This Saturday looks set to be the busiest day of the year for racecourses with up to 130,000 racegoers expected across seven meetings taking in the second day of the King George VI Weekend at Ascot as well as Chester, Lingfield Park, Newcastle, Newmarket, Salisbury and York.
The racing on July 15 was billed as 'Super Saturday' with six meetings at Ascot, Chester, Hamilton Park, Newmarket, Salisbury and York and it lived up to its billing with 103,057 people going racing, a similar aggregate crowd to 2016.
However, the attendance for the forthcoming equivalent weekend 12 months ago was 130,594, the biggest aggregate daily crowd in the past 10 years and believed to be a record daily aggregate for the sport, and similar numbers are expected again.
"It’s fantastic to see so many people going racing during the summer and highlights the importance of staging racing at accessible times," said Stephen Atkin, Chief Executive of the Racecourse Association.
"With top class action almost every week on the track as well as a wide range of entertainment for all ages, the summer provides the perfect chance to showcase racecourses as brilliant venues for a day out.
"July and August always attract the biggest crowds and we are working hard with GBR to promote their #StirrUpSummer campaign which will bring new audiences to our racecourses across the next two months.
"The Insight=Growth data work is also now a key cornerstone for racecourse marketing teams and as a result we are selling more advance tickets, offering better value to customers and ensuring that attendances are becoming less effected by the weather. We hope this will allow us to continue the five year growth curve we are currently experiencing."
