Festival betting dampened by weather The wet and windy weather earlier this week at Punchestown, which resulted in nine races being cancelled over the five day Festival, had a devastating effect on betting figures. The bookmakers' turnover at the meeting fell a massive 47% to €4.1m, compared with €7.75m 12 months ago. The Tote was hit nearly as hard with the aggregate over the five days of €2.53m down 41.6% on the corresponding total of €4.34m last year. In comparison the attendance figures stood up remarkably well, with the total crowd over the five days of 91,513 showing just a 3.7% decrease on 2011. The attendance was up on three days (Tuesday, Friday and Saturday) compared with last year. The monsoon-like conditions on Wednesday were the main contributing factor to the overall drop, with the attendance on day two down 5,744. Betting with the bookies and the Tote was also badly hit on the Wednesday, with the total amount bet on the day down nearly €2m.
