Champions Day attendance?

I posted it earlier subaru

Here it is save you looking for it. I said how can they be *Thrilled*

they're seething... Greatest horses in the world running there and more went to watch Stoke V Fulham

Ascot were "thrilled" with an attendance of 26,749 for the inaugural QIPCO Champions Day on Saturday.

The meeting was blessed with warm autumnal sunshine and a series of brilliant performances on the track and Charles Barnett, Ascot's Chief Executive, said: "We're really thrilled with the crowd for our first year.

"There has been a great buzz and we've had a really good, supportive racing audience who have enjoyed the day.

"QIPCO has made it possible anad they have been behind the event all the way. It makes an enormous difference working with a sponsor that is so involved and supportive.

Wonder how many of the 26,749 attendees actually paid to get in?

sorry Analogs, hadnt spotted it'd already been up, thanks for reposting.

With the line-up on show today i'd have thought they'd be targeting 40,000, 26 is not a great figure at all.

reckon frankel alone added 10,000

More Shergar cup day

Cheltenham must be p*****g themselves laughing at flat racing.. Some of the best thoroughbred horses in Europe running at the meeting and 1/2 the crowd they get and the Champion stakes won by a horse who's future looks over the sticks...a gelding

Given the huge cost of staging this meeting, all the freebies and cut price tickets, all the hype and massive advertising campaigns they cannot be pleased, particularly on one of the loveliest days of the year (and with Frankel running). And if you take into account the way it ruined the end of season meetings at HQ and reduced the attendances there I hope Racing For Change do not claim this as "another" of their great successes.

QIPOCO must be gutted....They were hoping a week long of advertisement on all the sports channels re: Frankle and So You Think instead the get a week long of nothing but Whip bans on all the stations and today their biggest day should be just about the horses and it's all about.....a whip ban....I bet they demand a meeting with Mr Roy about his timing of this fiasco which he brought to the racing world.

ascot said all along they would be happy with a crowd of 25,000 in the first year,they achieved that,on the whole it was a good day,things need tinkering with,i would start the card with the 6f sprint,and dispite not pleaseing other courses the day needs a top 2 yo race,also 6 races isnt enough,to compair it with shergar cup day crowd wise isnt right,what did the shergar cup get in its first year ?in charles barnett ascot is in good hands unlike the circus that is going on at newmarket,i was lucky enough to go to both future champions day and champions day as a paying customer and by a long way yesterday was the best.

they got 70,000 on the sat of the royal meeting in 2008

26,000 for yesterday is an utter disaster surely?!??

41,000 for the first day this year

joe

that was the attendence barnett was hoping to get,his targets are realistic,next year will be more of a guide to the future of this fixture.

royal ascot has been set in stone for many years its a different occasion with different racegoers.

Does anybody on here really believe that the Champion Stakes winner will go over the sticks?

give over it wouldn't stay 2 mile

we did get a st leger winner a few years ago but he wasnt very good.

I'll take my top off if it happens!

The attendance was woeful, there is no getting away from it. If they cannot make 40,000 despite having cheap tickets,Frankel and sunshine then they are in trouble. Next year the attendance will be worse if it is chucking it down and there is no superstar present. Why schedule it on the same day as Cheltenham?
The other problem is the course itself.It is soulless and offers the racegoer no sense of affinity with the place.The Royal meeting aside, which is a social meeting rather than a race meeting, Ascot is cold and windy aircraft hanger devoid of atmosphere and passion.

All this hype is what you get when a sport has to depend to a large degree on sponsors. The Ascot exectutive aren't going to say anything to put the sponsors off are they.
Of course,racing should not need sponsorship. But as long as it's filling the pockets of the high street and offshore
bloodsuckers,sponsors will be an integral part of funding.

Ascot is cold and windy aircraft hanger devoid of atmosphere and passion

that didnt stop 47,000 turning up at the new man city stadium yesterday

I think Chester get crowds that big at any of their meetings .

I agree that the attnedance was very poor in the circumstances. Of course they set the bar deliberately low when they said they were hoping for 25,000. They've been hyping the meeting for weeks if not months, had arguably the best racehorse for years there, a gorgeous day and reduced price tickets. To only get 26,000 is appalling particularly when you see the reduced attendances at the cambridgshire and future champions day at newmarket. Basically Newmarket is finished now as a track for attracting a big end of season audience all for this one day which was far from the success they are suggesting.

roggrain 16 Oct 11 11:42 
"...... The Ascot exectutive aren't going to say anything to put the sponsors off are they....."

They're not too bothered about sponsors at the Royal meeting imo.

