Attendances up over 4% on first six months of last year

TOTAL attendances at Irish race meetings for the first six months of this year show that some 565,982 punters passed through the gates at racecourses here, up 23,023 (4.2%) on last year.

And, total Tote betting amounted to €20.2m, up €2.2m (12%) on the same period last year, while total sponsorship came to €3.4m up €273,326 (9%).

In addition, total off-course betting in the period exceeded €1 billion, an increase of over €196 million, or 22% on the corresponding period in 2003.