York racecourse attracts record crowd of 42,500

More than 40,000 people saw the 51st running of the John Smith's Cup

York racecourse attracted a record crowd of 42,500 at Knavesmire for their music showcase Saturday card.

Marketing manager James Brennan said the figure is close to the practical maximum the course can cope with.

"If everyone turns up to the right areas (and stays put) the capacity is 55 thousand, so in technical terms it wasn't close," he told BBC Radio York.

"In practical terms it's not an even flow (of people), so we wouldn't want many more people than that."

Brennan explained: "The natural rhythm of a race day means that everyone wants to watch a race, then everyone wants to have a drink and a bet.

"It was the busiest day we've had. We're conscious that there were queues at times for people.

"We monitor it carefully, and that was why, for the first time ever, we put the "sold out" signs out in advance on the County Stand enclosure. We do our calculations by individual area.

"The wonders of the modern era, of being able to use the website, both allow people to book in advance and allow us to keep a fairly instantaneous running tally of the attendance."

On the issue of crowd safety Brennan added: "Tony Lee, our operations manager, is the best qualified man in racing.

"We'll learn from the big crowds of Saturday as we learned from the big crowds of John Smith's day."