Firstly, it is a major sporting event, regarded by its fans as the Olympics of jump racing, but it can also act as a social barometer, giving clues to the state and mood of the nation.
This year’s Cheltenham festival, which began on Tuesday, feels like a step back in time with the return of Ladies Day after a five-year hiatus and a reduction in the price of a pint.
In 2024, some right-wing commentators described as “woke” the decision by the Jockey Club, which owns the racecourse, to launch a unisex “Style Wednesday” on what used to be Ladies’ Day.
The Jockey Club persisted with the free-for-all last year, but this time Ladies Day returns and is billed as a celebration of “glamour and glory.”
There will be prizes for the best dressed individual, duo and group, and former jump jockey champion Rachael Blackmore has been named “Ladies Day Director”.
The Jockey Club denied feeling pressure to revive the event because of “woke” ridicule but said it simply wanted to attract more women and girls to racing.
Guy Lavender, chief executive of Cheltenham Racecourse, said: “Our main aim is to get more women and girls to come and compete, which we believe we can achieve. There is a large audience of female sports fans who we think will love coming to compete.”
In recent years, women have made up only about a quarter of race attendees, and early signs were that the split might be slightly more even this time around.
Jade Holland Cooper, founder of fashion brand Holland Cooper, said the return of Ladies Day felt “incredibly special”. She said: “It’s the time of the week when everyone really seizes the occasion and dresses up.
“Cheltenham style is often compared to Ascot or Aintree, but it is actually quite different. It is much more rooted in heritage: beautiful tweeds, solid tailoring and pieces that work with the elements rather than against them.”
Sophie Hall, model and presenter, and Jordan Wylie, best known for her appearances on Channel 4 show Hunted, stood outside the reunion’s Holland Cooper store in matching houndstooth suits.
Hall said: “There have tended to be more men than women at Cheltenham. I think women can sometimes think they don’t know much about racing and that’s why they can’t come. But it should be for everyone.”
Zoë Gibson, at the Peachy Belts store in the shopping centre, said: “Some may ask when Men’s Day is. But it’s every day, especially in Guinness Village. If Ladies’ Day encourages more women to come to the races, it has to be a good thing.”
There was little sadness over the loss of unisex style Wednesday. Jonny Beardsall, a Yorkshire milliner, backed Ladies’ Day but said he hoped Cheltenham had not bowed to the pressure of being called to wake up. “They should not pay attention, be more carefree.”
Another theme of the festival is trying to be more profitable to compete with the trend of heading to places like Benidorm to watch the races in the sun and with cheaper alcohol.
The Jockey Club has reduced the price of a pint of Guinness from £7.80 to £7.50 (almost 400,000 of them are expected to be sold over the four days of the festival) and has introduced prosecco for the first time, with a bottle costing £46 compared to £85 for a bottle of house champagne.
People are allowed to move more freely around the venue with drinks and a new, more basic covered bar and food vending area called Retreat has been created, a place for racegoers who don’t have access to expensive hospitality areas to get out of the rain if it rains.
Lavender said price was an emotive issue: “It’s not about selling more pints. It’s about offering better value. We know the festival is very popular, but we have to get the value proposition right.”
