Talking Horses: Chester counts cost of stay-away fans at May Festival

Concerns about the extent to which racing fans have “got out of the habit” of going to the track during the pandemic can only increase following the news that Chester’s prestigious May Festival from Wednesday to Friday last week attracted a total attendance of 35,000 – a 35% drop from the 53,500 who were at the course over the same three days in 2019.

Chester is – according to Guinness World Records, at least – the world’s “oldest racecourse still in operation” with a history dating back to 1539, and also one of Britain’s best-attended tracks, thanks in part to its memorable setting and layout, between the historic city’s Roman walls and the River Dee.

In 2019, its 15 meetings, all on the Flat, attracted a total of 240,541 racegoers, an average attendance of 16,000 for every card, while the reported crowds for the three-day May Festival were 15,340, 15,148 and then 22,926 for the Chester Cup on Friday.

All British racing was suspended in May 2020 and the meeting was cancelled, while the sport was still behind closed doors when the May Festival returned in 2021. The first renewal with full crowds for three years, however, pulled in “8,000 then just over 11,000 and just over 15,000” according to Louise Stewart, the track’s new chief executive, who was overseeing her first May Festival last week.

That represents a significant loss in revenue, not just for the racecourse but the local economy as a whole. Chester was noticeably quiet on Wednesday, both at the track and in the city – eerily so for veterans of a meeting where the daily attendance had not previously dropped below 11,000 this century – and while there was much more of an atmosphere on Thursday and Friday, there was still plenty of breathing space for the Roodee’s