Jockey Club lifted by growing demand for days at the races

The Jockey Club yesterday reported an 8 per cent rise in turnover as flagship events such as the Grand National and pop concerts staged after races helped introduce the sport to new audiences.

The largest commercial group in horse racing, which runs 14 race courses including Aintree, Cheltenham and Newmarket, said the improvement to £138m came despite the poor weather at the end of the year, which caused 28 of its 374 races to be cancelled.

It sold 1.8 million tickets to its meetings, the same number as the previous year.

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Without the cancellations, attendances at races would have shown a healthy increase, as horse racing retains its place as the UK’s second most attended sport.

The Grand National was watched by nearly nine million viewers, making it more popular than the FA Cup Final, while the Investec Derby was attended by 120,000 people, making it the UK’s most attended day of sport.

Sales were also boosted by the staging of 23 pop concerts after race nights featuring artists such as Madness, Simply Red and Razorlight, which sold more than 250,000 tickets.

This year, it has booked acts including Sir Tom Jones, Scissor Sisters and Blondie and plans to increase the number of these events to 31.

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Revenues from non-racing events, such as golf days and conferences, increased by 20 per cent to £21.4m.

Chief executive Simon Bazalgette said: “Without the big freeze that brought the country to a halt, racecourse attendances were well up on the previous year and we saw other indicators of health such as hospitality revenues bouncing back.”

The rise in turnover helped the group report a 6 per cent rise in operating profits to £18.3m and allowed it to pay £13m in prize money.

This year it will stage 366 fixtures, 20 more than last year and increase the amount it gives as prize money by £2.7m to a record £15.7m.