While Irish horses and trainers might be dominating the podiums at Cheltenham, the same can't be said for the festival organisers with attendances having fallen around 25% since 2022 at one of sport's most iconic events.
While Willie Mullins success is undoubtedly good for Irish racing, the ITV crew at Cheltenham were quick to blame Willie Mullins' domination and the the heavy price of tickets .
The discussion comes amid news that just 46,771 attended Cheltenham Day 2 this year compared to 50,500 last year and astonishingly over 64,000 in 2022. While the predictability of the races was flagged as one big reason for the drop in attendance, Matt Chapman pointed his finger at the Jockey Club for not catering to younger people, saying they can't keep relying on '90-year-olds who've been doing it since they were 5'
READ ALSO: Irish Dominance At Cheltenham Should Be Setting Off 'Alarm Bells' In British Racing, Says Blake
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ITV Crew hoping for a Cheltenham revitalisation
Speaking ahead of Day 3 of the tournament, Rishi Persad, Matt Chapman and legendary Irish jockey Mick Fitzgerald were left brainstorming solutions to the 'hugely disappointing news' that attendance had fallen so low, with Fitzgerald suggesting Willie Mullins' domination had to be ended:
When you have domination and so many odds on shots winning its not good its not healthy, because people love competition! The problem you have when one party who are more dominant than the rest it cheeses people off.
We all want competition and we heard Tom Malone saying that 'Paul Nicholls was an underbidder for the second and third in the bumper' well I think its fairly safe to say you need to buy them. Those horses that are out there to be bought we need people buying them and they need to be racing for people.
Look Willie Mullin's winning all these races is brilliant for Willie Mullins it's not great for everybody else and they need to be part of that party.
"The numbers don't lie...It's a reflection of everything we've seen over the last 5-10 years" 💬 @RishiPersad1
The attendances are down at Cheltenham this week. Has the festival lost a little bit of its aura?#TheOpeningShow | #CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/mTbET24209— ITV Racing (@itvracing) March 14, 2024
While Fitzgerald's solution might come at the expense of Irish domination at Cheltenham, Matt Chapman rubbished the Jockey Club's unfavourable policies towards children and students at the ground, accusing them of failing to attract younger generations.
They haven't welcomed children to the festival, who are the future, because over the age of five you have to pay a full ticket for a child. You should not be charging children who are six to come in here if you want a decent crowd.
If you know your figures are down why aren't students being allowed in, half-price, whatever you have to do to get them through the gates to grease the atmosphere, because those are the future if you don't bring in the future of the sport and you just rely on the 90 year old's who have been doing it since they were five. What are they (Jockey Club) doing, Nada.
While the rising expense of attending the festival was also mentioned, plenty of people will undoubtedly relate to Fitzgerald and Chapman's claims that ultimately Cheltenham needs to be more accessible with better competition and more at stake.
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