Cheltenham chief executive Guy Lavender has hailed changes for Festival racegoers as a success after attendances rose this year.
There were a total of 226,223 spectators over the four-day fixture, with the 67,016 for Friday’s Gold Cup card slightly down on last year’s 68,020 but overall attendance trending up for the week.
Wednesday’s Champion Chase day saw the biggest rise with a crowd of 46,317 compared to 41,949 in 2025, with overall attendance up by more than 8,000 year-on-year.
Cheltenham announced a raft of changes for the Festival, tweaking the race programme as well as introducing a number of measures with the aim of improving racegoer experience, including a reduction in the price of a pint of Guinness and offering early bird discounts for tickets purchased in advance of the meeting.
Lavender said: “We’ve seen four days of highly competitive racing, a great atmosphere and increased crowds. We’ve also seen some tremendous individual performances, not least by Gaelic Warrior in the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup and our congratulations go to Willie Mullins, Paul Townend and the Riccis.
“It has been especially pleasing and rewarding for the whole team to see how positively the changes that were introduced this year have been received by racegoers.
“This week has been a great reminder of how special our sport can be and the increased attendances are testament to the popularity of this racecourse and the Cheltenham Festival.
“It is the pinnacle of jump racing and the team here deserve great credit for delivering a terrific four days.”
