EQUESTRIAN events filled more than half of the top 10 ticketed British sporting fixtures this year, research has revealed.
Badminton and Burghley joined the Cheltenham Festival, Royal Ascot, the Epsom Derby meeting and the Grand National Festival to take six of the top 10 spots in 2017.
Combined, they sold 1,189,000 tickets and equestrian events in total accounted for 7.5 million of the 74.5 million tickets sold for all British sporting events, making it the second most-attended sport behind football.
Royal Ascot was the most-attended equestrian event, coming in third place overall, with 294,000 tickets sold across the five-day meeting.
Meanwhile Badminton topped the non-racing equestrian events in seventh place, selling 170,000 tickets — a staggering 19,000 more than last year.
“In a couple of years, Badminton will be 70…