Festival meetings fillip but racing attendances down in 2004
HRI chiefs announced substantial growth in Tote betting, continued success for the major festivals, increased sponsorship and significant growth in racehorse ownership. However, overall attendances were down on the 2003 record figure of E1.4m and on-course bookmaker betting declined by 4.6% from E183m to E174.7m.
Attendances at the festival meetings again provided the main positives with the Galway September Festival at 12,500 (+ 52%) and the Tramore August Festival at 23,000 (+28%) showing the most dynamic growth.
