Racing is at a critical point in time as far as its lifespan goes and if key decisions are not made now, the sport’s future could be in jeopardy.
With the rise of professional sport around the world and the ability to watch just about any game from your living room or handheld device, the challenge for many sporting bodies is to stay relevant among the pack.
Horse racing is absolutely in that mix.
While I still love horse racing and want to see it survive for decades to come, I must also admit that I could just as easily not watch it on any given Saturday. I certainly have no passion for midweek meetings at Geelong on the synthetic.
So if someone like me, who has grown up with racing and was perhaps once considered a ‘diehard’, no longer has that passion, then what hope is there to attract new blood to the sport?
I’ve had a think about some of the things that I would do that would not only help new people get into horse racing, but also keep those who have been in the game for some time.
5. Make all horse trial publicly before racing
It’s remarkable that this isn’t a rule in all jurisdictions in Australia, but it should be. Racing has become a sport that is completely reliant on the punting dollar.
And punters don’t want to bet in races with untrialled horses. Sure, it might benefit the owner if they can have a big bet on a horse they are confident about in its first run, but the prizemoney is so good these days that we are no longer in an era where connections need to ‘plunge’ a horse for a return on investment.
Personally I feel like trial form can be a myth and sometimes it pays to ignore a good one or a bad one, but pools will no doubt be boosted if all horses are forced to trial at least once before racing.
This could be implemented overnight.
4. Have jockeys and trainers interact with the public
If I had a family and I took them to Randwick on Saturday, what would the chances be of the kids getting a picture with Hugh Bowman or Chris Waller? Slim, I’d suggest.
And that’s not because Bowman or Waller would knock them back, it’s just that tradition suggests that jockeys and trainers are kept well away from the punters on track.
Those in the know can get into the stabling area and try their luck, but I’d love to see youngsters be given the opportunity to get up close and personal with the stars on race day. We saw with success with Peter Moody and Luke Nolen signing autographs on Black Caviar’s race days.
If the jockeys want to be paid like star athletes, they also need to embrace being heroes and I’d love to see them mingling more in the public section. The more heroes in racing, the more interest in the sport.
3. Live bands after the last
You can’t do this all the time but if you want to get people to the race track, try putting on a good act after the last race. The beauty about race clubs is that they are licenced, have great venues and are well equipped for crowds.
This is not a new idea, but it’s one that should be pushed more often. They get 50,000 to a Taylor Swift concert in Melbourne so why not get a big name performer at some of your secondary race meets?
It just makes sense.
2. Merge the tote pools into one
Tabcorp and Tatts merged last year, but so far customers have yet to see any change. There are still three tote pools in Australia and punters are the big loser.
In my opinion, if Australia loses its tote power then racing will become a shambles. Fixed odds betting has become the latest trend and is here to stay, but it’s the tote that has the most potential.
If punters feel like they can bet into the tote with confidence and get better odds, then turnover will increase. The fact Tabcorp offers subsidies for big punters to bet into the pools is disheartening and it makes it nearly impossible to have a bet on the parimutuel without seeing the price change dramatically in the final 60 second before a race jumps.
It’s also important to have a strong tote for exotic bets. Most punters know they can’t walk into a TAB and put $10 on a horse to win and get rich. But if they can pick a trifecta or first-four then they have a chance of turning that $10 into a few hundred or more.
1. Give away big money every Saturday
The introduction of The Kosciuszko by Racing NSW and the TAB could be a godsend for racing long-term. If you don’t know what the race is, basically it’s a $1.3 million event restricted to country-trained sprinters, to be held on the same day as The Everest.
The prize money will be realised through $5 sweepstake tickets on sale at all TAB outlets in hotels. The 12 fortunate winning ticket holders will be allocated a horse for the race and will have a chance to share in the prize money.
While there are some flaws in this idea, I see possibilities in some of the strategy. Here’s what I would do.
The TAB’s Big 6 simply has not worked for whatever reason. I think mostly because it was too hard to pick and even if you did get it, you normally had to take a small percentage to get enough horses on your ticket.
My idea would be to kick-start it with $1 million and have punters buy tickets for $2 or six for $10 and be allocated runners in what would be a mystery bet-type scenario.
That way a mum or dad could go into the TAB, buy a few tickets and perhaps enjoy the races. They don’t need to spent much to win a lot of money.
If no one gets the prize, the money jackpots each week. Imagine having a $10 million draw. It would be exactly like tattslotto, but instead of balls being drawn out, people would get to watch the races.
Have the six races run over the best six races of the day and split them over several venues. Pick the races with the biggest fields.
I think the publicity would be enormous for racing and if there were guaranteed pools of big money, it would bring new people to the sport.
How we went on Saturday
It wasn’t looking good with the first four of our selections going under, but amazingly we still managed to turn a tidy profit when Bergerac saluted at big each-way odds at Randwick. Always nice when a long-shot gets up.
Don’t forget that the Darwin Cup is on today and although I’m not tipping it as part of the yearly tally, I like Turf Man in the feature event. I think Dom Torneur is the best dirt track jockey in the business.
