More is less for Cheltenham

Attendances at the Cheltenham Festival have plummeted by 17 per cent following the decision to extend the meeting to four days.

A crowd of 54,850 watched yesterday's Queen Mother Champion Chase, compared to 66,792 for the corresponding raceday last year.

It was a similar story on the opening day when there was a 55,184 gate for the Champion Hurdle, down by around 10,000 from 2004.

The figures are, however, in line with managing director Edward Gillespie's pre-event estimates which anticipated a fall in demand as punters adapted to the new format.

Racecourse officials also point out that, with Friday's Gold Cup sold out, the meeting is on course to break the record for the total number of people through the gates.

Spokesman Alistair Haggis said: "We always knew it was going to be lower in the first three days once we moved to a fourth-day festival. But we are delighted with the figures."