Super Saturday racecourse crowds hit by World Cup fever

The World Cup had a negative effect on Super Saturday racecourse attendances, as most feared it might, even though there was nowhere near the passion for England's third place play-off against Belgium that there had been for the earlier games.

Newmarket's Amy Starkey reported: "Our attendances were slightly behind on all three days. We were tracking ahead and it was going well until people got more focused and more involved in the football.

"We knew we'd be welcoming fewer people than last year, but on the July course that's not entirely a bad thing as we know that it has its constraints in terms of size and facilities. It was comfortable and everyone was treated to a great experience.

Trademark celebration: Frankie Dettori pleases the crowd with a flying dismount after victory aboard the Martyn Meade-trained Advertise in the July StakesCredit: Edward Whitaker

"We had just shy of 39,000 over the three days, compared to just over 43,000 last year. On the Saturday it was just over 13,000, versus about 16,000 last year."

She added: "Thursday was possibly one of my favourite days ever on the July course and set the tone for the rest of the week. We had glorious weather and amazing racing, and the whole festival was very relaxed. It's a magical course, and the team did an exceptional job in what were very difficult circumstances with the lack of rain."

It was a similar story at York so far as attendance was concerned. Managing director William Derby reported: "We were 3.9 per cent down and found bookings dropped off two weeks out as World Cup fever took off. We made up a bit of ground on the day, but the pre-bookings had faltered.

"It was still a big crowd and a big atmosphere, and a wonderful day's racing under clear blue skies, with a great story behind the John Smith's winner Euchen Glen.

"We had two big screens dedicated to the football, but while we were pleased to provide them, there obviously wasn't the level of passion there might have been."

Ascot suffered a much bigger drop in attendance than Newmarket or York.

Director of racing and communications Nick Smith said: "We had 15,583, which is 21 per cent down on last year, but that was expected due to everything else going on and still healthy enough."

The course introduced its own Bet With Ascot service on Friday, and Smith added: "It was a seamless launch and we're very pleased."

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