Cheltenham Festival Sticks to Four Days
Following an extensive consultation, the Jockey Club has announced that the Cheltenham Festival will remain a four-day event. The decision was met with surprise and praise from the industry and punters alike. The decision follows the announcement earlier this year that ticket sales for 2023’s event would be capped.
The Cheltenham Festival is Britain’s third biggest sporting event. ©Daniel/Pexels
Six-Month Consultation
The Cheltenham Festival is to remain a four-day fixture beyond 2023, according to a decision reached by the Jockey Club. A six-month consultation has come to the conclusion not to add a fifth day to the festival, after engaging with thousands of stakeholders.
Racehorse owners, jockeys, trainers, racecourse staff, broadcasters, commercial partners and fans were consulted as the Jockey Club deliberated on the future of the festival. A fifth day was proposed, and would have been added to the annual event in 2024 if approved.
Strong growth opportunities for the future were identified through independent research conducted with audiences that don’t attend or watch the world-famous festival. Nevertheless, the Jockey Club cited factors including the impact on the racing surface and the uncertain economic situation in reaching its decision not to extend the format of the festival.
Extending the festival would have led to six races being run each day, taking the total number up to thirty. Ian Renton, who runs Cheltenham Racecourse and is Managing Director of the Jockey Club’s West Region, explained how the organization came to its final judgement. According to Renton:
“While we explored the financial benefits and an opportunity to reach new audiences, we also found a number of counterpoints to this. For example, it is clear that it would be challenging from a turf management perspective, without further work on the track, and on balance we still feel 28 races over four days is the right format.”
Renton took the opportunity to thank those that participated in the research process, which saw the Jockey Club listen to a diverse array of opinions from across the racing industry. The organization will now further evaluate the insights of its investigation with the aim of improving facilities, investing in on-course activations and building on experiences for festival participants and racegoers.
Racing Fans Praise Decision
The news has largely been welcomed by the industry, if met with more than a little surprise. It has been rumored that the Cheltenham Festival would expand to five days since 2005, when it switched from three days to four. Those rumors have now been put to bed for the foreseeable future.
Those in favor of retaining the current four-day structure were against cutting the number of daily races from seven to six, which would have seen racegoers get less bang for their buck. Critics also questioned how much additional revenue the extra day would have generated, as staffing costs are higher on Saturdays.
Legendary trainer Nicky Henderson backed the Jockey Club’s decision, despite previously supporting calls to extend the festival. The man behind 72 Cheltenham Festival winners was one of the many participants of the consultation process. Henderson described the outcome as ‘logical’, adding:
“Early on I was quite keen on the idea of an extra day but I do think they’ve come to the right decision in the end. I can see both sides of it and I’m not going to rattle on about why I did think it was a good idea, but at the end of the day one of the key things was whether the ground would take an extra day and that’s vital. There were pros and cons but everybody seems happy with it this way.”
Those sentiments were echoed by fellow trainer Willie Mullins. He said that running the event over five days would have made it easier for trainers to transport horses and staff, although he still prefers the more compact format of the four-day competition. Other voices included rider Ruby Walsh, who described the decision not to extend the festival as “a great thing”, and trainer Paul Nicholls, who called it “a triumph for common sense”.
Growing Popularity
Those in support of adding a fifth day to the event cited the financial advantages that could be brought. The local economy in Cheltenham benefits from £100 million each year, as visitors travel from around the world to attend the festival. An extra day could have enhanced this revenue even further.
The sport has been recovering well from the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, which saw horse racing fixtures postponed and cancelled. Events in 2020, including the Royal Ascot, were forced to take place behind closed doors, in a blow to revenues. The following year saw visitors return to courses, although numbers were limited.
2022 has seen a return to form as spectators returned to courses at full capacity. 273,465 racegoers were recorded at June’s Royal Ascot. Meanwhile, around 150,000 fans were in attendance at Aintree’s Grand National Festival. For some, the Cheltenham Festival proved a little too popular this year.
The Cheltenham Festival now ranks as Britain’s third largest sporting event. In March, a record 280,627 visitors attended the event across four days. That included nearly 74,000 people on the Thursday and Friday. Despite significant investment in recent years, those numbers did put a strain on facilities.
In August, organizers announced that changes would be made for next year’s event to enhance the experience for racegoers. After listening to feedback from those who were in attendance at this year’s event, it decided to cap ticket sales for the 2023 event at 68,500 tickets per day.
At the time, festival organizer Ian Renton said that those coordinating the event are keen to ensure that the festival remains an attractive and enjoyable event in the long term. The feedback showed that racegoers were happy with the quality of the sport and facilities, but that a reduced number of people would help to ease movement around the course.
