Cheltenham’s record-breaking Guinness sales could see bars running dry

With a predicted £2m in Guinness sold over the four-days, bookies now make it just a 4/6 shot for record pints to be sold at this year’s festival. 

Meanwhile after recent shortages of the stout across the UK, they are offering 6/1 that Cheltenham’s famous Guinness Village runs out of the black stuff. 

Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said: “The price of a pint might be creeping up, but that won’t stop racegoers this week… we’re odds-on for record numbers of Guinness to be sold at Cheltenham Festival. 

“With more than a fair share of Gs set to be split across the four days, the odds suggest racing fans could well drink the village dry.” 

At Cheltenham punters have been raging about the cost of drinks and meals, Guinness £7.80 a pint, Guinness 0.0 slightly cheaper at £7.40 and lager the same. 

Racegoer Dean Carter, 34, of South London, told the Daily Express: “I travelled over from London and paid an arm and leg to stay in a near-ish hotel and the cost of drinks and food doesn’t help. 

“I don’t know why the price has to go up every year. It’s gutting as it hits me in the pocket.” 

His pal fumed: “It’s more expensive than London prices! It’s like a tenner for a glass of wine. I could buy a bottle for that.” 

House red and white wine sets you back £9.70 a glass while Gordons Gin, Smirnoff vodka or Morgans Spiced Rum sets you back &.20 a shot – with Jamesons whiskey even more at £7.30. 

Soft drinks are priced at £3.10, while sparkling or still water would cost £2.50 – a 10 pence increased compared to last year. 

As recently as 2018, a pint of Guinness cost punters just £5.20 at Cheltenham Festival. 

In 2014, Guinness was priced at just £4.50 at Cheltenham, meaning that a pint of the black stuff has now nearly doubled in price in just over a decade.

Despite punters raging about Guinness’s eye-watering £7.80 a pint price, experts fear on Cheltenham Festival’s St Patrick’s Day Thursday bars could run dry.                                                                                                                                                With an estimated 260,000 racegoers flocking to the Gloucestershire track over the four days, bars have been doing brisk business – but punters have already been fuming at drinks price increases.

Cheltenham bosses have decided to increase the price of the Irish stout by 30p from last year, charging punters £7.80 while a premium lager costs 40p less at £7.40.                                                                                                                                    But on St Patrick’s Day Thursday – Cheltenham’s nod to their traditional Irish fanbase ahead of the actual saints day on Monday 17th March – bookies now fear the Guinness kegs will be completely emptied.

Google search volume statistics reveal just how much Guinness has increased in popularity in the last five years, with Gen Z playing a huge role in the boost of black stuff, jumping on the ‘split the G’ social media trend. 

In 2021, the popular trend that sees Guinness drinkers guzzle almost half a pint in order to make the white Guinness foam ‘split the G’ on the glass was almost non-existent, with UK-wide searches for the term ‘split the G’ averaging at just 110 searches per month. 

However, that increased enormously to 14,800 searches for ‘split the G’ on average each month in 2024. 

Some experts fear by 2035 the price of Guinness at Cheltenham could reach £10 a pint, according to  

Guy Lavender, Chief Executive of Cheltenham Racecourse, said: “Despite being impacted by the rising price of goods and services in the current climate in exactly the same way that other industries and businesses are, the price of a pint at the Cheltenham Festival had not increased since 2022 until this season. 

“When considering how to price food and drink we benchmark against comparable venues locally, while also factoring in any associated costs like temporary facilities and increased staffing to cater for significantly larger crowds. 

“As part of the review of this year’s Festival and with next season in mind we will be looking again at pricing on course.”