Attendances at British Racecourses Rise in First Quarter of 2026

• Average attendances increase by 4.6%
• ‘Constitution Hill’ effect significantly boosts attendance at Southwell (in addition to ‘Friday Night Live’ event) and Kempton Park

696,611 people attended a British racecourse in the first quarter of 2026, according to figures collated by the Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB) and analysed by the Racecourse Association (RCA).

This total figure is a 4.5% increase against the same period recorded last year. Attendance data throughout 2025 was trending positively, with both total attendance (5.1m) and average attendance (3,526) rising to their highest levels since 2019.

January-March 2026 saw 292 fixtures completed, which resulted in an average attendance of 2,386. This also represents a year-on-year increase of 4.6%. There were 33 abandonments in the first quarter of the year, detail of which is included in the weather report below.

Q1 Attendances Summary

	Fixtures Run	Abandonments	Average Attendance	Total Attendance
2026	292	33	2,386	696,611
2025	292	28	2,282	666,483
2024	294	36	2,321	682,385

 

Notable Attendance Increases

A number of notably successful fixtures contributed towards the positive Q1 figures. Cheltenham’s New Years’ Day raceday saw 44,900 racegoers welcome in 2026 in style (36.5% increase from 2025), whilst The Festival attracted a total crowd of 225,252 over the week (+3.3%). Doncaster’s Grimthorpe Chase Saturday drew a crowd of 10,165 (+13.3%) and Ascot’s Spring Family Day continued to be the fitting climax to the Berkshire track’s jump season, with a crowd of 13,568 (+17.4%).

Jumping superstar Constitution Hill’s transition to the flat resonated with racegoers at Southwell and Kempton Park, with 3,743 (+877%) flocking to Nottinghamshire for his debut and 1,644 (167%) witnessing the follow-up. Southwell’s fixture was one of a number of ‘Friday Night Live’ events across multiple racecourses in the quarter, attracting strong uplifts in attendance particularly from the 18-25 demographic.

The annual Go North racing weekend at Musselburgh, Kelso and Carlisle Racecourses welcomed a combined attendance of 6,308 (+9.8%), as the celebration of northern jump racing again proved popular with racegoers.

Met Office Weather Report

A cold start to the year saw widespread sub-zero temperatures across Great Britain, which when combined with Storm Goretti resulted in moderate disruption to the fixture list in early January.  A second named storm, Storm Chandra, resulted in a small number of abandonments later in the month.

An exceptionally wet February brought significant flooding to areas of the country, with central and south-western England particularly impacted: both regions received approximately 170% of the monthly average of rainfall, which clearly affected the public’s demand for outdoor activity. The fact that so many fixtures were able to safely continue throughout this period is testament to the skill and expertise of groundstaff across British racecourses.

March’s temperatures were above the national average, the warmest recorded since 2017, with relatively calm conditions across Britian resulting in minor disruption to the fixture list.

Alex Eade, Chief Executive of the Racecourse Association, commented: “It’s great to see the hard work of racecourse teams reflected in a continuation of the positive 2025 attendance figures into the first quarter of this year.

“The RCA team have worked closely with GBR to ensure the insight from Project Beacon is embedded at every level and it is clear to me that the right mix of central activities and local delivery by individual racecourse teams is beginning to have the desired effect. It is also notable that we have seen an increase in the highlighting of the range of events our sport has to offer. Whether it be family days, student nights, events aimed at older fans and of course the major racing festivals, they are all part of the sport’s offer to a diverse range of customer groups.

“The RCA looks forward to continuing this work with our members and colleagues across the sport as we capitalise on this positive momentum into the spring and summer.”