Total spend in 2018: $500*
Total return in 2018: $744*
TigerMan
Roar Rookie
Thoroughly agree Lucrative. The on course race attendance is no longer aimed at the racing pundit, it is squarely aimed at the social attendee and boy, does it show. I used to attend races in Perth 20-25 times a year but now only go to Railway Stakes, Perth Cup and only for a social gathering. I find that with Perth Racing, their only solution is to increase the entry fee on these 2 days, bump up the food & drinks charges, move a few barrels around in a bar, change it's name then band on about how new & improved racing here is. It is a shambles. The quality of the horses is diabolical and is run by one or two influental owners (Bob Peters) who dictate distances, prizemoney and events. Entry fee for the Perth Cup is $38 dollars plus $10 for a racebook, $11 for a craft beer and just to watch the same old horses running around as an ordinary under quality Saturday meeting. Make the entry fee $10-15, include a free $5 bet with the racebook, keep the food & beer prices the same as any race day, go out and chase one or two great horses like they used to 15 or more years ago and all of a sudden, you will have a renewed interest. But nope, they will just do the same thing and be happy as Bob Peters wins another 5 races. In days gone by, we had Kingston Town, Vo Rogue, etc racing here during a carnival and the track was packed. Now we have some Open horse that has won one Group 3 plodding race and promote that as an entry of a champion.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
You don't need gimmicks like live bands to attract punters. That is not going to make them repeat customers. It might get them through the gate once, but they won't be medium to long term contributors to turnover. They need to be attracted in the first place. The coverage on Seven during carnival times doesn't help. People like Waller and Waterhouse do plenty for promotion. Raceday, when having to deal with horses and owners, isn't the time for them to pose for selfies
Quite Lucurative
Guest
Hi Kangas-Thanks for the heads up re country tracks. I might try that. You know what would be good, asking the rank and file racing enthusiasts how to make racing great again. No breeders, no trainers, no jockeys, just the punters. I would guarantee you 80% plus of what they came up with would be at odds with the way administrators see things.
Kangas
Roar Rookie
Lucrative I totally agree with what you say about the horrible race day experience in the city However I go to country tracks mostly these days on Saturday meets , heaps of room but enough of a crowd to create some betting excitement Also at country meets you can escape the endless sky t v s and can chat to trainers etc However racing will always be around, the tax on betting is 14 cents in the dollar, the government will never give that up . Would love to see some breeding incentives for Australia bred staying horses in the future.
Quite Lucurative
Guest
In the late 70's to mid 80's I was an habitual on course race goer. Went into the life establishment phase of buying a house etc so didn't attend on course for maybe 20 years. I went back a few times since. As an habitual attendee, I thought the racecourse was the most exciting place in the world. In it's current form, I think it's a horrible experience. I attended the recent Doomben Oaks day. It was $25 to get in. $8 for a race book. Food was $13 for high quality food, but low quality hamburgers were $10. But what made it horrible was the following- the public section was virtually devoid of race enthusiasts, it was all party goers.The space to move around was tiny, with a weird maze type setup leading to I don't know where. There was no where to sit near a TV. But the absolute worst was the wall to wall noise screaming from TV's and what seemed every possible spot. This noise was the running of racing from Sky's endless racing. The 5 major cities plus god know's how many provincials and country races.All turned up to above conversational level. I was on my own, but if I had bought a friend, it would have been embarrassing to put them through that. I left after race 6, I just couldn't stand it any longer. Re the article posted- absolutely against live bands, you want to see a band go to a concert, this is horse racing, not a music festival. You don't see them running horse races at an Ed Sherran concert do you? Give away money in some kind of pick 6 lottery- waste of time. Merge the pools- ok but what for , where is the benefit? The main issue is racing is controlled by breeders, who don't care about anything else other than their bottom line. Want to make racing exciting again- get rid of the benchmark system and go back to progressives and welters, this way horses can win 6 in a row, clear out and win by 6 lengths. Next- bring back therapeutic drugs, horse just don't race often enough or for long enough.What we see now is a horse in work for 9 months racing 12 times. This is great for trainers charging weekly fees but terrible for owners. Stop ripping off patrons on course. There is so many things that could be done but none of them will be. Racing will be pretty much gone 25 years from now, but so will I be. Those were the days.
rypo
Guest
I think uniform terminology and a focus on basic education when it comes to punting should be on the list. If you want to entice non punters, one of the largest barriers to entry is the confusing array of term that jockeys, bookies, form analysts etc use. To get new blood at the track you need to inform the newcomers. The more knowledge on the topic you have, the more likely you are to have a bet and an enjoyable time doing it
Jim
Guest
As someone that only infrequently punts on the nags, a huge difference could be made imho by having better horse tracking technology at all tracks - similar to what NSW has bought in for at least its major meetings that allows one to easily see where the horses are in each race. Even simpler things like bigger numbers on the saddlecloths could help. Nothing worse than struggling to pick out your horse(s) (especially if on exotic bets) and to me its a real turn off against punting more and being more actively involved. At least with the dishlickers, I know that I can easily identify my loser in the run as its the same colours etc each time. It sounds like a simple whine, but for the 'disinterested interest' persons out there, it must be a frustration to plenty I would have though, especially in bigger races.
Cassia
Guest
Good discussion Matt, and one that deserves follow through. I would suggest as an incentive to get people to the track, the tote on course offer best of 3 tote dividends. Thereby giving punters an incentive to attend the course rather than bet at home. I would further more suggest tracks make it more obvious how much further a race has to run by more obvious sign posting or colouring the running rail in 200m increments from the 1000m. Keep the articles coming.