L' Ormarins Queens Plate - Really?

This may be an unsubstantiated rumour but I have been led to believe that Kenilworth Racing plans to charge an admission fee of R350 to the Queens’ Plate. What the organisers plan to do to justify this charge has yet to be revealed. My guess is – nothing.

That should effectively trim the attendance by the general public from an anticipated 100 down to about 40 and is yet another in a long line of gaffes perpetrated by the completely out-of-touch individuals who direct this sport.

Raising prices when times are tough is a peculiarly South African ‘thing’ which I have noticed over the years. Pricing a special sporting event is usually dictated by higher demand than would be the case for a normal event. Not only are most of the public likely to be blithely unaware (marketing?) that the event is even taking place but few of them are likely to care. The general consensus in Cape Town suggests that horse racing is so last century.

Those who are aware of the LQP are likely to be cosily ensconced in the more exclusive areas; merely re-enforcing the perception amongst the less well heeled that racing is an elitist, white male dominated activity.

All that is now required to turn the event into a complete PR catastrophe is to extend an invitation to Markus Jooste. And why not? All of his buddies & partners still infest the sport so why not have a ‘kiss and be friends for a day’ gesture for old times’ sake?

Tickets go on Sale on Wednesday www.lqp.co.za/tickets-hospitality/

Not sure if there is a general access ticket, will ask

Very seldom will I disagree with Garrick on any topic as he mostly makes a lot of sense but on this one, even though he could still be proven right, I think that the organisers could be justified in trying a different approach. When I was studying marketing one of our case studies involved a company producing shirts trying to make an entry into a competitive market. They attempted to gain market share by offering quality shirts at a lower price than the main competitors that they were up against. A total failure was the outcome and they had to rethink their strategy. The next attempt was to sell the shirts at a markup of 20% over the opposition and they couldn't stop selling. The moral of the story is that price in this market was linked to quality perceptions and their unusual but bold strategy paid off.
The important factor though was that the quality of their shirts were never in dispute.
Now racing admittedly is another story as far as perceptions go but on all accounts the QP race day is a very well organised and supported event that receives higher accolades annually than Met day.
If ever charging an entrance fee would work it would be this day on the calendar as long as the perceived value were visible to those interested in attending.
Free offerings might appear attractive but for some people it indicates a low value offering and not worth attending. Years of free entrance has done little for crowd surging and it could do little damage to change direction.

Just bye the bye - I went to the MET last year - hadn't been for 6 or 7 years. ( had been going to queens plate instead )

it was NOT A PATCH on the Lo'rmarins queens plate - & i do intend going back to the L'Ormarins in Jan.

they do put on a much better show than the MET - in ALL departments ( TOTE ESPECIALLY ) & the price tags are pretty similar for both events...... just my 5cents worth.

Your 'shirt analogy' misses the most crucial point when comparing it to horse racing.

With the purchasing of the shirt the expenditure ends right there. You've got your shirt; do with it what you wish. The purpose of staging a race meeting from an 'operator viewpoint' is not simply to get people to the course but also to solicit bets from them.

A punter of limited means might consider going to a race meeting with R500. Assuming free entrance to the unglamorous public enclosures he would expect to have about R400 to bet with. The remainder might be set aside for refreshments.

A couple of successful win/place bets could see him turn over the R400 two or three times during the afternoon without necessarily showing much of a nett profit ( Saftote regards it as perfectly acceptable business to return diddly squat (R0) profit on a bet whilst still raking (raping?) off their takeout ).

Should he put bets totalling R1,000 through the tote via churn he will probably have contributed at least R200 to 'putting on the show'

For this class of punter (which the operator claims to cater primarily for in their suite of bets) it makes little or no sense to blow R350 just to get in as the race day experience in the lesser enclosures is likely to be no more or less hospitable than on a normal day. In fact - he would be better served by sitting in the on course tote (about 200m from the members entrance) and 'saving' himself the R350.

Point taken Garrick and the reason why i said that you could still be proven right. What is debatable is who the operator actually wants at events and whether an entrance fee will stop the die hard from punting off course as you mentioned. If it is new people you want in racing punters and owners) you might want to attract a new breed which might actually enjoy the glamour and a touch of exclusivity at the non garden variety race day. More than enough days with free entry to those wanting their fix to try something different at the bigger events. Also saw mention of free entry for regulars so not too badly thought out in my opinion.

On another note R350 wouldn`t get you into Plumpton on a Monday in the UK

Interesting, my guess is that the lads are trying to make it an upmarket affair and actually dont want the tote office punter attending.

As Bob mentioned it cost Mrs S and myself 60 quid as pensioners to get into a meeting at Musselburgh
So double the price of a ticket for Queens Plate.

A kick up the teeth for the day to day punter who keeps the industry going.

Like step aside lads, you're not important enough to come and see the Live horseflesh on a big day.

One of those old Victorian days where only the hierarchy can attend and the slaves need to be out of sight.

This is not the UK, this is South Africa.

Verry interesting topic. Although I agree with LSU that what the operator is actually intending to do is make it an “upmarket” affair and try and bring about change in the industry, I do not believe this is a successful strategy. Take Durban and the VDJ race day. Sold out to all the corporates and lots of glam on show. Great 1 day for horse racing and the operator but it does not lead to increased revenue or attendance throughout the rest of the year. In fact it does the exact opposite as the hospitality on course is basically a white elephant for the remainder of the season.
Meanwhile every day the R100 punter whether on course or at his local tote continues to feed the machine.

Imo .... it depends on what the R350 gets you - if this gets you in to an area 400m away from the post with seating in the open on temporary stands and limited tote and catering facilities, I say it is a rip-off - and it really makes no sense comparing the attendance in SA to the UK - one could just as well say that a piece of steak in the Spur should be charged at R500 because that's what it would cost in the UK

If the R350 gets one entry to the 'main' grandstand with guaranteed seating and convenient tote and catering facilities, it is still expensive, but for a 'grand' event I would consider it - rather than forking out a couple of grand for entry into the 'exclusive' enclosures

I cannot see Kenilworth Racing being responsible for charging a ludicrous entrance fee. This makes no sense at all, they would far rather have that money churning through the tote. My take on this entrance extortion, if it is true, is that it would have come from the sponsors, See it more as a measure to keep the riff raff out than get undesirables in. Very much an effective barrier to unwelcome "gatecrashers". Keep those snooty noses unruffled on the day. As for Jooste, I think that there's more chance of Lord Lucan attending, the animosity between the two parties is well known.

The marketing of this event has always been a few notches above where Kenilworth could only dream of, and I would expect thousands of comps to be handed out to Cape Town's celebrity set and perhaps pre-approved students. This would provide the necessary "rent-a-crowd" so that the Queens Plate can again be seen as the event of the Cape Season.