Peter ....I doubt if anyone at Manchester was admitted by an officious jobsworth in a bowlerhat,or was refused entry to an upper tier if wearing jeans.

I hate to point out the bloomin obvious but they can only get 30,000 in there without temporary arrangements which (rightly) weren't laid on, sharp minds fellers, sharp minds........

"I think Chester get crowds that big at any of their meetings"

The fixture at the end of July was a complete lock-out I believe

A copy of the dress code comes with your tickets for stupid fools who wear jeans in the Members Enclosures.

I once asked an Ascot steward where the entry was. He looked me up and down and told me I would have to use the entrance down the road. I was not correctly dressed-mind you, he lokked a bit odd in his bowler hat and funny collar. I walked down the road and walked straight in without paying. The steward seemed to think I had a badge, and I was looking for the ticket office. Two points here...1. dont upset your customers with rude officials. 2. make sure people pay to get in.
26k people is shocking....a disgrace and a reflection on Ascot's incompetence.

open the silver ring and let a mum, dad and kids in for £15.
not only will it improve the attendance but also introduce the
younger generation to a day out in the fresh air rather than
sitting indoors on their computers.

Why no silver ring.?Was it because the meeting took place in October,and would possibly have had rotten weather?

Should have put a Band on afterwards,the crowd would have been nearer 100,000.Yip

silver ring only open for royal meeting since redevelopment

A pitiful attendance in my opinion.

The Chester figures say it all.

If Racing For Change want to put Champions Day on where people want to attend they should run it at York.  Different class to Ascot and they would get 40,000 there from day 1.

Ascot is now a fantastic venue for racing. The grandstand is visually stunning and the problems with the pitch of steppings not allowing a decent view of the racing are a thing of the past. The fact that it's being considered as a venue for the Arc de Triomphe meeting when Longshamp is being refurbished speaks volumes about how good the place is.

Unfortunately, whilst the superstructure is out of this world, the service levels are still just as appaling.

There seems to be some unwritten 'Ascot Byelaws' you run up against time and again when you attend racemeetings there. You aren't allowed to take drinks into certain areas, you aren't allowed to take LCOHOLI drinks into cerrtain areas. You can't stand in certain areas however stwards can proivided they block your view of racing. Enquiries of staff are met with suspicion and active user-unfriendliness. A feeling of 'Old Empire' still pervades, even though my party was made up of smartly dressed individuals, including my mother of 75.

I can't believe no one has drawn attention to that sp@stic with a big ego rocking the mic in the paddock announcing the winners either. Just embarrasing.

who was on the mic, not thommo i hope

Chapman

Some ar$e that thought he was introducing Hollyfield and Lennox Lewis before and after every race

26 omg.. thats smaller than a chester meet with low class horses! .. it just shows the public dont want it! even with a superstar! back to the drawing board me thinks! wake up and smell the coffee, the whole game needs a big re-think! maybe the entrance fee and the cost once your in there! definately not value for money! ...

racing surface at york is not good enough for the quality of horse running.


perhaps some on here who are concerned about the attendence should try and get there and find out what a day in the fresh air is like.

racing surface at york is not good enough for the quality of horse running.


perhaps some on here who are concerned about the attendence should try and get there and find out what a day in the fresh air is like.

go to york regular! value for money there! always big crowds! even the fresh air is free!

oaklands i fully accept york is head and shoulders above any other racecourse in terms of value throughout.

James Brennan - Marketing Manager at York - was at Ascot on Saturday, so you might be onto something here.

thatll mean a 7 day royal ascot with some sellers and claimers in between, theyve spoilt the ebor meeting imo

26000 for what we where told was the biggest day in british racing including was it 4/5 of the best horses in the world racing
YORK REGULAR 40000 plus,CHESTER REGULAR 35000 plus, ROYAL ASCOT biggest garden party in the world 60000 plus each day,
think someones having a laugh.

Patsy get your facts right York had 40k + only when X Factor sang after racing and Chester's biggest crowd of the year was 24k. How often do prat's like you go ? I quite enjoyed my day as Ascot on Saturday, which doesn't have the benefit of being one mile from a city centre. Sure Ascot has it's faults, but it is much better than a few years ago.

york got 40,000 in july with no entertainment,maybe it is you who should get your facts right harry.

These much larger crowds at York & Chester , do they show more interest in the sport in the North of the island ,despite the rulers & media obsession with Headquarters & Ascot ?

more interest in the sport at chester, most of them are so pissed wouldnt know there was horses running

harry;this season chester topped 26,000 on 4 occasions,while york topped that figure no less than 7 times.they also do this consistantly year on year,they must be doing something right.

Sorry, I only had figures to end of 2010. Hold my hands up.