Anyone else think Cheltenham has got too busy

I went on Wednesday (in club) for the first time since 2006. Pleasantly surprised how easy it was to move about, bet & drink, compared to going in the 80s, 90s, and early part of this century.

Ive been saying the same for 5 years mate.

I love the place but much prefer the paddy power meeting and the trials day.

Its become so commercial now. Too many day trippers.

I agree, tent i went in was full of idiots,half cut before first race.I think i was in Best Mate tent.
Is the same everywhere?

Only went tuesday & today, tuesday was busy but comfortable. Friday is just horrid and more so with the bad weather.

You end up queueing for everything, toilets, bets, collecting winnings, food, a drink, returning from watching the race. Cant think of many places where the customers is treated so poorly but then again its probably old age.

In this day and age they should be adding walk ways up into the stands and at least one way walkways in and out of the stands/lawns.

Jasey the tent you were in will have had my old mates in. One of the reasons I stopped going. Had been going since 1992 and the afore mentioned mates never understood what i saw in it. One year they organised a coach trip loved it and go every year now even though none of them have an interest in horse racing at all. Me, I watch it on telly

I went Wed and Thurs this year - only real unpleasant aspect was the squeeze to get in and out of Guinness village inbetween races - they need to do something about that.

There's plenty of room in Tatts if you move around - particularly up by the pre-parade ring - fine if you're there to see the horses rather than just for boozing - agree that the number of people who appear to be their purely for the latter has increased in recent years.

Always fascinated by how well behaved most of the horses are in what must be an alien environment for them - in fact they are better behaved than some of the people.

not been to the course since 2005 and will never return.

its become a day out for people to get pissed and not for the real reason to watch the greatest show on earth.

like royal ascot sadly.

i go down my local with friends and enjoy the racing and banter

I first went in 2003 ( Christ ten years where has the time gone? ) I went on Gold cup day. Best mate romped in and I had 4 winners!

I thought it was the best place on earth. The only thing that would prevent me from not attending every year would have been my death!

Did the next 3 years, every day.

But I remember war of attritions gold cup being the final straw. Mental.

I've been doing the first 2 ( best 2 in my opinion ) the last 5 years.

I cant see me ever doing gold cup day again ( unless I have a runner )

Never been to the festival, far too busy. Been to trials day but its getting silly. Take the week off work and watch it in the local with mates, take turns at cooking. Its like The Festival meets come dine with me, great laugh.

ERRRRM VERY MANLY ^^^^

ERRRRM VERY MANLY ^^^^

Howdi why are you posting everything twice?

I'll be relaying my views to the course by personal e-mail, not that they consider annual member views one jot. They are only interested in the money. I missed Gold Cup day last year for the first time in about 30 years and today I remembered why I didn't want to go last year. The place of full of ar*eholes.

live events you dont get the full pic

i remember going to the open golf--didnt hav a clue what was happening final day

the forum was down earlier pal and everything was popping up twice

FF didnt you enjoy it today mate - getting a bit wild isnt it/   H

I haven't been to the festival for seven years or the open meeting for 4 years and I'm ashamed to say I dont miss going
It probably is an age thing and I can't be arsed with all the hustle and bustle and getting to and from. Sadly Saturday of the
Open meeting has gone the same way and New years day is dreadful
Try to get to Newbury as much as possible and you cant whack Plumpton and Fontwell midweek

Surprised at some of these posts tbh. First 3 days (went Wed/Thurs this year) are perfectly comfortable. It's just a case of knowing where to go for bets/drinks/food and which routes to take to get around. I agree in general that a day at the races is too much of an excuse for a p1ss up these days, but I didnt see too much bad behaviour this year. Having said that I do imagine Gold Cup day this year may not have been such a good experience.

