Yesterday’s crowd on Cheltenham Festival’s St Patrick’s Thursday was 67,821, a new record figure since The Festival became a four-day extravaganza in 2005.
The attendance was up 1,439 on the same day in 2018, which saw 66,382 stream through the gates.
Wednesday’s attendance of 59,209 was a new record for the second day of The Festival since the meeting switched to a four-day format in 2005.
Last year’s total on Ladies Day came to 58,959.
There was a record crowd on the opening day of The Festival 2019, with 67,934 attending Champion Day.
Last year’s attendance on the Tuesday came to 66,632, with the previous record for the day being 67,770 in 2016.
Cheltenham’s Clerk of the Course Simon Claisse reflected on Thursday’s outstanding day’s sport.
He said: “You couldn’t write better stories, could you? Three winners for J P McManus – two at the beginning of the day [Defi Du Seuil and Sire Du Berlais] and again in the last [Any Second Now]; Frodon and Bryony Frost; Andrew Gemmell and Emma Lavelle with Paisley Park; Lizzie Kelly on Siruh Du Lac… It just went on and on! A fantastic day’s racing – heart-warming stuff, I think.
“The weather didn’t disrupt us too much, either – we had a nice, dry afternoon.
“I think the times of the races were a little bit quicker than Wednesday so I think that Good to Soft, Soft in places was pretty well spot-on for the ground, and we left it as that overnight.
“We are predicting a dry, breezy, cloudy day for the big one – Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup day -today.”
