ASCOT WRITE OFF £1.3m TO MAKE DAY MORE ENJOYABLE FOR PUNTERS

ROYAL ASCOT are to take a £1.3million hit this summer in a bid to improve customer experience. The racecourse have decided to reduce capacity after feedback from last year’s crowd, which was limited because of Covid. The number of spectators can reach 65,000 on the Thursday, which is Gold Cup day, and 75,000 on the Saturday. But last year it was limited to 12,000 while operating under Covid-19 restrictions. Ascot hope the loss in revenue will be mitigated by customers migrating to other days as well as increased spend per head due to the more pleasant conditions. Capacity for the Royal Enclosure has been reduced from 13,500 to 12,500, the Windsor Enclosure drops from 17,000 to 15,000 and the Queen Anne Enclosure drops from 20,750 to 16,600. Ascot claim reducing numbers at the biggest meeting of the Flat season has been a long-term ambition. Felicity Barnard, Ascot’s commercial director, said: ‘A key message from 2021 was that people appreciated the additional space.’ Ascot spokesman Nick Smith added: ‘These changes may have a short-term financial impact but in the long term we hope they will have benefits for the prosperity of the meeting.’ Ascot is expected to announce losses in excess of £10m for 2021, largely due to the hit taken by the royal meeting, which usually accounts for 80 per cent of the track’s revenue.