Interest in what could be the career finale for Juddmonte Farms' undefeated Frankel has prompted England's Ascot Racecourse to add more seating for the Oct. 20 Qipco Champion Stakes (Eng-I).
According to Ascot, the capacity of 30,500 seats available for British Champions Day were sold out over the Sept. 22-23 weekend, leading to the creation of 1,500 additional spaces in the new temporary Champions Bar.
The Champions, at 10 furlongs, is the highlight of a card that features five stakes with total purses of £3 million.
Trained by Sir Henry Cecil, Frankel is undefeated in 13 career starts. Throughout 2012, the son of Galileo has been voted the world's top horse in the international Thoroughbred rankings. He was named in honor of the late American trainer Bobby Frankel, who conditioned most of Juddmonte's top domestic horses.
"Notwithstanding the obvious additional interest generated by the Frankel factor, it is still a remarkable landmark for us to have sold out our original 30,500 capacity in year two of QIPCO British Champions Day so early," said Rod Street, chief executive of British Champions Series. "We have worked closely with Ascot to decide on the final capacity of 32,000.
"The customer experience is paramount and the priority for us is that racegoers─many first-time or not regular visitors─have an enjoyable and comfortable day and want to come back.
Tickets for the Champions Bar area went on sale at 9 a.m. GMT Sept. 24.