France Galop, French racing’s ruling body, appears to have a fight on its hands to attract racegoers to its most famous event following the news that just 35,000 paying spectators attended the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp on Sunday.

The race was the first at the Arc’s traditional home since 2015, when about 55,000 racegoers saw Golden Horn and Frankie Dettori add Europe’s showpiece event to their win in the Derby at Epsom earlier in the season.

Sunday’s race provided one of the most exciting spectacles at Longchamp for many years, as Enable, last year’s winner, just held the late charge of Sea Of Class by a short neck. It was the first running of the race following two renewals at Chantilly, 40 miles north of Paris, while Longchamp underwent a €140m (£123m) redevelopment, and also the first since a sharp rise in the price of admission to watch a card that includes six Group One events.

A general admission ticket on Sunday cost €75 (£68), more than double the €30 to watch the race at Chantilly in 2017 and more than three times the €20 for a ticket to watch the last Arc at the old Longchamp.

Thousands of British and Irish racing fans spent several hundred pounds at least on an annual trip to the Arc in October, while French racegoers can decide whether to turn up on the day. As a result, leaden skies over Paris on Sunday morning may have deterred a significant number of local, “walk-up” customers, but a drop of 20,000 is still hugely disappointing given pre-race expectations of a crowd of around 50,000.

French racing’s ruling body will also be concerned that the new grandstand at Longchamp, which replaces two larger stands which had been in place since the 1960s, did not win unqualified praise from those who did attend. A number of spectators used social media to complain about the length of the queues for the betting windows, bars and toilets at the course, while there were also suggestions that some bars were running dry by mid-afternoon.

William Haggas, the trainer of Sea Of Class, confirmed on Monday that his filly will not race again this season and will return to action next year with the Arc, and a possible rematch with Enable, as her principal aim. Enable and Sea Of Class are the joint-favourites for the 2019 Arc at 6-1.

Brighton 1.20 Ask The Guru 1.50 Water Diviner 2.25 Nayslayer 3.00 Catan 3.30 Allegiant (nap) 4.00 Hedging 4.35 Katabatika 5.05 Kirkland Forever

Catterick 1.30 The Cotswold Wasp 2.00 Chitra 2.35 Reeves (nb) 3.10 Massini’s Trap 3.40 Shortbackandsides 4.10 Redrosezorro 4.45 Morning Skye 5.15 Pearl Noir

Leicester 2.15 Manor Park 2.50 Canadian George 3.20 Kick On Kick On 3.50 Huge Future 4.25 Verve 4.55 The Right Choice 5.30 Danecase 6.00 Channel Packet

Newcastle 5.10 Swansway 5.45 Marechal Ney 6.15 Euro No More 6.45 My Ukelele 7.15 Pea Shooter 7.45 Outrage 8.15 Testa Rossa 8.45 Field Gun

Tips by Greg Wood