Welcome
Love Our Turf
It is my pleasure to welcome you to The Cheltenham Festival edition of Morse Code, our Annual Members publication, named in honour of the 1938 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner. The names of many past Cheltenham Gold Cup winners will have the dust blown off them in the coming months, as we embark on a year-long celebration of “the greatest” steeplechase, which turns one hundred next March. The centenary will provide us with a unique opportunity to promote the sport of racing to thousands of people as we plan to embark on a trophy tour to the far flung corners of the country. Reality is every year is a big one for the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup as it provides the crescendo for the best Festival of jump racing on earth. Come 3.30pm on Friday, March 17th all of us will be transfixed. Last year’s Gold Cup Day saw a record number of people attend. Post-covid excitement led to an unprecedented demand for tickets and
we welcomed over 70,000 people through our turnstiles.
Last year we saw a marked increase in the number of anti-social behaviour incidents reported by our local residents who cited racegoers as being responsible. Most of these occurred as pedestrians made their way back into town along the Evesham Road. The racecourse promised our local community that we would increase our involvement beyond the racecourse boundary and find ways to mitigate concerns. In November we successfully trialled the Love Our Turf campaign, which saw large numbers of wayfinding stewards positioned along the main arterial routes to the racecourse. The presence of stewards acted as a deterrent and we witnessed a significant reduction in the number of issues reported.
All four days cumulatively attracted around 270,000.
The concerted opinion of all was that it was too many and the race day experience was impacted because of it, so a decision was made to reduce the number of attendees each day to a maximum of 68,500. It is hoped that this reduction will alleviate some of the pressure of the occasion and lead to a more comfortable environment. Gold Cup Day is once again a sell-out event however, being an Annual Member removes this concern. You won’t have to miss a jump and I am sure like me, you will love all 22 jumps and three miles two furlongs of it.
the number of roadside toilets and made extra provision for the collection of rubbish. For the Festival the operational element of Love Our Turf will be supported by an advertising campaign that will try to encourage people to act more responsibly and show more consideration to those who live and work around the racecourse.
To support the work of the stewards we increased
Andre Klein Assistant General Manager, Cheltenham Racecourse
Due to the planned rail strikes please leave plenty of time to arrive at the racecourse, as we are expecting an increase in traffic. Visit our website to see alternative ways to travel.
MORSE CODE
THEJOCKEYCLUB.CO.UK/CHELTENHAM
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