Surprised at some of these posts tbh. First 3 days (went Wed/Thurs this year) are perfectly comfortable. It's just a case of knowing where to go for bets/drinks/food and which routes to take to get around. I agree in general that a day at the races is too much of an excuse for a p1ss up these days, but I didnt see too much bad behaviour this year. Having said that I do imagine Gold Cup day this year may not have been such a good experience.

the forum was down earlier pal and everything was popping up twice

FF didnt you enjoy it today mate - getting a bit wild isnt it/   H

I enjoyed the racing Howdi - very impressed with Our Connor and AFC. Gold Cup was a great spectacle but I left straight afterwards. Next year, I'll be enjoying it from an armchair and happily sell my badge for the day.

relate to a lot of these posts . for first time in over 20 years did not go every day . tues, weds on course and really enjoyed it.best 2 days racing anyway.  . thurs in pub and friday at home .surprised how i felt ok  watching it  fri.and no massive visa bill for the overpriced hotel or struggling for taxis.   can see similar now every year ..dilution of big races and almost impossible handicaps not helped.

Did annual member level 3 viewing and 2 nights hotel for 15 years , stopped when it went 4 days , Friday was mad and yu needed a grand to cover expenses . Absolutely no regrets but after appalling C4 coverage this year will be happy to pay for racingUK or watch on here .

Not missed a day at the Festival starting from 1985. Over the past five years I feel that the racecourse have made an effort to open additional tote windows, opening new bars etc and overall its not as bad as it was.  I agree though that there are more people there for the beer now than the racing compared to the past (although I found Aintree far worse in this regard).  I can't comment about the Best Mate enclosure as its at least 15 years since I had a look over there.

If you want to pick up the atmosphere without the big crowds, days 1 or 2 are best.  Gold Cup day has become a bit of a nightmere, although it has been for many years.  They cut the numbers this year, but with idiots blocking the walkways to the enclosures to shelter from the rain it was hard to tell if this made any difference at the start of the day.  However, come the Gold Cup, there were far fewer people on the lawn than earlier years (it may have been down to it being muddy) and after that it got very easy to move about.

I don't drink much at the racecourse, other than a pint before racing.  The Guiness bar in the Centaur is a good place to try (only if you like the black stuff) and if you want a quick one during racing, you can usually get served quickly in the Istabraq bar.

If you want to try a great days racing at Cheltenham without the crowds, go to the trials day at the end of January.  This year's runners included Sprinter Sacre, At Fishers Cross, The New One, Imperial Commander, Cape Tribulation, Hunt Ball, Vino Griego, Rajdhani Express, Reve de Sivola, and Oscar Whiskey.  Best value meeting of the year for me.

I think the plan is to re-develop after 2014 festival to build a new stand to be ready for 2016 festival - god knows how it's going to operate in 2015 for 4 days when a good area of the course will be a building site.

Cant even get a phone signal at times - no chance of any 3G coverage - they need to look at that as well.

they need to tarmac over all the grass areas as with this winter and gold cup day rain they are just to muddy,its a winter jumps venue so why have lawns like ascot.

theres a small grass area in best mate on the bend in front of marque its on a slope - people falling on it it as it was too slippy - no need for grass

I've been going since the early nineties. Average crowd was about 25k, no mickey mouse races like mares' hurdle and more proper Irish fans back then. Was a far better experience then though I do still make the trip. Although numbers have increased the last few years I think it's got easier to get around. Presumably the extras spend all day in the bars.

i have been going for last 8 years but this year i just went tuesday and wednesday,just not enjoying it vas much as i used to which i didnt think i would ever say.was good to watch the last 2 days at home in the comfort of my own home. think it will be 2 days again next year.

Sorry Howdi cant agree with your original post,been going since 1977, easier this year to get around in BM yes you get idiots in the tent, (but you still see a lot of people enjoying themselves) but the toilet facilities were far better than previous years.

watching it on the telly is not the way forward, once true racegoers fail to show then it will be game over

Been every day for 13 years. All in Best Mate apart from 1 experimental day in Tatts, 10 years ago. Found Tatts far too busy and much prefer BM. Usual routine is to get there at 12, have 1 pre race pint in the DO bar, then down to the jungle and to watch each race. It's always a pain to have to join the drunken revelry to get to the food court and toilets, but not so bad to make me want to miss out on the racing and atmosphere of being there seeing history being made. Totally can see why some prefer to watch from home and avoid mixing with drunken idiots....I'm still coping with that part of proceedings but can see the attraction of my own armchair at times!

