Enlarge imageBy Paul Majendie
CHELTENHAM, England (Reuters) - Cheltenham is riding out the recession -- that is the upbeat message from the annual four-day festival of jump racing that attracts more than 200,000 ardent fans every March.
Overall attendance is expected to end up about six percent down on last year and corporate belts are being tightened -- numbers in the hospitality tents are down by 10 percent. Long gone is the conspicuous consumption of the boom times.
But Edward Gillespie, managing director of the picturesque racecourse in western England that attracts the cream of Europe's chasers and hurdlers, will happily settle for that.
"If we can keep six percent behind last year, coming from where the economic climate is, I think most companies would be quite pleased with that position," he told Reuters Tuesday at the end of day one of the festival.
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"Jump racing is so resilient. It will be the last thing that a lot of people will give up rather than one of the things they will give up. Cheltenham is a barometer of the top end of the sport," he said.
Horse racing, like every other sport, is feeling the chill winds of recession with David Thorpe, chairman of the Racecourse Association, recently predicting that sponsorship, crucial to the health of horse racing, could fall by 40 percent this year.
But Gillespie said: "We are confident that we can keep sponsorship where it is at Cheltenham. It's over two and a half million pounds ($3.46 million) this year. Sixty per cent of our prize money comes from sponsors."
But he would rather keep any ambitious expansion plans on hold. "We may have to delay some of the building programs we were planning for Cheltenham but we would keep the prizemoney level strong," he said.
EQUINE COCKTAIL
Anglo-Irish rivalry is one of the most intriguing ingredients in the equine cocktail at Cheltenham. But the recession has hit hard on both sides of the Irish Sea with travel agents reporting that the annual invasion of intrepid Irish punters is definitely down in size this year.
But those who did make it across the water had plenty to celebrate. Ireland's national drink was flowing in the racecourse's Guinness Village after four of the six races on Tuesday's first day went to Irish-trained horses.
For the eternal optimist, gambling will always appeal as the magic way out of recession.
"The build-up to Cheltenham has been as hectic and heavy as ever before with punters set to gamble half a billion pounds over the four days," said Graham Sharpe, spokesman for bookmakers William Hill.
"Betting turnover may also benefit from the decision of some racegoers to cut back on their attendance at the festival which means they can bet slightly more than usual and still save money overall."
Bookmakers are also rubbing their hands in expectant glee as racing is just one sport that could boost their coffers in a major sporting week.
"There has seldom been a better time to be a bookie," Sharpe said.
He forecast turnover could double in a week with Champions League soccer matches alone attracting tens of millions of pounds.
In addition, the thrilling test match between England and West Indies which ended Tuesday, Tiger Woods on the golf comeback trail and the Six Nations Rugby are among other gambling temptations for the punter this week.
(Additional reporting by Dave Thompson, editing by Justin Palmer)
