Cheltenham chief vows to ensure price is right for racegoers

Cheltenham chief executive Guy Lavender admits the issue of value is “critical” to reigniting enthusiasm and increasing crowds at the Festival meeting.

A total of 218,839 people attended across the four days this year, down on the 2024 figure of just under 230,000, with Wednesday’s Champion Chase card drawing 41,949 racegoers, which represents a low mark in recent years.

Tickets for the 2026 Festival go on sale on Monday, with prices unchanged, although Lavender concedes that is just one factor to be considered in the cost of attending the meeting.

He told Racing TV’s Luck On Sunday programme: “There has been a big debate around price and value at the Festival, which I have recognised, but we have had no increase for this year from last and we won’t have an increase for 2026 either. In fact, there will be a small element of increased value for those that buy in the early bird window.

“We are very mindful of price – tickets are only one component and I think there are other things we need to look at.

“The value proposition is, for me, critical. We have got to get this bit right to drive the numbers and enthusiasm for the Festival, but again there’s an optimum (attendance) number, not a maximum number, which I think we should focus on and then you can deliver the level of customer experience people expect.

“I think there’s opportunities to look at the racing offered at Cheltenham in the round but inevitably there’s a core focus on the Festival, it’s the showpiece of the jumps racing calendar and we have to make sure that’s right.

“I think the process for me now is what are the micro changes we can make – and there are hundreds of those we’ve seen over the four days – and there’s some big macro issues around price, value, accommodation, price of food and beverage, etc that we will pick up.”

Lavender is keen for success not to be entirely defined by an overall attendance figure, but also viewed in term of the experience offered to racegoers, which means targeting an “optimum” number of racegoers.

He said: “I think the real issue for me is not to worry too much about the overall numbers, because if you get the experience and the value proposition and price right, the numbers are going to grow.

“We don’t have direct control over where the numbers end up but we do have control over things that make it a great experience.

“We want to see numbers grow, the economics at Cheltenham are very strong, it’s an enormously profitable racecourse, but of course it funds and supports the rest of the Jockey Club Racecourse group, so there’s a balance to be struck.”

The price of local accommodation is another issue Lavender recognises as a “barrier” for potential racegoers, with the need for some data analysis and further discussion with “hoteliers, accommodation providers and the (Cheltenham) Chamber of Commerce” on the to-do list.

Lavender did raise hopes of a reduction in costs in 2026, adding: “I think there will be a natural readjustment to the market next year as I think there was quite a lot of accommodation that we certainly saw came back onto the market quite late, or that didn’t sell.

“I think there will be some market readjustment but it’s a major point on our agenda looking to next year at how we address this issue, it’s just another thing that disincentivises people to come and we have to reduce those barriers wherever we can.”