Been every day for 13 years. All in Best Mate apart from 1 experimental day in Tatts, 10 years ago. Found Tatts far too busy and much prefer BM. Usual routine is to get there at 12, have 1 pre race pint in the DO bar, then down to the jungle and to watch each race. It's always a pain to have to join the drunken revelry to get to the food court and toilets, but not so bad to make me want to miss out on the racing and atmosphere of being there seeing history being made. Totally can see why some prefer to watch from home and avoid mixing with drunken idiots....I'm still coping with that part of proceedings but can see the attraction of my own armchair at times!

Been going every year since 1986, the last 15 of which have been in the club enclosure, nowadays only go on tuesday, wednesday & thursday and I find it is always okay and easy enough to move about, getting a drink in the arkle bar is not too bad either. However stopped going on gold cup day the year after denman won as it was steadily getting more unbearable and even going to the loos you had to queue for half an hour and too pay £70 for the privilage was too much !!

I was in Tatts on the tuesday ( best day imho )
We got a decent pitch standing just behind a wheelchair viewing area, we just left one or two of our group there to save the space. It was adjacent to a bar ( cant remember the name ) and there was a fairly easy route down to the bookies.
Only problem was the cold weather, we watched the last race in Centaur - glad i didnt stay in there all day....then a Queen tribute band appeared when racing finished

Eveywhere was rammed though, i went for a pi$$ just before 1st race and got totally dis-orientated on way back, so many people everywhere couldnt see the entrances/exits properly, actually had to ask someone how to get back to the racecourse side haha. A lot of the staff were clueless... seems they only knew how to check the tkts/passes for the area they were "guarding" if you asked them how to get anywhere they didnt know - mind you a lot of them appeared to have stepped straight off the proverbial banana boat....

Getting bus back was a nightmare, no-one controlling the queues, buses pulling up at random points along the queue, and a mad rabble trying to get on, didnt see any young kids in the queue personally, but wold have been a scary experience for any.

Had a few beers @ Betfair arms before and after, upstairs was rammed, but the downstairs bar was a lot more civilised....managed to avoid the mustard betfair scarves, and the dark blue ones ( Hills ? ) looked a little too much like stripey-filth ( WBA )

I agree, far too busy with idiots, ffs you cant hear the commentary for stupid pointless shrieking, next year I`ll prob go on tue to thurs and miss gold cup day, way way way too many hassles.

Noticed it a bit this year as the bar upstairs in the grandstand was a bit busier, but probably due to the rain, and there were a lot more people in the tiolets on the Friday, mostly people who weren't in the seating area.

I have been going for the last 15 years and this year was the 1st year I gave the GC day a miss,i always go to BM now used to do tats but imo BM is far better,have to say tu/wed and thur this year was great for getting a drink/food/ toilet etc a little bit busy in the bars etc on tues but it was about -10 .did not miss GC day watched on tv did find it strange as usually there but GC day is full of arseh0les.

Been going every day for 16 years.

I'm never giving up, unless it goes to five days / Saturday.

A bit of common sense, prioritisation and assuming you're not a raging alcoholic who simply must have a drink every 30 minutes there's no problem, at least not in Club.

Too many pi$$-artists. Move away from the gangs of drunken bores then - get talking to that quiet bloke in the pre-parade ring. You might make a friend for life. you might learn something you didn't know five minutes earlier. You might have to endure a crushing bore for a whole five minutes. Who knows? Go for it.

It's Cheltenham. This is a Cheltenham Forum, yet the number of people who don't go all four days or who whinge about how busy it is. Unbelievable!

I don't let anyone spoil my enjoyment of the Festival. I don't get to see too much drunken behavior where I am, the occasional champagne cork fizzing though the air maybe. it's all generally good natured.

I hardly ever see drunken behaviour to be fair, although usually drunk myself towards the end. I always use the special toilets so I don't have to Queue!

I was there tuesday, wednesday and friday this year.

Tuesday best day's racing I have ever been got a ticket with racing post hospitality and had a brilliant day. We were down the end in the long run away from the crowds but great views, weather was fine and staff amazing. Met some fascinating people including the part owner of Reve de Sivola.

Wednesday, in tattersalls with my mate, much colder but still a really enjoyable day.

