generation.

• Watch: Jonathan Harding and Matt Rennie discuss the Cheltenham changes on The Front Page

Japan can land Arc with Croix

The world will be watching the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp on Sunday, and I think it will be Japan celebrating.

Croix Du Nord heads a strong trio of Japanese runners and connections have got lucky with the weather with the prospect of a rare good-ground Arc.

He was sensational when landing the Japanese Derby in June. That usually crowns the best middle-distance horse and he was miles the best, even if the winning margin was three-quarters of a length.

All three of Japan’s runners won trials in France and Croix Du Nord was arguably the least impressive, just hanging on to defeat Daryz in a Group 3. Connections made no secret he was not quite right heading into the race and so it says a lot about his talent and toughness that he was still able to win.

Reports from the camp are far more encouraging this week, with his regular rider suggesting his last piece of work was stronger than ahead of the Derby.

Read these next:

This super stallion is no longer being underestimated - he might be the best in Europe at the moment 

'This fast-improver is the bet of the weekend' - Paul Kealy with five ante-post tips, including a 16-1 fancy in the Arc 

Looking for free bets? Racing Post have got the best offers, all in one place. Visit racingpost.com/freebets to find out more.