Cheltenham's New Year's Day fixture sold out for the first time ever as the course welcomed a crowd in excess of 44,000.
Remarkably, the reported attendance of 44,151 was higher than the course attracted for the Wednesday of the Cheltenham Festival last year when 41,949 saw Marine Nationale win the Champion Chase.
The sell-out crowd on New Year's Day was a significant uplift on last year's attendance of 32,889. The previous best New Year's Day crowd in the last decade was in 2023 when 38,374 turned up.
The bumper crowd continues a good spell for racing attendances over the Christmas period. Kempton's King George fixture attracted 17,195, a significant improvement on 2024 when 13,863 saw Banbridge win. This year spectators were treated to a dramatic finish in the King George with The Jukebox Man scoring by a nose from Banbridge with Gaelic Warrior a further nose back in third.
The highlight of Cheltenham's seven-race fixture on New Year's Day was the Relkeel Hurdle (replay below) which was won impressively by Kabral Du Mathan who was cut to a top price of 8/1 for the Stayers' Hurdle.
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