Decision on the future of Cheltenham Festival made
The Jockey Club have been consulting people from across the sport on their views
Plans which could have seen a fifth day added to the Cheltenham Festival from March 2024 have been turned down.
Since the 2022 Festival, The Jockey Club has been speaking with stakeholders, racehorse owners, trainers, jockeys, racing staff, fans and the local community about the future of Cheltenham Festival.
The Jockey Club says that after "extensive consultation" it's been decided that the Cheltenham Festival, will continue to happen in four days over March going forward.
Ian Renton, who works at the Racecourse as the Managing Director of The Jockey Club's West Region says "We care deeply about the long-term future of our sport and its role in society. That’s a mission that enables us to think differently when making decisions."
"This research allows us to do much more than simply answer the question of whether extending the Festival is the right thing to do. We will now evaluate all the insight with a view to improving our facilities, investing in new on-course activations and giving our fanbase, participants, owners and other stakeholders the best possible experience at Cheltenham Racecourse."
It had already been decided that the 2023 event will run over four days, between Tuesday 14th March and Friday 17th March - tickets are already on sale.
Cheltenham Festival is now Britain's third biggest sporting event in terms of attendance - with this year a record attendance of 280,627 was recorded over the four day period.
This included record individual attendances for both Thursday (73,754) and Friday (73,875).