Grand National followers jet out to Benidorm to catch the motion as Aintree sells out
Desperate racing fans are jetting to Benidorm to watch the Grand National – after tickets for the Aintree festival sold out in record time.
An army of Brits flew out to the Spanish resort to watch last month’s Cheltenham festival in the sunshine. Every race was screened in Benidorm’s bars where lager costs just £1.70-a-pint.
Many are going back for Aintree – which starts today – because it sold out in record time and they could not get tickets. Even secondary selling websites had less than 10 tickets on offer for Ladies Day tomorrow and Grand National Saturday.
They were on offer for up to £500-a-time – nearly 10 times the face-value price.
One racing fan posted a photo of his plane ticket to Alicante on X with the message: “Cheltenham festival was so good in Benidorm we go again for Aintree.”
They added horse, cocktail, beer and cash emojis – along with one of the Spanish flag.
Another wrote on a racing forum: “We’re going back to Beni. Aintree tickets are like rocking horse s***.”
Racing chiefs say moves to bring in a new younger crowd – including building an Ibiza beach club inside the racecourse and hiring legendary Radio 1 DJ Pete Tong – triggered an explosion in demand for tickets.
But Benidorm-bound racing fans said the meeting was just as much fun in Spain.
One wrote on a forum: “Chelts was amazing from there. Mind you only saw a few races. 2 much lager.”
Another added: “Benidorm is becoming a race meeting of its own – same faces. Think someone even bought a horse. Mad!!”
Mike Blackwell, 52, from Manchester, who an all-expenses-paid trip to Benidorm for Cheltenham, said the atmosphere was ‘buzzing’.
Zoe Harris, chief customer officer of package holiday firm On the Beach, said ‘bars will be packed from first race to last’ and ‘you’re guaranteed to hear the cheers echoing down the strip with every winner’.
