IS RACING THE WORLD'S MOST BORING SPORT?

Darnit - we should have a 'like' button for posts.

Barry - thank you ! I can't remember whether I FB friended you before or after the Derby (!), but thank you so much for your post.

It is all very well for 'the usual' suspects to moan about the lack of coverage and focus on the horse, but comments from people like you really carry a lot of weight and add momentum and much needed push to the argument.

There are a lot of horse lovers out there. Fact (I can probably dig out some stats if anyone is interested). Quite why humans are so fascinated with these wonderful beasts is a mystery, but that there is a connection is unquestionable. There is a large (and sometimes quite random) number of the public who have some inexplicable yearning to see and know a horse. If you are one of those chosen few, horses really do just make one feel good on some level in a way that nothing else can. But there has to be an initial single attraction. The hook seems to have to be baited with a particular horse.

Everyone has that one specific horse that got them into racing. That big horse that they used to follow. I go back time and again to Zenyatta and how much she did for horses and racing. If people fall in love with a horse (and we know that that is possible), then they can and will want to follow racing.

I'm not a statistician, but I do like the example of the 'infinite curve' which I think comes from the world of sales. In a graph of any industry, there will be a dramatic spike showing the big money 'hit' (say for example the launch of Ipods or some such gadget when there is a massive initial interest and sales spike), which then tails off into infinity as there are small, but continuous sales which sustain the survival of the company.

I would wager that racing is similar. Sure we have some big hitters that lay big money on punts, but isn't it the smaller guy with his R6 minimum bet who comes racing regularly (and there are a lot of them at our tracks), who will spend his R100 or R200 per day and do so on a regular basis that really keeps the show on the road ? A lot of those small bets all add up to a lot of money.

I am not a punter (I know - shock-horror), but I do know that if I have a specific interest in a race, I will often frivolously have a silly win or place bet on a horse (I am a horribly bad punter and anything I put money on is guaranteed to run at the back of the pack, so I will often bet the favourite in a race where I want something else to win. It's a silly thing, but it amuses me). This is the same way we see tame members of the public who have no clue about racing take small bets on big race days. They want to be part of the action. Ok, their interest is a bit more fleeting and superficial, but it's the same idea. And they bet very much on the same principles that I'm angling at - a horse with an interesting name, a grey, or an appealing pair of silks. It's entirely random, without any real hope of any monetary return and done purely for the fun and satisfaction of holding a ticket.

Anyway, imagine if we could fire the imagination and excitement of people a bit more efficiently ? Imagine all those entirely random Zenyatta fans all coming to the track to have their R6 minimum bet. That adds up to a whole lot pretty quickly doesn't it ?

zsuzsanna04 Wrote:

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> Everyone has that one specific horse that got them
> into racing.

Mine was a grey called Chesterfield. Don't even ask how many years ago that was.

Attached is the forward to Les Carlyon's book True Grit. Hope you can open it.
Carlyon is a brilliant turf writer and sums up in a few pages why horseracing is a great sport.
As Carlyon writes, "Racing is about horses and people, the rest is dross."

Attached files True Grit.PDF (392.7 KB)Â

Barry Irwin Wrote:

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>
> There are, I reckon, hundreds and thousands of
> such fans across the width and breadth of
> America.
>
> But because the racetracks are the lone entity
> that promotes the sport in America, and they
> survive by punting, these sport fans go largely
> unnoticed.
>
> Garrick: question....if you find racing so boring,
> why do you come on here and post? There seems to
> be a lot of bored and fed up and frustrated people
> that post here that don't like racing. Why do they
> congregate here?

Mr Irwin, FH and Suzanna - I couldn't agree more - there are loads of fans here in the UK in the same way and loads of fans in SAF going unnoticed - these are the loyal ones, the ones with the emotional connection to the animals, or even just the people who want to have a little part of the action on big days - have you seen Epsom crowds? wow. These belong to the band of market segment that the far east honed in on and built their racing followership. What is Australia's strategy - anyone care to comment?

Mr Irwin the frustration is that SAF racing has so much to offer but they are somehow not getting the strategy right even in the presence of good role models in other countries. Worse still, the strategy is going in the wrong direction in that it seems to be all and only about betting tickets.

As for Garrick, thank you for the offer - it would be good to meet up and bandy about racing's ills with some vino! Perhaps you can be helped out of your boredom and disillusionment about the sport...viva comrades! lol

magiclips Wrote:

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> zsuzsanna04 Wrote:
>

---

>

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> > Everyone has that one specific horse that got
> them
> > into racing.
>
> Mine was a grey called Chesterfield. Don't even
> ask how many years ago that was.

