Nine racecourses, including Ascot and Goodwood, opened their gates free of charge between Monday April 26 and Saturday May 1.
Of the 40,000 taking advantage of free entry, detailed interviews showed nearly two-thirds of those were new or occasional race-goers and a significant majority is either "very likely" or "fairly likely" to return.
The Racing Enterprises Limited-backed Racing For Change project is a reappraisal of the way the racing is promoted to make the sport more relevant to leisure consumers.
"These results are very encouraging and an excellent reflection of all the effort made by the individual racecourses to engage with these new and infrequent customers," said Rod Street, the chief executive of Racing For Change. "We hope this investment will pay dividends over the coming months."
