Champions Day will not have the pulling power of Dettori’s farewell last year but the signs are the buzz still lingers

If last year’s Champions Day at Ascot showed the pulling power of a sporting legend, as a sell-out crowd of 30,369 watched Frankie Dettori’s (probable) farewell to his favourite track, then the 2024 running of Britain’s richest day at the races will test the extent to which an unforgettable afternoon can keep ’em coming back.

The early signs, encouragingly, are that for many of those who watched Frankie sign off with a flourish by steering the favourite to victory in the Champion Stakes, the buzz still lingers. Last year’s attendance for the only British card all year with four Group One races on the schedule was up 27% year on year, following a record low of 23,872 for the meeting in 2022, and pre-sales suggest about 28,000 will be at Ascot to watch £4m in prize money find a new home.