Wednesday’s Cheltenham Festival attendance of 41,949 was an alarming slip from last year’s corresponding figure of 46,771. It was also a sharp dip from Tuesday’s crowd figure of 55,000.
Cheltenham’s capacity is 68,500.
Officials warned in advance of lower crowd figures this week, predicting that just over 200,000 will go through the gates over the four days.
There were record crowds of over 280,000 for the first post-Covid festival in 2022.
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Separately, Jack Kennedy endured a frustrating afternoon, beginning with a three-day suspension for careless riding on runner up The Yellow Clay in the opening Turners Novice Hurdle.
He was then stood down after finishing third in the Brown Advisory on Better Days Ahead and must be assessed by the racecourse doctor to see if he can ride on Thursday.
“Jack is sore. He thought it wouldn’t be fair, he wouldn’t be able to do the horses justice. We’re hoping he’ll be OK for the morning,” said his boss Gordon Elliott.
Kennedy returned to action just over a week ago after breaking his leg for a sixth time in November.
