THE GREENING of Cheltenham begins today when the first of an estimated 10,000 Irish racing fans head for the spa town which is home to the biggest National Hunt racing festival on these islands.
The four-day event in which Irish and English horses are pitted against one another in 25 races gets under way tomorrow.
An estimated 250,000 people will attend the track, and in the betting splurge across the two countries more than €1.5 billion will be gambled.
At the festival itself an estimated €786 million will be wagered. Although Irish people account for less than a quarter of daily attendance, nearly half the bets will be placed by them.
Between bets the Irish will help drink 20,000 bottles of champagne and down 210,000 pints of Guinness, thus contributing substantially to the €70 million the festival brings to the area.
Gloucestershire hotels are booked out and many residents rent out their homes and driveways for those who hire caravans.
Cheltenham has also become a magnet for Irish people in Britain and abroad. At least one chartered aircraft is due in Manchester tomorrow carrying more than 200 racing fans from the United States drawn from a number of Irish clubs.
Tamarisk Doyle, PR/ promotions manager with Horse Racing Ireland, said that while official figures indicate that about 7,000 Irish will travel to Cheltenham, this figure was too low in her opinion.
"On any given day, the Irish make up about 20 per cent of the attendance and they come from all arts and parts, not just from here for Cheltenham," she said.
She said this year's attendance would not include the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, but she expected a number of politicians who support racing to be present.
She said they would be hoping for a better Cheltenham than last year, when there were only five Irish winners.