IT may have turned bitterly cold this weekend but racecourse managers in Ireland and Britain are still feeling a warm glow following a series of well-attended Christmas racing fixtures.

Leopardstown’s four-day festival attracted 67,202 racegoers, up 7% on the previous year. Day three of the meeting was witnessed by a crowd of 20,270 which was close to capacity.

Down Royal welcomed 6,914 people through its gates on December 26th. The track’s CEO Emma Meehan said: “It’s one of the biggest crowds we have had in my seven years here. The good weather helped and the younger cohort came out in force.

“Over the course of the year we had seen a decline in general admission which we believe is due to the increased cost of living. But the Boxing Day crowd has helped to plug that hole for us.”

Tramore also enjoyed a bumper attendance on New Year’s Day. Manager Owen Byrne said: “We had 7,500 in attendance. It was a really good racing day with a fantastic mix of all ages.”

Paul Hensey, chief executive of the Association of Irish Racecourses, said: “There were very good attendances across all meetings. A lot of young people too. Punchestown offered free admission on New Year’s Eve, sponsored by the Tote, and that was a big success as well.

“We’re heading into a cold spell now and fingers crossed that both Cork and Naas can beat the freeze this weekend.”

British racing also enjoyed a surge in racegoer numbers over the festive period.

A total of 17,195 people turned out for the King George VI Chase at troubled Kempton Park, up 24% on 2024. Aintree had a crowd of 8,000 (up 35%) on the same day, and the Welsh National attendance of 9,425 was the biggest since 2016.

Newbury’s Challow Hurdle fixture drew 11,240 punters – the second highest number for that day in 35 years – but all of those figures combined were dwarfed by the 44,151 people who attended Cheltenham’s New Year’s Day meeting. That’s over 2,000 more than attended Champion Chase day last March.