142: Why aren't people buying tickets to the Cheltenham Festival? | The Front Page | Horse Racing News

Tickets that are selling slower than usual, races being run faster than usual and a European snub for York and Ascot are the subjects up for debate in this week’s edition of The Front Page.James Stevens asks why the Cheltenham Festival is proving a harder sell than in previous years, with Gold Cup day not yet sold out and the meeting’s first three days in danger of suffering another attendance drop.Lee Mottershead looks at claims made by Harry Fry and Aidan Coleman that British jumps races are being run at too fast a pace, producing unappetising contests in which the last man standing wins. Both men believe the sport needs a culture change.The BHA wanted to change the City of York Stakes and British Champions Long Distance Cup from Group 2 to Group 1 status. Maddy Playle examines the European Pattern Committee’s failure to support the proposals and the wider fear over a reduction in quality of the top European prizes.