Toobe - it's confusing, I know! Bear with me: last year, Lingfield asked £25 from punters when they ran music nights. When punters said they didn't want the music, just the racing (and vice versa) they were told too bad, it's £25 or bust. This year, they've seen the errors of their ways, and dropped a fiver off the price - plus, I have to be honest, they've also added a lot more to the evenings this season. Last year, there was just a bit of C-list stuff on a very crappy little stage at the front of the grandstands, no fireworks, no competitions, no big choice of eateries and drinkeries.
So, with lots more to hold people's interest, and the stage wisely consigned to the lawns near the pre-parade ring, where it is much more comfortable to see it, we've had a really significant uptake. Another factor was that last year we had some fairly awful evening weather - which we couldn't do anything about, of course, and which meant that instead of the madding hordes anticipated, there were only around 700-800 hanging about in drizzle for the show to start.
Going back to your desire to see people in for free - no way, though. I've already given you enough details of many of the major costs involved in keeping a racecourse going, so I think you've got the idea about that!
Pricing was kept within a reasonable range this year, so that even if anyone just wanted to come for the singers, they got fireworks and lots of food and drink choices to go with it, and £20 - unlike £25, which seems to be veering off into the 'too high' bracket - seems to be very affordable. Going by what had been spent by the girlies on their outfits, I imagine it is!
Midweek meetings don't attract like Saturday nights, I'm afraid. If you have a pretty course alongside the river, like Windsor, then their Monday night meetings are very well attended, because people tend to make a whole-day event. They arrive and take a boat ride on the river, or visit the Castle, and some lunch, then mid-afternoon toddle across to the course for an evening's entertainment.
Dilys: one thing which seems to drive prices is who owns the courses. Arena Leisure and Northern Racing own the middle-to-lower end of the market. Jockey Club Estates the higher. Epsom, for example, according to my colleague who also works there, was even charging three separate bands of entry fee for their two enclosures! They were charging for children aged 5-10, 11-15, then adults. Now, come onnn! Charging for under-16s seems particularly gouging to me, especially as this was for the music meetings, when you might expect lots of younger people to want to attend, even with Mum and Dad! We also got a lot of much younger children attending Lingfield, too, which was so nice to see. They enjoyed romping around on the lawns, sitting on rugs, and having fun looking at the nice horseys.
( my smiles have worked on this thread also???)
