Rooftop hospitality at Cheltenham Festival after £100m Jockey Club deal
The Jockey Club has agreed a £100m investment deal with Levy in a move that will see major upgrades to the Cheltenham Festival and Epsom Derby.
The agreement, with the sport division of Compass Group, will span 20 years and see the Jockey Club seek to enhance the “spectator experience across their UK racecourses”.
Chief to this, a statement read, is a five-year ambitious plan which will see “rooftop hospitality for racegoers, subject to planning approval”, at Cheltenham racecourse as well as a new weighing room in Gloucestershire and “millions of pounds spent on transforming The Derby and restoring its reputation for great customer experience and a race of international importance”.
The Jockey Club runs 15 courses across the United Kingdom, including Grand National host side Aintree, the Gloucestershire track that stages the Cheltenham Festival and home to the Epsom Derby, as well as a number of tracks.
Major Jockey Club changes
Jockey Club chief Jim Mullen, said: “This is an important moment for racing and The Jockey Club. We have agreed a long-term opportunity with a proven worldwide operator to help us improve our customer experience and grow our ability to invest in the sport.
“We will also invest further into our core festival courses, Cheltenham, Aintree and Epsom Downs. These venues host our biggest events and by investing in them, we can improve the experience of the customer and drive returns that can be invested in other parts of the business. We have earmarked a significant proportion of our investment for projects put forward by these courses.”
Elsewhere there will be a push to digitalise ticketing and investing in Aintree Racecourse’s owners’ and trainers’ facilities.
It comes as horse racing faces a number of difficulties, chiefly incoming changes to duty on betting which is expected to have a knock on effect for the sport.
The Cheltenham Festival did, however, see attendances rise last week versus figures posted in 2025.