A look ahead to Goodwood's 2025 season - and a word on the challenges facing horse racing
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00:00So still at Goodwood Racecourse looking into the far distance across the Solent to the Isle of Wight there.
00:09And you almost could have written this script. Ed did write this script actually.
00:15Because we're looking into the future as well as the distance and we're looking at the 2025 season will be upon us before we know it.
00:23The fixtures are out. It's pretty much as you were for the fixtures isn't it?
00:29You've got a flow of the season. You've got a formula and you're sticking with it.
00:34Is that a deliberate thing from your point of view? It works so why change it?
00:38Yeah it works really well for us. We like it.
00:40Obviously we changed the fixture list or had a play with it three maybe four years ago now.
00:46We really like the combination we've got at the moment.
00:49A nice start meeting or start season with a two day meeting.
00:53Two day meeting at the end of May and then it just flows away and works really well.
00:57So I'm pleased with that and it's nice to have the continuity.
01:00People know where they stand when the fixtures are coming and that works well.
01:04You must as well as your annual members who are here regularly.
01:07You probably have got quite a number of people who come to certain meetings and want those meetings to stay in the same place.
01:13They might come to the couple of days in May. They might come to the three Friday nights.
01:17The August bank holiday or they might just come for the festival week.
01:22So I guess keeping it as it is suits a lot of the audience and helps people plan and helps people coming back.
01:31I think the balance and how the fixtures run from a personal point of view and track wise it works really well.
01:38It takes just as much effort to get the track up and ready for a single day meeting as it does for a two, three, four, five day meeting.
01:45So it's nice to be able to have them in little blocks.
01:50And then the track has a bit of time in between just to recover.
01:53We can do any light remedial work we need to, move some running rail, that sort of thing.
01:58And it works really nicely.
02:00You do get those three Friday nights and the June Sunday and suddenly you realise actually why it is nice to have a break in between because you do get pushed for time.
02:08Yes, that's right. And you get about five weeks between the last June meeting and the start of the festival, which you need.
02:14And I'm sure that's about right for getting everything ready for that big week.
02:17Yeah, that's really key actually. The track's had a bit of a beating, especially if it's been warm and dry and we've had to put a lot of water at it in June.
02:25And so those five weeks give you a chance just we can let the track down slightly, do a little bit of work to it and then use the sort of final three weeks, two and a half weeks to really bring it back up to where we want it.
02:36And gives us a chance to make sure it's in pristine condition for the main meeting.
02:41One big bit of news for 2025 is that the Qatar sponsorship of Festival Week is continuing.
02:47That was announced, I think, during the 2024 festival. That must be massive to everybody here and for the sort of continued success of the festival, isn't it?
02:58Yeah, we're hugely grateful to Qatar and Visit Qatar for their continued sponsorship.
03:03It makes the meeting what it is and we wouldn't be able to do what we do here now without their support.
03:09They've been great to encourage us to develop the programme and the meeting as a whole, so that's really, really important.
03:15Fantastic news of the extension and hopefully we can continue to go from strength to strength over the next two years.
03:21And that comes at a time where racing, let's be honest, is facing challenges.
03:25It's not getting any easier to sort of keep top level racing going and racing going in this country at the level it's at.
03:32What are some of the challenges, not facing Goodwood so much, but facing racing as a whole?
03:38It's a crowded leisure industry these days. There's a lot of places and events wanting people to spend their money with them.
03:48How does racing sort of face that?
03:51I think what we have to be true to that is that racing is a fabulous place.
03:56We have some of the best racing in the world.
03:59That's proved by the fact that we're getting international runners here, people are coming across, they're buying our bloodstock.
04:05Organisationally, we're struggling at the moment. Not struggling, but it's a difficult time.
04:12There are all sorts of factors at play, but we mustn't let that confuse the fact that our racing is fabulous.
04:18If you come racing at any of these big meetings, ourselves, York, Ascot, they are brilliant meetings and you will see some of the best horses in the world competing.
04:28That's what we have to market and promote.
04:31Obviously, it's difficult. What's going on politically? Money is becoming tight.
04:37To push on and go forward, we have to make sure that whatever we're doing here, and any race course, is the best it possibly can be.
04:48If money is tight, people want to make sure that when they go somewhere, they're getting the best experience they possibly can.
04:54We very much hope that if you come to Goodwood, you think you're having an amazing experience.
04:58You look at the Family Fun Days, all the free entertainment, children go free racing on any day, at any race course in the UK.
05:05That's a huge asset and benefit that we can give. Hopefully, we can continue to draw the crowds that we do.
05:12I guess the fact that crowd numbers held up pretty well last year, that's a sign that you're doing something right.
05:18I hope so. Those events are very popular.
05:23The Castle Goodwood Festival crowds were great, just about on a par with the previous year.
05:30That was great. Obviously, we came off a difficult and wet year in 2023.
05:36That was one of those things where we knew it would be tough, but we had a great year.
05:41Hopefully, those people that came understand what an amazing place this is when it really ticks and the weather's lovely.