To be precise, he's got 100,000 people coming – and the party in question will be one of the social events of the year, namely Glorious Goodwood.

The festival, one of the best-known and grandest in horse racing, is just days away and not even a below-average summer of weather and the credit crunch have been able to affect the planning or dampen the enthusiasm of the team at the famous course ahead of five days of the highest-class flat racing around.

Ticket sales have gone well – an expected fall in the revenue for hospitality has been offset by increases in other income – and entries for many races, including the showpiece ones, are strong both in quality and quantity.

Fabricius exudes an air of calm as he looks ahead – perhaps helped by the fact that, as he points out, the senior management at Goodwood have more than 100 festivals to their collective names.

Getting ready for Glorious is a well-rehearsed drill that will leave nothing to chance.

"I'm relishing the prospect of seeing some very exciting and competitive races – the sort of races that stick in the mind," said Fabricius.

"There's the BGC Sussex Stakes, the Bluesquare Nassau Stakes, the Bluesquare Stewards' Cup and the RBS Goodwood Cup, to name but four.

"We've had some brilliant horses as past winners in these races and will have again – hopefully starting this year.

"Personally I enjoy seeing some of the two-year-olds' races – for young horses on an upwards curve.

"Many trainers work their whole season around Glorious Goodwood, we're very fortunate in that respect.

"I was with Marcus Tregoning the other day and I know he is looking forward to vying for the top prizes in some of the key races, as are all the other big names in the industry you would expect."

The number of entries has delighted course officials, and the number of overseas runners and Irish runners is also on the increase.

And at a time when we hear so much about the man and woman in the street having less money to spend on leisure, the crunch doesn't seem to have reached Goodwood.

The Gordon Enclosure for the final day – Saturday, August 2 – has sold out, and Thursday and Friday are heading the same way.

"Ladies' Day on the Thursday, and Saturday, which is Stewards' Cup day, have always been very popular but we are very encouraged by increased numbers on the Friday and Tuesday.

"Advanced sales in all enclosures are showing an increase on last year, and despite the gloomy predictions about the credit crunch, we are happy that people really enjoy and look forward to coming racing at Goodwood.

"We'd be deceiving ourselves if we said hospitality would exceed last year's levels. That's where we are seeing proof that business expenditure is under pressure.