Mine was Cool Gambler.. (I remember Chesterfield only as a sire and specifically of Chester Cherub)

Cool Gambler, the Bulawayo Rocket. Good memories!

With you Garrick, I agree Mr Lips, about the 30 seconds. <

Show some respect(

Horseracing has many sides to it viz Breeding Owning Betting and every owners dream to win that Grade 1 .Horseracing is alive and well if only for the current economic situation was better ,Anyone who knows and loves this sport will tell you winning races is what it is all about not the money but the thrill you experience.

JULY FEVER could be called a strange sub-tropical disease which makes an annual apperance in Durban around mid May .It goes on to reach epidemic proportions,before finally subsiding and leaving those afflicated either a little richer or poorer,but all conscious of the fact that they have experienced a great event. HORSERACING

This is a good post, and you've really set the ball rolling, I hope, Garrick.

Let's be honest. It is very difficult to get anyone interested in racing, but there are ways and means and nobody is trying, especially the operators, sad to say, though the onus rests not with them but with the Racing Association and the Racing Trust.

Towards the end of my tenure as Chief Executive: Marketing, of the Highveld Racing Authority, when Phumelela came into being (and I'm going back a long way in time, some 14 or 15 years ago), we started a programme where we brought school groups to the training centres, as part of their careers guidance programmes, and introduced them to racehorses and the people who train them, ride them, care for them, treat them medically etc. We would have jockeys like Johnny Geroudis, trainers like Gary Alexander, and several others, who would generously give up their time to talk to these young people and explain more about the sport and the racing industry. We enlisted the help of several vets, like Dr Niven and the late "Crockie" Du Preez, to talk to these groups. And we even took many of these pupils (I'm sorry, but I loathe the word "learners") on outings to the races.

Of course, we had to do all this under the pretext that we were offering guidance as to the scope and breadth of careers in the racing industry, whereas we were really hoping that we would encourage young people to develop an interest in racing and ultimately , become its new supporters, whether as owners or.punters. Gratifyingly, several youngsters requested the opportunity to work part-time in racing stables in the school holidays, and I like to think that a few did enter the industry in a working capacity. These were youngsters from all socio economic groups - pupils from elite schools, who would go on to become the captains of industry and pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, whose only view of a horse had possibly been that of an emaciated creature pulling a cart in the streets of Soweto..

Unfortunately, this initiative was ditched when Phumelela came into being and the focus of its marketing activity was switched to betting. Likewise, the decision by all the then racings clubs of Southern Africa to embark on a national PR campaign was reversed and today racing has no profile at all. There is no central body to propagate the sport of horse racing and only a very small percentage of South Africa's population is even vaguely aware of racing's existence. I have been involved in doing vox pops in the streets of Johannesburg for TV documentaries and most people cannot name the sole surviving racecourse in Johannesburg. As to who the hell Mike De Kock was, most of those interviewed thought he might be an Afrikaans pop star.

The one hope of survival which racing has, that of reviving an interest in the sport/industry, and showing what a great and glorious past it has enjoyed, by means of a television documentary series, has been spurned by all the organisations which should be falling over themselves to participate. Without giving potential participants a fix on what horse racing was, in its glory days, and what interest and excitement it offers, how on earth can we ensure its future? The documentary series which my son, Aidan, has been working on solidly, for the past three years, and which has consumed a great part of his life, has been supported only by the TBA, up until now, an organisation which has seen the merits of capitalising on racing's history to build its client base (as witness its excellent museum). But an undertaking such as this is vast, and cannot be completed without financial support. One might have thought that bodies like the Racing Association and the Racing Trust would place more store in a project like this, than in publishing a calendar for existing members, but no one from those organisations has even bothered to take a look at what progress has been made.

Racing needs heroes. No more so than now. Time was when you went to Durban for the winter holidays and the Durban July was on every Indian waiter's lips at the hotel at which you stayed. Today, I'll bet you, few would even be able to name a horse running in the race. The problem is that there is no national body to ensure that racing's great moments, our wins on foreign shores, etc. are made known to the general public. When last did you see a racing related story on a national TV news bulletin? Racing needs widspread media coverage to if it is going to generate new lifeblood, not the incestuous preaching to the already converted which it currently relies upon. Bloodstock agent, Mark Tarry, summed it up beautifully in an interview which the Sporting Post conducted with him, a couple of weeks ago. I commend you to that interview, though I'm not going to take up the space to repeat the relevant section in this posting.

