Racing rejoices as attendances boom over Christmas and new year

It is official. Data released on Friday showed that racecourse attendances really did boom over Christmas and the new year.

Many tracks reported big crowds over the festive period, with a huge 38,374 people at Cheltenham on January 1 – 10,000 more than in recent years.

Now Racecourse Association figures have backed up the impression of a spike in numbers, with 199,903 racegoers going through the gates at the 35 meetings staged in the week from December 26 to January 2.

That was 38 per cent more than in 2021 and 6.4 per cent up on 2019, the last pre-pandemic year.

It came at the end of a year in which total attendance in Britain looks almost certain to have dipped below five million for the first time in more than a quarter of a century, apart from Covid-ravaged 2020 and 2021.

Crowds on each of the four public holidays in Britain were higher than in 2019, with 55,069 at the track on Boxing Day, compared to 50,896 three years previously.

Market Rasen, Wetherby and Wincanton were among those to report a bumper turnout on December 26, while the meeting at Huntingdon attracted it biggest attendance for that day since 2008.

Wetherby was among the tracks to attract a big crowd on Boxing DayCredit: David Carr

RCA chief executive David Armstrong said: "I am encouraged by the attendance figures seen over the festive period. Anecdotally we had heard from a number of racecourses how busy they had been and it is encouraging to see this backed up by the data.

"While 2021 was perhaps a low benchmark due to the emergence of the omicron Covid-19 variant, 2019 was considered a strong year and we have easily surpassed it.

"Racing over the festive period is a long-standing tradition for our sport and many families make it part of their celebrations. It is not lost on us that choosing to have a day out in the current climate is a significant undertaking, and I sincerely hope that each of the attendees had a fantastic day out and come racing again soon."

Racing also benefited from the creation of the new ITV Racing Christmas festival over the period. British and Irish racing was showcased across six days, with action broadcast from 14 meetings in over 18 hours of live coverage.

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