Sharp fall in major Saturday crowds in September - but Chester bucks trend

Crowds fell sharply at most major Saturday race meetings in Britain in September compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Haydock's Sprint Cup card on September 3 was down 34 per cent, with fewer than 6,000 on hand to witness Minzaal's Group 1 breakthrough. On the same day, the chief supporting action at Ascot fell by almost 28 per cent.

Newmarket slightly restructured its autumn programme this year but retained a Saturday that featured the Cambridgeshire as well as a pair of Group 1s for two-year-olds, the Cheveley Park Stakes and Middle Park Stakes. The result was a 29 per cent decline from 9,747 people to 6,843.