Management at Cheltenham Racecourse hope that rising numbers of visitors from Ireland will help them achieve a sizeable increase in spectators for the November Meeting over the next few years.
The Cheltenham Festival in March is the highlight of the season at the Gloucestershire racetrack, serving as an annual pilgrimage for horse racing fans across the United Kingdom and Ireland.
However, with Irish punters eager to experience Cheltenham’s unique atmosphere, the course has benefited from an increase in visitors from the Emerald Isle in November.
The latest meeting attracted around 61,000 fans over the three days, an increase on the 59,505 people who attended in 2022.
Cheltenham Racecourse manager Ian Renton says they are keen to keeping growing the profile of the meeting and has set an ambitious attendance target for 2026.
“The November meeting is already one of the great occasions during the autumn season,” Renton told the Racing Post. “We’d like to get our crowd up to 70,000 and we’d allow three years to build it up and extend the facilities to allow that capacity if we can increase the numbers.
“Increasingly, we’re seeing more Irish racegoers coming to our meetings, starting from the Showcase in October. There’s a much bigger Irish presence at this meeting. Hopefully, we can achieve those numbers within three years.”
Ireland’s affinity with Cheltenham has grown in recent years, largely powered by the dominance of their horses at the Festival in March.
It will likely be a similar story in 2024, with Irish-trained horses dominating the ante-post markets for the meeting. The top betting sites in Ireland are currently offering odds on 20 of the 28 races, and Irish runners are the favourite in 16 of them.
Irish-based trainers were not quite as dominant at the November Meeting as they generally are in March with just five of the 19 races falling to handlers from the Emerald Isle – Gavin Cromwell (2), Willie Mullins (1), Paul Gilligan (1) and Mouse Morris (1).
However, their respective successes gave Irish punters plenty to cheer about during the three days, thus helping to create a similar atmosphere to the one generated at the Festival.
A couple of factors could help Cheltenham bosses achieve their 70,000-attendance target for the November Meeting by 2026 – ticket prices and the size of the crowds in March.
Tickets for the Festival cost significantly more than other meetings at the racecourse, which can make it an expensive trip for anyone who attends on all four days. However, the lofty price tag did not stop more than 241,000 people attending last March.
By contrast, the November Meeting is affordable to attend and offers punters the opportunity to enjoy a day at the races in a more relaxed environment.
Irish bettor Denis Kirwan has previously attended over 25 festivals at Cheltenham, but says the November Meeting was a hugely enjoyable experience.
“There is no sporting amphitheatre anywhere in the world like Cheltenham and you get to see it properly in November,” Kirwan said. “Everything is manic in March.
“It’s far more relaxed and easy-going for this meeting. You can see everything, you can go anywhere and you can do what you want when you want.”