Friday, stupidly busy couldn't move and weather didn't help things. Will probably not go again unless hospitality.

The thing with Cheltenham is they need to bite the bullet and knock down the crappy county stand and put up a proper 2nd grandstand, make the parade ring, Guinness village crush more palatable by moving things around a bit. It really is stupid having that annoying gap between the horses entrance to the course and the pedestrians always rammed. Otherwise you have to go all the way round the edge of the facilities. The sooner they realise they can't have a premier league champions racecourse with Watford level stands the better.

Its an absolute disgrace imo.

queueing for everything and no chance of watching the racing . Much rather stay at home .

I travel every year from Ireland for the festival and in spite of some negatives I could never miss it. It is a brilliant week. I dont drink,I go for the racing which is a terrific experience. While a lot go for a booze up the boozers are not allowed out of the bars with drink which is a big improvement on what happens in Ireland. The crowds are massive but if you want to witness history you have to accept it. If you organise yourself and gets into stands early enough theres no problem. I think it should never have been increased to 4 days as while one or two decent races were added it has increased the dross of big field handicaps.

Cheltenham seems determined to turf out the true jumping fans

Cheltenham racecourse will be outlining their future development plans to the media this Thursday. And you can be certain that
the destruction of the Queen Mother stand will be at the core of their briefing.


The ethos under the current regime at Prestbury Park appears to be that making money is everything. That was certainly the impression of box holders at this year’s Festival, who were told they had to purchase additional passes for guests who wished to drop in.
No doubt because whilst in a box, those individuals would not be spending their money in the public bars. But the destruction of the Queen Mother stand is a money grab on an altogether greater scale.
One can sense the Cheltenham bean counters wondering whether the country’s Number One National Hunt fan has been dead long enough for them to get away with sending the bulldozers in to flatten 'her’ stand. And they clearly believe they can now crack on.
Their issue appears to be that the current occupants of this venerable old stand aren’t particularly big spenders. They may have been Cheltenham members for the last sixty-odd years, and they may have supported the course through thick and thin, but as far as the current management is concerned, they are clearly the past, not the future: a mixture of 'old money’ that doesn’t spend and 'no money’ that cannot.
Although these tweed-clad fossils have been the soul of the racecourse for decades, the racecourse would dearly like to clear them out. The way would then be open to pour more concrete and embrace yet more corporate chequebooks, irrespective of whether they belong to libor fixers or money launderers. What does Cheltenham care? They just want the money.

They are, of course, forgetting or are totally oblivious to the fact that it is the very eclectic mix of the crowd at Cheltenham that makes it such a great sporting venue. Old guard and all. They seem oblivious of the gentle balance that creates the magic.
Even Roy Keane was able to spot that there’s a price to pay for totally selling out to the 'prawn sandwich’ brigade. There hasn’t been a proper atmosphere at Old Trafford since they flooded the place with suits, at the expense of fans.
And that is what will happen ten years down the road at the home of jump racing. The place will resemble a morgue on their less fashionable days once the loyal fans have been seen off.

It is true that the quirky, iconic old stand may need a facelift. But it is all that is left of the spiritual heart of the course. The only refuge for the ghosts of the past. The only idiosyncrasy that makes Cheltenham different.
It should be remembered that just because the Jockey Club is a not for profit organisation, it is not a given that, as custodians of National Hunt racing, they are above criticism. It should not be taken for granted that their employees will always make the right call.

Er - it's the possible announcement of the rebuilding of a stand they're talking about, not the wholesale bayonetting of anyone in tweed.

I don't buy all this 'if you want to witness history you have to accept it' stuff. It's just PR speak aimed at getting punters to continue paying more for less. At least if you go you can avoid the sentimental 'sentinel of Cleeve Hill' twaddle that Channel 4 regurgitate every year.
Cheltenham is a commercial success alright but, a bit like Disney Corporation, the magic went some years ago.

Depends what facility you are in imo. The Annual Members Bar and seats in the Grandstand are still absolutely fantastic.

I have to say, I had plenty of room Tuesday to Thursday, however on Friday the Pub was heaving and had to wait at times 2/3 minutes for a drink. The free Supper was spot on though.