"What can we do for racing" ??

Any positive feedback on yesterdays meeting ?

Plans going forward?

Don wrote: we have to keep on trying.

Don I have just replied to Tigershark, different topic but exactly the same scenario imho. Why do "we" have to keep on trying? I am a punter. I am happy punting horses in different countries, in fact I prefer it. Countries where the corruption is less. Like Mauritius and Hong Kong, France and the UK.

If SA racing closed today, I would not stop punting. Neither would the overwhelming majority of fellow punters.

Jurgs, growing the game in our back yard remains an important objective as most racing punters still prefer local racing.

Everything you say about overseas racing is true but pool punters could do with more players and bigger pools which I don't see happening on the local pools for international racing events.

No doubt you and most of us would find another outlet for our habit but the industry is a big job provider and this should be protected and expanded on at all cost.

Our country cannot afford to treat limited employment opportunities with apathy and disdain. Every one of us will benefit from more attractive and growing pools locally.

Jurgs, you are 100% correct, racing does not need you.

Tigershark wrote: Jurgs, you are 100% correct, racing does not need you.

Tigershark I have never met you or Jurgs but your answer typifies the attitude that the operators have with respect to punters. You are not entitled to a Rand of my money so stop acting as if I am doing something dishonest or immoral by boycotting the tote. I disagree with a lot of what Jurgs has to say, however he is 100% correct in one thing. The punter is the most important cog in this machine. The operators can not survive without the punter. The punter can however survive without the operator. The sooner that you realise this, the sooner you will play your part in correcting the downward slide SA racing is on. Have you ever wondered WHY punters prefer supporting bookmakers?

Think a little about that before you start your childish and ill thought sarcasm.

good and open debate yesterday - issues were prioritised by what can get done in the next 6 or 12 months. Attention will be given to the grooms issue (NHRA), horses coming out of racing - plans for care programs, better communications to press, look into making things easier for syndicates to form in horse ownership. Task teams were appointed to do follow through. Some issues unfortunately did not get discussion time as they are more complicated and the day ran out of time (nearly missed my flight back to CT!). One issue is of course information flow to punters.
I am sure Phum will do a proper press release about the Indaba soon.

Some interesting comments. I agree with OTA in fact I feel even stronger about boycotting the tote , in fact we should be picketing outside every tote in SA just to teach the opperators to look after the customer. They have forgotten about the customer to busytrying to impress eachother.

Yesterday I was at Kenilworth. There were if that 50 people on course on the ground level. Yes there were people behind the windows and in the boxes but 50 ordinary people is just pathetic and sad. At one stage I counted 10 people including the book makers watching a race in the open. What the hell. The best experience any punter or future owner will have is to stand at the rail and hear the horses run with jockeys shouting and whips cracking. It's all about the excitement of the race. Before TT that's how most of us grew up and got involved in this game. On Saturday while watching at a rail some novice visitors goto so excited he turned to his wife and said I think it's time we bought a horse. But no the opperators would rather spend R5 million on Racing it's a Rush, invite guests and put them behind what I call the glass wall.

My oppinion is that the opperators keep making the same mistake with a top - down approach instead of a bottom - up approach.

Warren, RIAR has a specific role which is yielding good results. The betting division and of course Phum marketing is responsible for dealing with existing punters and the customer service linked in there. Blaming RIAR is misdirected.
Phum is busy looking in to ways to improve the CRM. I can't comment wrt to the details all I can say at this point is that they are aware that improvements in various sectors of delivery is needed.

Don thanks for the update

Firstly I am not blaming RIAR I am blaming the opperators.

Seconly for that amount of money can you briefly givery me examples of these improvement, how many invited guests have purchased shares in horses , how has the growtg of their Data through Social.media , how many new punted have they attracted. R5 million rands worth it doubt it .


R 5 million could have upgraded how many totes , educated how many staff in customer care , improved how many punters lives in having an enjoyable day at the races . That's Bottom up not inviting the top 50 students from Wits to come eat and drink as much as they like in a cozy lounge and not taking a bet.

If "Racing It's a Rush" was to be combined with a social and gambling racing game it would gain a lot of traction and deliver on multiple objectives.

In isolation it's hard to quantify the results and to market racing properly with what is at their disposal.

Introduce a platform that not only engage new players but measure their numbers and activity as well as conversion into mainstream involvement.

RIAR can be given some teeth and produce very measurable results plus provide a healthy return on investment by combining it with a better offering than the standard products on offer.

Warren, firstly, the budget isn't R5mill. It is far less.
RIAR has a following of tens of thousands (direct, organically attained and totally retained, meaning, we've had no fall out, growing). We have no way of measuring the organic following's following (the reach which is secondary and tertiatry etc)...

The ambassadors and media that we have invested our educational time in to were selected for their large following, most have 25 000+ followers. They are still on board...it is important to retain them...

A % of our ambassadors have converted to regular punters, some have bought in to horses via syndicates and a large number at every opportunity without fail enquire about how to own a horse. We hand them over to the RA at a certain point, or a reputable trainer who can effect the conversion - those who would like to own a horse.

At each encounter or event we have racing buddies at hand (explain form, general racing etc), as well as betting buddies, in a control environment. We are focusing on the flagship racedays as it provides the aspirational factor. Ambassadors go through a process of learning before they even come to the track with us, this is of course not visible to you. WE have found that one-on-one attention is vital as the learning curve is steep. We understand that we will only be able to convert to punters and owners a section of our followers, the rest we hope to turn into fans.

In addition, we endeavour to help the general public understand racing and you will see this in our Twitter feed for example, we hope to expand on this part of our roll out. We are of course qualified to deal with levels beginners up to professional punters but in the first phase only dealing with beginner/introductory level. There is also activation that you may have noticed at lawn level in terms of 'public villages' - apart from the actual ambassadors. Then we have some activations outside of racing as well. We also build relationships with the general press to help them understand and keep them informed as to what is happening in racing and to provide assistance with building up interest. It is a slow and organic process.

Just replace the word Racing with Casinos and you realize how crazy it is that "customers/punters" are trying to save an industry that they have zero say in - I wonder how many Casino punters worry that their addiction/hobby will close if they don't make suggestions to the Casino bosses on how to run the game. I speak only as a punter and from that point of view I have been neglected for decades, and considering that it is my gambling money that keeps the train going I wonder why I have no say - Owners Associations, Trainers , Jockeys , Grooms but the funding mushrooms have no say and when we do bring it up on forums or SP we are only seen as dissidents - I can honestly say that about 40 years of my 48 on this earth have been consumed by racing but if Racing were to stop tomorrow I would not care - 5 years ago I would be distraught but the slow erosion of the integrity of Racing has poisoned my passion. I have made good friends through racing and on occasion good money and for that I am thankful plus the great memories but fighting against a system intent on destroying itself has turned me - Basics like keeping tracks in good shape, employing the correct amount of stipes etc , punishing those that harm the game through doping and mistreatment of animals, keeping punters happy by ensuring any doubt in tote payouts is elininated .... these are the things that have been neglected and these are the things any 'thinking punter" notices and remembers - afterall racing is supposed to be a game of skill so any rational person will realise they are on a hiding second to none with the slide of standards over the last 10 or so years ...