Newmarket 2000 Guineas Attendance 2017-2023

Cost of living? Rise of football?

Or is it that Cheltenham has come to dominate racing coverage so much that there is no room for the traditional over-winter anticipation of the Classics?

Quick look at Epsom website

A family with two kids to get into main stand on Derby Day = £470

Wow -you could do the same for the entire four day Ebor meeting in the County Stand for £460 or Tatts for £220.

May 16, 2023 -- 12:23PM, Poppydog. wrote:

Quick look at Epsom websiteA family with two kids to get into main stand on Derby Day = £470

Jcr chasing racegoers away same as arc the racecourses who try to get people are going to be punished next year.

Ffs not a clue how that poppy dog quote got on my post I am not clever enough to do that

You are smarter than you think - jimnast   

You must have been in live  view then clicked on quote .

you can always rely on our mates at chester though ...apparently at the may fest just gone the ' parade ' restaurant, which is in the middle of the track,  you can have a 4 course lunch ( cash bar ) and a county badge ( ground floor only ) for a reasonable £620 each . apologies to chester if i've read it wrong but i don't think i did !!!!

1 July Chester a place in Festival Chalet is £315 plus VAT -I mean why quote plus vat? That's got be corporates with mainly no interest in racing .

I'm glad it wasn't any busier. It was pi**ing down with rain and packed out inside.

Can't reclaim vat on corporate entertainment unless it is for staff

Off course its entertainment
The strippers are EXTRA

Was going to post this last night but forgot.

Usually on Epsom Oaks Day I would be at Donny's evening meeting. But this year, after seeing the current Oaks favourite power home at Chester I thought I'd have a day out at Epsom (first time there since 2003) and have a right smash up on the jolly.

Now, perhaps I'm a bit of a snob, but I'd only go in the Princess Elizabeth Stand and I thought I pay around £80-£90 for the privilege. But no. Looked on the Epsom website last night and they want £140 for Princess E stand.

OK, I'm lucky enough to be able to afford it but that is taking the absolute p*ss and I will not be ripped off to such an extent. Hence, Donny in the evening for as per usual!!!

They should try a carnival imo

A proper snob would know it is called the "Queen Elizabeth 11 " stand

Racecourses are killing themselves and they can't see it. They cater for the non punting posh and 18-24 year olds who have virtually no interest.
If a racetrack said £10 entrance for all 40+ year olds, it'd be packed

Don't know where I got the Princess Elizabeth stand from!! It is, of course, Queen Elizabeth stand! I think I was muddled with Epsom's Princess Elizabeth Stakes - tell me that is a race called that there, please!!

Anyhow, QE or PE Stand, I won't be lashing out the £140!!!

EPSOM DOWNS / Saturday 3 June 2023
13103 / 2:10pm / Princess Elizabeth Stakes (Class 1) (Group 3)

for three yrs old and upwards fillies and mares only

ONE MILE about 113 YARDS (8f abt 113yds)

May 16, 2023 -- 6:30PM, The Knight wrote:

Was going to post this last night but forgot. Usually on Epsom Oaks Day I would be at Donny's evening meeting. But this year, after seeing the current Oaks favourite power home at Chester I thought I'd have a day out at Epsom (first time there since 2003) and have a right smash up on the jolly. Now, perhaps I'm a bit of a snob, but I'd only go in the Princess Elizabeth Stand and I thought I pay around £80-£90 for the privilege. But no. Looked on the Epsom website last night and they want £140 for Princess E stand. OK, I'm lucky enough to be able to afford it but that is taking the absolute p*ss and I will not be ripped off to such an extent. Hence, Donny in the evening for as per usual!!!

Its not just racing TK - it's absolutely everywhere you go and everything you do. The only way to beat this is for people who can afford things to simply refuse to go along with it.

May 16, 2023 -- 6:30PM, The Knight wrote:

Was going to post this last night but forgot. Usually on Epsom Oaks Day I would be at Donny's evening meeting. But this year, after seeing the current Oaks favourite power home at Chester I thought I'd have a day out at Epsom (first time there since 2003) and have a right smash up on the jolly. Now, perhaps I'm a bit of a snob, but I'd only go in the Princess Elizabeth Stand and I thought I pay around £80-£90 for the privilege. But no. Looked on the Epsom website last night and they want £140 for Princess E stand. OK, I'm lucky enough to be able to afford it but that is taking the absolute p*ss and I will not be ripped off to such an extent. Hence, Donny in the evening for as per usual!!!

Longchamp Guineas .... 8 Euros

Cheap flight, bed and breakfast somewhere.  Prolly works out about the same

I went to The Coronation Stakes at Epsom, either 87, 88 or 89.  Pretty sure it was something like £10 back then

Newamarket Guineas Friday was £10 in advance which with the Sandown mile race added was great value but crowd was only ok.

Race courses have become restaurants with racing as a side show.

steerforth...You are spot on.

I try hard to judge everything I buy, be it goods or services, against a backdrop of value for money (although I am not always successful!). That is opposed to allowing myself to be swayed by how much I want something given I can afford quite a lot of things.

I am at York this week and  my 3 day County Stand badge (including viewing from the Gimcrack Stand which is one of the best views in the country) was £96 when purchased at a discount last December. So, £96 for 3 days top class racing against £140 for 1 day at Epsom with probably only 3 or 4 high quality races.

Trouble is, too many do not look at value or cost and simply want to spend, spend, spend, mostly on credit. Epsom on Oaks Day will be a good example. It is 'Ladies Day' on that Friday and I suspect the QE 2 stand will be heaving with plenty of women, scantily dressed regardless of weather, dosed up with drink. I'd bet that a lot of them will be living beyond their means and the £140 ticket will mean nothing to them. Now, I hope I am wrong and the afore-mentioned stand is under populated that day to serve Epsom a lesson for forthcoming years.

(That all said, the OAKS is shaping up into a super race and the thought of those scantily dressed women, as well, is tempting me to spend the £140 - but I must not weaken!!!)

I'm not sure about that Knight. I think you will find the Epsom set can well afford their £140 and for the casual racegoer the Derby or Oaks has far more appeal than York, hence the price of the ticket.

The price of racing in the U.K. is unreal , heading to Wolverhampton on Tues then its F. L. to complete the full compliment of tracks , but I have to say price of entry and food prices are a nightmare .

truehoncho....do you REALLY think the 'Epsom Set' as you call them will be at the track itself?

No, it will be attended by London chavs spending on their credit cards like no tomorrow. Remember, I was born and bred in London and lived their until I was 45. Epsom on Oaks and Derby Day became a joke many years ago.

And here is another thing, I'd bet the attendance at York on either Thursday or Friday was greater than it will be at Epsom on Oaks Day. Jockey (should be Jokey) Club racecourse are pricing themselves out of the game and are too stupid to see it. Their pricing is firstly based on greed and only secondly based on actual supply and demand.

Bottle of Moet @ York = £70. At Newmarket it is £99. That is 41% more. Extraordinary. Whatever the business model is at York, it works in favour of the race goer. Not sure if catering is inhouse at York but whatever they do, however they organise things or purchase items, every racecourse should do it. If there was a small difference I could understand but 41%!

Londun mark UP

I think you are exaggerating the issue somewhat Knight. The Epsom set are those that attend the Derby and they can well afford £140 if they want to. Its not really that much, it was £140 for the cheapest Scotland v Wales ticket at Murrayfield this year. They will get a decent crowd for the Oaks day and although we would all like cheaper tickets the tracks will always price for what they can get (as does every other business).