Beating the record-breaking 2009 season is the challenge for York Racecourse this year, as head of marketing and sponsorship James Brennan tells STEVE CARROLL.
THEY could not have asked for a better year. Record crowds, two massive Saturday meetings, and the world’s best racehorse Sea The Stars capping the campaign with a fabulous Juddmonte International victory.
That’s the focus for the team at York Racecourse as they begin to gear up for their 17-day season on Knavesmire, which starts on May 12 with the three-day Dante Festival.
With Royal Ascot at York, the St Leger Festival and a four-day York Ebor Festival in the bank over the past half-dozen years, the feeling of “looking to go one better” is hardly new.
And, if anything, they relish the challenge.
“You always have to keep moving forward,” says James Brennan, York’s head of marketing and sponsorship. “2009 was a fantastic season, particularly coming after the disappointments of 2008.
“It was fantastic to see the trackwork project up and running and meet with approval from so many better judges than me. It was fantastic to see the world’s best racehorse Sea The Stars – the crowd really welcomed him back as a true champion, not just a winning favourite.
“It’s important to us that people come and support us and we are grateful for that because it all gets reinvested back into racing at York whether it is boosting prize money or capping attendance fees. It can only come on the back of people’s support and we are conscious of the need to keep earning that.”
The off-season saw York picking up gong after gong. They were hailed by the Racegoers Club, named the country’s top Flat course by the Racehorse Owners’ Association and their groundstaff were also praised with an industry award.
This year, the four-day Welcome To Yorkshire Ebor Festival, running from Tuesday, August 17 to Friday, August 20, remains the ace in York’s pack, with the Juddmonte International, totesport Ebor, Darley Yorkshire Oaks and Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes the feature contests.
World Cup action should be a highlight of the 40th Charity Day, on Saturday, June 12, with England kicking off their challenge for the trophy against the USA following a meeting which has raised more than £4.7 million for cancer charities. Brennan reckons there is much to look forward to.
“It will be great to be coming back racing,” he added. “We are looking forward to seeing Madness perform. There’s always a buzz going into the season and you will start hearing talk about the St Nicholas Abbeys and the other horses that are set to come and run in May and will come back to us again in August.
“The experience of 2009 for most of the 80,000 people who attended the first four-day Ebor Festival was a positive one and we will come on for the run, as they say.
“You wouldn’t work at a racecourse without looking forward to the season. Every year, we have had some different things to do. It’s a great industry to be involved in on racedays.
“There is a real pride when the alarm clock goes off, you come in and the place is waking up. By the time racegoers and horses arrive it is a buzz. We will make sure we are ready.”
York Ebor Hospitality
Corporate Hospitality Group
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