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Jockey Steve Arnold rides the Bart Cummings trained horse So You Think. AAP Image/Joe Castro
In fact in the 1920s and 30s, the inner-city Melbourne suburb of Collingwood was more famous for its illegal SP bookies than the football team from the same suburb, and that was when Jock McHale’s Magpies were a dominant force in the VFL.
But a lot has changed since the sport’s halcyon days when Phar Lap and Tulloch brought the nation to a standstill whenever they raced.
In the last 60 years racing has faded so far from the mainstream that nowadays it is only given air to breathe in the springtime. Crowds have shrunk tenfold and interest is at an all-time low.
And because the sport is still a popular betting medium, it is now better known for its betting culture than its champions, characters and stories – the things that used to give racing that curious aura of shady exaltedness.
It begs the questions: where did it all go wrong? Why does nobody care about horse racing anymore?
There are many reasons why racing is not as popular as what it once was. They range from the simplicity of costs and the vast competition in the Australian sporting landscape for followers and media attention, to the complexity of business plans and culture.
Unfortunately for those associated with the sport of kings there are many reasons why sports fans don’t follow racing.
For one, fans require a lot of spare time to keep up with the happenings in the sport. It’s not like the football, where you can read the paper every second day, watch the news and consistently tip six out of eight winners each week.
Following a sport like horse racing can take hours – even keeping tabs on the Saturday races require religious dedication.
Every day there are hundreds of races, thousands of horses and enormous amounts of information to take in. This in itself is time consuming and demanding.
Racing can be an incredibly expensive hobby – and that’s if you’re a good punter. Things like form guides can be readily sought without fees in the 21st century but if you fancy a day at the track it will set you back.
And let’s be honest, if potential fans of the sport can’t afford to watch the thing live, how will they be enticed into to sitting down and watching it for six hours at home?
The answer to that is most likely going to include phenomena like Black Caviar – racing’s saviour, thank goodness for her. But let’s put the Black Flash to one side for a second.
It costs seven euros to attend the running of arguably the greatest race on the planet: the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. In Sydney, if you fancy an afternoon out at Canterbury on a quiet Wednesday, you’ll spend $12 at the gate.
No champions, no characters, no fanfare, no thanks! Add a pie, a drink and a $5 bet in the first and you’re down nearly $30 and it’s only 1:30pm. Four hours to go…
If racing is time consuming, expensive and has a lot to do with gambling, maybe it is easier for your everyday sports fan to follow mainstream sports like rugby league and AFL.
It’s a lot easier to learn about a football code than the intricacies of horse racing, and for the most part a game of football is probably easier to watch as well.
It certainly isn’t as lonely.
On a cold Saturday afternoon in June would you rather be sitting amongst 80,000 at the MCG or be doing it tough with the 2000 punters in the shadows of the JR Fleming stand at Rosehill Gardens?
I’ll take the electric atmosphere please.
Great racing, in my opinion, is second to none but, just like when fishing, patience is as valuable as an inside run. Good horses make good racing but good horses don’t race every day.
Football fans are accustomed to seeing Benji Marshall and Chris Judd upwards of 20 times a year. But racing’s champions, like Black Caviar and So You Think, might only step on to the track six or eight times in a season.
Then there are the issues that have the potential to keep the sport in the doldrums for many years to come.
The financial success of the sport is inextricably linked to the money gambled on racing. A fixed percentage of betting turnover goes straight back into racing. The sport thrives and survives on it.
And while racing is, has and always will be about more than just betting, the sport’s future is tied in with the punt. It’s unattractive and it’s becoming annoying.
Turn on the television today and watch an afternoon’s racing on Sky Channel or TVN and prepare to be bombarded with information from the TAB and numerous corporate bookmakers.
You’ll be up to your ears in market movers, fluctuations, dividends, bookie’s boards…. no expense is spared.
Heck, Sky is owned by TABCORP so watching channel 519 on Fox is like watching one 24/7 advertisement for the TAB.
It can be a big turn off, especially if you intend to make racing more than just a medium to channel your punting through.
But perhaps the biggest problem in racing is the type of crowd race clubs have begun to market.
Instead of bringing young people to the track so they can learn about the excitement of live horse racing, race clubs are drawing young adults, 20 or 25 years of age, to attend race meetings as an alternate venue to nightclubs.
A carnival meeting (especially in Sydney) is no longer an opportunity to celebrate the sport with great racing; instead it has been turned into a massive social function where the focus is firmly set on getting drunk.
And as far as most of the patrons are concerned, it doesn’t matter if you don’t back a winner, you won’t remember it anyway.
Due to the deployment of crowd security, the entrance fee for a feature race day has more than doubled in the last ten years, and if that doesn’t put dad off taking his youngster to watch the Group I, then the behaviour that takes place will.
I’ve seen it all on major race days, from things as harmless as drunken singing right through to all-in brawls and sex on the front lawn. Make no mistake, it’s a free for all.
But there are still plenty of people, including myself, who love the sport. And there are plenty of reasons for that too.
I’ve been to an Olympic Games in my home city, State of Origin matches, numerous football matches in all codes and I was in Delhi for the Commonwealth Games last year, but I get a massive buzz – equal to that at any other sporting event – when I watch a great horse in the flesh.
And furthermore, there is no better thrill than witnessing the collision of two great champions on the track.
The day Freemason and Northerly took each other on from the 1500 metre mark in The BMW at Rosehill in 2003 will forever be etched in my memory as one of the great sporting moments I have seen live.
It was the ultimate David and Goliath battle and David won (albeit courtesy of an incredible Darren Beadman ride).
And I’m told there is no better feeling than seeing the racehorse you own get up and win a race. Some have compared it to seeing their first child born.
Then there are the little pleasures that racing brings.
Backing a winner is always satisfying, just as seeing a horse win a Group I four months after you spotted it at some lowly mid-week meeting makes the heart beat true.
And finally, the thing that racing people know all so well, yet many others don’t hear about, is the ability of the industry to band around their own when they need help.
Racing people have provided unbelievable amounts of support to injured and ill jockeys, sick children and numerous charities alike. The racing community is a strong one.
But one feels that unless the sport cleans up its act it will continue its slide. Racing is a fantastic sport but the industry needs to get itself back on the right track while it still can.
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