EVENING racing will return to Cartmel next year after a five-year absence.

The track will host nine race-days throughout 2019 – the same number as this year – with no alterations to the successful format for the past few years.

Three days of racing will be held in May and two each in June, July and August.

The only change is that the third day of the May meeting, on Wednesday, May 29 – during the Whit week half-term holiday – will take place in the evening rather than the afternoon.

It will be the first time the course has held an evening meeting since 2014, when the opening Saturday was held later in the day rather than in the current afternoon slot – which led on occasion to clashes with the Champions League final.

Cartmel Races managing director Steve Cooper – who is in his first year in charge at the course – is looking forward to bringing a different aspect to racing at the track with the evening meeting.

He said: “We're delighted to have the Wednesday evening – and we hope it gives everybody the opportunity to come after work.

“We're happy with the Saturday and the Monday of the May meeting staying the same. The Wednesday is in the evening now and it jumps out at you – we look forward to welcoming evening racing back to Cartmel.

“Hopefully people will be able to take the opportunity to come after work, and it's also the perfect opportunity for businesses to entertain their clients.

“It can appeal to different demographics across the three days.”

Apart from the weather which afflicted the latter day of the July meeting – when rain fell throughout the morning and only eased up when the racing itself started – Cooper has been blessed with good weather and crowds this season.

The same again next year would do him just fine – although a little more rain to quench the thirst of the course while not affecting visitors would not go amiss.

“If you're asking me from a greedy, selfish point-of-view, I'd like more weather like I had this year, only with overnight rain every night,” Cooper joked.

Tickets for next year's meetings will go on sale before Christmas, rather than the previous usual date in January.

“Now the fixtures are out and are set in stone, we're already working on next year, and we'd be very hopeful of going on sale in the autumn,” added Cooper.

There are plans in place to continue holding an evening concert on the first day of the June meeting next year – Friday, June 28 – after this year's Boyzone event built on the previous success of hosting Sir Tom Jones, Simply Red and Jools Holland.

There were close to 10,000 spectators for the Boyzone concert – slightly down on previous years' attendances – with Cooper stressing the importance of building on the momentum of the past events.

Crowds for the latest meeting, on July 21 and 23, reached 13,500 for the Saturday and close to 7,000 for the Monday.

“Crowds of 20,000 across the two days is great,” said Cooper, who is now looking for big numbers at the final meeting of the season at the end of August.

“There are a lot of racecourses, a lot of bigger racecourses, that would be happy with 13,500 for a day. We're really looking forward to August now – tickets are selling well and we're looking forward to welcoming everybody for that.”