I have been personally taken to task by members of this forum for bleating on about the breeding of horses when I am presenting on Tellytrack, but it should be remembered that most viewers of the programme are already converted otherwise they wouldn't be watching. They are either punters or people who love the sporting side of racing (the latter probably in the vast minority). Anyone tuning in idly, or pressing the buttons on his/her remote control and alighting on channel 232 could be forgiven for thinking that they might have tuned into a Bloomberg type financial report (not a Robert Bloomberg report, though more of his type of knowledge and input would be welcomed) or the latest financial indicators. Simply put, we have lost touch with racing's heritage, and with the sport of horse racing. No wonder Garrick has come to find it uninteresting.

Would that Garrick had some positive suggestions as to how to make the presentation of racing more interesting, both on course and on TV, but he doesn't come up with any. Perhaps, Garrick, if we better acquainted potential participants with the background to racing, where it has come from, and people were encouraged to develop an interest in it as a grand and glorious sport, involving the most noble animals known to man, and not just as a betting medium, you and others would find it a great deal more interesting.

moderator, you need to add a like button. right now so i can click on it here.

Neighmaster, fyi Garrick has campaigned for years about what you are requesting from him both behind the scenes and in support of proposals sent to influential groups in the industry that could have changed the course of history as we know it. It is quite sad to hear that a programme for introduction of racing at ground floor level that existed was shelved. It probably really could have made a real difference.

It is pointless having good suggestions if they just continuously fall on deaf ears yes? How can we unite and make the changes that are so necessary become reality if the major power holders keep pretending they are deaf and blind to the solution they know should be adopted. How bad must the shake up be or the demise before real change happens? Or will it be a case of total collapse and out of the ashes the Phoenix will rise with people like the Neighmasters, Garricks et al at the helm. I hope so because the current situation is untenable, and has been for decades.

The usual reason for non-progression with good programmes from various industry groups are 'funds not available' and then pass the buck of responsibility to the next industry lead group whichever it is TBA/RA/GC/Phum/HRA. Well, it has reached the stage where the industry as a collective cannot afford not doing something about it.

Thanks for that, Don. I certainly didn't mean to do Garrick a disservice, but I could see that his disillusionment was setting in a long time ago. Would that his like, as you say, have been in a position to chart the future course of horse racing.

I am pleased to be able to report that the "Legends" series and the history of racing series are by no means dead in the water. The need to look back at the past, if we are to safeguard our future, has been recognised by one wonderful benefactor, but why should this be a single-handed rescue attempt?

The great pity is that funds seem to become available if they are for causes which will advance the interests of individuals. Some of these are mere frivolities.

The "long service" awards handed out to trainers, in recent times, were something of an advance. These were a great initiative on the part of the Racing Association but how much more meaningful they would have been if each award had been accompanied by a short video, detailing the achievements of the recipients, during the replays programme, or during the downtimes, on Tellytrack, between international races? Or they could have been uploaded onto Youtube and linked to the RA website. It sounds as though I am touting for more work. I can assure you that I am not, but that sort of initiative would at least contribute towards keeping the sport of racing alive and well in South Africa.

Racing has become such a closed shop. It has to be viewed on free to air channels and beyond the confines of Tellytrack if it is to have any chance of survival. And racing's existing fans and supporters need to demonstrate to future generations that it is as much a sport and an exciting spectacle as a betting medium, with a past which has produced any number of greats - horses, jockeys and trainers - to rival the greats on the cricket fields and the football and rugby pitches.

South African horse racing today is recording some notable international achievements, to rival those of our great golfers and our cricket and rugby teams. But who ever gets to hear about them, beyond the existing circle of horse racing afficionados? How the hell do we increase the size of the pie if we don't broadcast our achievements far and wide? How do we prevent a situation in which the sport comes to be dominated by a small coterie of owners with the means to buy the horses from our breeders? How do we prevent the boredom which Garrick is already finding in the sport being exacerbated? How will we create horse racing legends of the future if the legends of the past are not properly celebrated?

The answers, as you say, Don, are there. But nobody seems to be willing to pick up the ball and run with it.

Neighmaster. Could i get a precis'd version. I cant concentrate long enough to read all you posted.

As long as the current marketing team in SA racing remain in place racing be screwed.

We are world class in so many ways yet only the world seems to know. SA seems completely oblivious.

MDK, Whyte, Felix, Muis, Trevor Denman, The Becks, All better known outside of SA than in SA.