Cheltenham week Costa too much...
Festival bosses email Irish punters who snubbed races for a cheap holiday in Spain
CHELTENHAM Festival bosses are holding a stewards enquiry over why Irish punters are giving the races a miss.
Thousands stayed away from Prestbury Park last month in protest at the rip-off prices with many flying to the sunny climes of Lanzarote or the Costa del Sol to watch it on the telly instead.
Now the Jockey Club has emailed thousands of Irish turf fans for their feedback on four-day festival.
They are being asked their opinions on the much-criticised ticket prices, the cost of hotel accommodation, the track experience and the exorbitant cost of food and drink where many bars were charging £7 to £10 for a pint.
The attendance at the first three days at this year’s event was way down on previous years with the Wednesday gate 20,000 below 2022’s attendance. The ticket prices have soared from £47 to £112 per day for Tuesday to Thursday, and £64 to £131 on Gold Cup Day.
This compares to an admission price of €25 to the Dublin Racing Festival.
Jockey Club sources suspect the Irish are staying at home and can no longer afford to pay £300 to £400 for a hotel room a night.
One said:“We believe the numbers from Ireland are probably down around 20%.” Jockey Club chief executive Nevin Truesdale has admitted ticket prices and the cost of hotels is now a problem.
Eimer Hannon, a travel agent specialising in sporting events, has been sending punters to Cheltenham for more than 20 years.
The owner of Hannon Travel, which has offices in Navan and Belfast, said there was little or no interest in punters travelling this year and it was “a damp squib.”
Sandra Finnegan, who runs Globe Travel in Drogheda, Co Louth, also sent hundreds of punters to Cheltenham in previous years but also reported a slump in trade.
She said: “Cheltenham has outpriced itself out of the market. It now costs a couple €2,500 to go to the Festival without even paying for a ticket.
“If you add in the price of tickets you are talking about another €1,500. Punters are voting with their feet and now flying to Lanzarote, Tennerife, Gran Canaria or the Costa del Sol to see the racing instead.
“Thousand of punters are now doing it – it is the new trend.
“They get to go to the local pub, get their bets on and have a great week’s racing in the sunshine at a fraction of the cost of actually going to Cheltenham.
“They are all having fun in the sun. A couple could stay all-inclusive in a five-star hotel for a week for the same price as staying in Cheltenham.
“Many Irish punters now just prefer to go to the Winter Festival in November which is a fraction of the cost of the event in March.”