The smallest Cheltenham Festival crowd since 1993 was recorded on Wednesday, with 41,949 spectators at the track.
It was a drop of nearly 5,000 from last year and mirrored a fall in Tuesday’s crowd which was down to 55,498 from 60,181.
Attendance for the Queen Mother Champion Chase day on Wednesday was nearly 65,000 in 2022. This year’s figure was the lowest since 40,662 on the second day of the fixture 32 years ago.
Absent regulars have cited the cost of accommodation, tickets, travel and food and drink as reasons for missing the meeting, which was extended to four days from three in 2005.
Thousands have travelled to Spanish destinations in the Costa del Sol, including Benidorm and the island of Tenerife, to watch the action on big screens and say a week in the sunshine is cheaper than attending the fixture.
Racecourse chief executive Guy Lavender, who took over at the course earlier this year, wrote an open letter before the meeting which acknowledged that attendances would be down.
“The decline is not catastrophic but nor are we seeing growing attendances,” he said.
