Guy Lavender

Attendance may be waning at race meetings, but the latest Cheltenham Racecourse CEO has solutions. Guy Lavender discusses Festival tweaks and the magic of horses

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THERE'S no better advocate for the joy of seeing familiar sights with fresh eyes than Guy Lavender, installed as the new CEO of Cheltenham Racecourse at the start of the year. His first Festival in March as the man in charge felt entirely different to the many times he'd attended as a racegoer.

“Waking up on Festival morning, knowing what's coming... walking out on a cold morning, walking round the racecourse - it’s electric,” he says. “That first morning is very special; the roar is pretty magical”.

The former British Army officer, and former CEO of the Marylebone Cricket Club for seven years, had just two months in situ before the most prestigious four days of racing in the National Hunt calendar, with much riding on it.

In 2024, numbers had dwindled to 229,999 across all four days, an 18% drop from the post-Covid surge of 280,627 in 2022. Racegoers were getting fed up with the price of a ticket, a pint, a burger and a hotel room, and don't even start on the parking and getting their cars stuck in the mud. In 2025, the introduction of extensive hardstanding over the grass enabled 7,000 cars to park on solid ground and avoid having to be towed out.

The attendance total this year was 218,839, a drop of nearly 5% (Guy wrote an open letter to racing fans ahead of the Festival, preempting the news).

Nobody told the horses about any attendance woes, and the racing itself was thrilling, delivering surprises galore across all four days, emphatically answering any rumblings about uncompetitiveness.

After months of reflection and analysis, where there were problems, Guy has solutions. He's energetic, enthused and focused with a forensic eye for detail. He's well aware that while issues with, say, queueing at a food truck or a bar, may seem small, these four days are the jewel in the crown of jump racing. Details count; small things are big things. The best of everything is rightfully expected.