Machibet777 APPCheltenham Festival fury as punters stunned over eye-watering price of a pint | The Sun - Mcb777 Live

CHELTENHAM Festival punters erupted in fury over the eye-watering price of drinks at horse racing's biggest meet.

They were forced to stump up £7 for a pint of Guinness, while a Carling set them back £6.90.

Punters had to fork out £7 for a pint of Guinness at Cheltenham Festival

A pint of Carling was £6.90 while a 330ml bottle of 'premium' lager came to £6.50

One punter said they paid £14.10 for an Irish coffee

One photo that went viral on social media showed a punter holding a double gin and tonic at a cost of £14.

While another complained about paying £14.10 for an Irish coffee 'with a splash of Jamesons and some whipped cream squirted on top'.

Even a 330ml bottle of 'premium lager' was £6.50 and a pint of Aspalls cider £7.

Some 68,506 punters flocked to the racecourse yesterday - a record figure for day one.

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And they were treated to brilliance on the track with superstar duo Rachael Blackmore and Honeysuckle winning the Champion Hurdle for the second year running.

But it's clear the whopping price of booze turned out to be a real loser for a number of paying punters.

One said in response to a photo of the £14 spirit and mixer: "Does it come with the horse?"

Another wrote: "Someone should pull them on this. Never seen the like."

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A fellow Twitter user posted: "In a plastic cup with no ice and a slice? For £14????"

Another said: "£14? Is the cup made from platinum gold?!"

While one comment read: "That's worse than London. I have to work for nearly two hours for a gin and tonic."

And another wrote: "No wonder my stepdad takes a grand for spends, I thought he was being dramatic!"

A Cheltenham Racecourse spokesperson said: ";We work hard to absorb inflationary costs wherever we can.

"However, current inflation rises in relation to goods and labour have led to an increase in prices for some of the items we serve.

"Despite this our prices are comparable to other major events, with all our profits reinvested back into British Horseracing."

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Some 260,000 pints of Guinness are expected to be consumed over the course of the four-day Festival.

It will really be flowing on Thursday when the Irish contingent take over as part of their St Patrick's Day celebrations.

Punters have flocked back to Cheltenham after the meeting - which is set to welcome around 270,000 fans over the course of the week - was held behind closed doors last year.