INTERVIEW:Arena Leisure Sees 2H Attendances Up 10% On Year

By Hannah Benjamin Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES LONDON (Dow Jones)--Horseracing event organizer and racecourse operator Arena Leisure PLC (ARE.LN) Monday said it expects visitors to its racecourses to rise up to 10% on the year in the second half. "The July fixtures at Royal Windsor (racecourse) are always a good barometer of second half trading and attendances were up 7% on the corporate and private hospitality side and 10% in general," Chairman David Thorpe told Dow Jones Newswires. Average attendance at Arena Leisure's racecourses in the first half rose 3.3% to 1,498, but the firm said the growth would have been stronger had it not been for the World Cup soccer tournament in June, which slowed the number of visitors to its races. "It was a good performance but we estimate the growth would have been between 5% to 10% had it not been for the World Cup," Thorpe said. -By Hannah Benjamin, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9298; hannah.benjamin@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires August 02, 2010 04:17 ET (08:17 GMT)