From £1.70 pints to sun and excitement – why Benidorm beats Cheltenham as number one hotspot for Brit racing enthusiasts
AS winning horse Air Of Entitlement gallops to the finishing line, there is bedlam in the crowd.
Diehard racing fans cheer and shout, clutching their betting slips in one hand and a pint in the other as the noise reaches fever pitch.
Then the first race of the day at the Cheltenham Festival is over and the masses get back to quaffing their drinks and studying race cards.
But we’re not at Prestbury Park, Gloucestershire.
In fact, we’re 1,800 miles away, at the Marina Resort in Benidorm.
And judging by the crowds gathered at every bar up and down the infamous Calle Gerona strip, the beloved Spanish resort is cementing itself as the new number one hotspot for racing enthusiasts.
Colleen Holm, 45, opens the doors of her sports cafe The Winning Post at 9am to hundreds of punters eager to place their stakes on her betting machines.
The Benidorm legend, who lives with husband Kevin, 45, and their sons, Kade, 14, and Kal, 11. says: “It’s busier than ever — I’ve actually had to refuse people. It’s mental.”
The reason? Sun, sea, unmatched energy from fellow tourists — and the fact that while a pint of Guinness at Prestbury Park now costs £7.80, you can get the same bevvy here for just €2.
But why settle for one when a bucket of five bottles at most bars here will set you back €12?
“It was a no-brainer, really,” says Sherryll Barker, 55, from Co Durham, explaining why she and husband Gary, 56, chose Benidorm this year to watch the action unfold.
“We normally go to the other races such as York and Chester, and we were going to go to Cheltenham this year but it was so expensive.
‘You couldn’t get this atmosphere at home’
“We’d have wanted to be in the executive end, and by the time you’ve paid for your race tickets and two-night accommodation, we were looking at paying £1,500, and that’s without food and drink.
“Coming here, we’ve paid £1,300 for five nights, flights and accommodation included. When we arrived yesterday, the weather was glorious, and it was snowing in Cheltenham!”
Gary, who is a line manager for Nissan, agrees, adding there is nowhere else he would rather see Gibbs Island, the steed he has a share in, hopefully storm to victory.
He says: “This is my first year with a horse in the race, which makes it even more exciting.
“But we love all the night entertainment. We’re seeing a Pink tribute act tonight — apparently she’s brilliant.”
Benidorm is, of course, a home away from home for many, with more than 800,000 UK holidaymakers flocking to its shores last year alone.
But while July and August remain the hottest and busiest months, March brings an influx of tourists who come for the unparalleled access it offers to the races.
Yes, they’re flying further away from the famous green paddocks, but they’re entering the heart of the action.
Just ask bricklayer Kieran Mayes, 34, from Norfolk, who went to Prestbury Park in 2020 and will never go again.
“The prices are so much cheaper here,” he explains.
“Cheltenham was good, but it was expensive — and the rain . . . Plus, it’s a trek to get there.”
His friend, fellow bricklayer John Wise, 55, agrees: “There’s a good atmosphere, the sun’s a bonus, and it’s cheap. You can’t beat it.”
Kieran and John, along with pals Steven Lomas, 58, and Bruce Mason, 34, are speaking hours before the first race begins, having wisely grabbed their seats at the Marina Resort at 10am.
The hotel is just one of countless establishments in the area that play races round-the-clock — and offer buckets of their finest to lubricate proceedings.
But when the sun is out, it’s the number one place to be. With a huge screen overlooking its crystal-clear pool, it certainly beats the snow that fell on day two of this year’s festival.
For this reason, punters get there early to reserve their spots — either placing their bets online or heading first to The Winning Post.
For those that can’t nab a table, the options are plenty: Jumping Jacks, Bar M23, Go Bananas, Funky Flamingo and Rovers Return are just a handful of the screen-filled watering holes serving up cheap pints and a heady atmosphere.
It’s no wonder that long-time Benidorm visitors have noticed a surge in visitors this time around.
“There are definitely a lot more people here this year,” says Andrew Firth, 61, who is retired and has been coming to Benidorm for six years with his wife, rehabilitation support worker Debbie, 59.
And as far as Debbie is concerned, it’s the more, the merrier.
“You couldn’t get this atmosphere at home, could you?” she says.
“There’s no comparison. We got here yesterday and we didn’t realise there were actually people from our village near Leeds in our hotel.”
Adding to the melee of Benidorm veterans and racing enthusiasts are the stag and hen parties on the strip.
‘I lost money but had a better day yesterday’
One in particular — 24 Exmouth locals celebrating friend Robbie Lambert’s upcoming nuptials — is fittingly dressed for the occasion.
All the Devonshire stags wear their finest fancy dress jockey silks, while Tarmac whizz Robbie, 34, has been saddled with a head-to-toe horse’s costume. It gives a whole new meaning to the term “bridle party”.
“We’re here for four days and we haven’t been to sleep yet,” laughs Robbie’s best man Bradley Ebans, 34, who is head of logistics for this highly anticipated stag do.
He says: “The wedding is in July, but we booked it now to be here for the races. It’s so cheap.
“A room for seven lads for four days cost us £582, and my Ryanair return flight was £99.”
Fellow stag attendee Brandon Hodge, 30, a door supervisor from Exmouth, flew straight to Benidorm from the Cheltenham Festival. “I went for one day to the races and then came over here,” he says.
“It’s expensive there, which is to be expected. I don’t drink but the lads who were drinking said it was over seven quid for a beer there.
“I also lost loads of money, but I had a better day yesterday, so Benidorm is paying off better.”
While the Spanish resort has been a go-to for years for a particular type of racing enthusiast, its popularity has reached an all-time high this year — owed partly to the eye-watering costs back at the Cheltenham track.
As well as forking out £7.80 for a pint, burgers cost £12, and a ticket for the day will be somewhere between £47 and £180.
Add in accommodation, which can be around £300 per night, and it’s no surprise that the course’s chief executive, Guy Lavender, 57, has blamed hotels’ hiked prices for having a negative impact on attendance.
He has tried to lure more punters back to the enclosure, scrapping restrictions in most areas and improving parking. But his efforts may be in vain, as Benidorm’s popularity continues to soar.
The windfall isn’t just better weather — barring the very occasional showers — and cheaper drinks.
As the last race of the day finishes, the night is still young, and revellers are raring to spend their winnings or drown their sorrows along the strip.
Once the sun has set, Calle Gerona and the nearby Calle Verona stay as busy as ever, with karaoke nights, live magicians and at least three Queen and Elvis tribute acts a night.
It doesn’t take much searching to find the more adult entertainment on offer — strip shows and “sticky performances” (a raunchy show first popularised by legendary Spanish stage act Sticky Vicky) are as easy to watch as the daily races.
Fuelled by drinks with names such as Turbo Shandy, Fat Frogs and Cheeky Vimtos, revellers party into the wee hours, perhaps grabbing a few hours of kip as dawn approaches, before returning to their betting stations and finding a good spot for the coming day.
Then they do it all over again — cheering with their buckets of beer, content in the knowledge that they are paying far less for a burger than the fans at Cheltenham.
They may be feeling a tad, ahem, hoarse in the morning but the pay-off is worth it.