Well, first of all, we need to stop talking about the bulk of the sport - which is the raison d'etre for this and all other racing forums - as 'shite'. Sorry if you think it is, but it doesn't do the image and substance of racing any good at all to talk about it like that. If that were the case, then there's crap athletics, crap tennis, and one huge pile of silage which is lower-rung football. So let's drop the whining about 'betting-shop fodder'.
Some basics: SIS pays racecourse at least £4K PER RACE to show the races in all betting shops. Ergo, some racecourses barely need a gate intake to just get along. Perhaps that answers one of the most FAQs about Towcester: they can let people in free, because they're cushioned by the SIS payments and, possibly, by renting out their real estate for Any Other Business - which is what most courses must do to avoid being turned into Tudorbethan housing estates. So, cut the 'shite' out of racing, and most courses would collapse overnight, because they'd halve their cards and therefore their picture fees. You don't have to watch it, you don't have to bet on it, so if you want to remain an elitist punter, then just stick to the better races. Then it won't annoy you.
It seems to me that one needs to break down the issue of attracting a wider audience into finding out what racegoers actually want. To do that, each course should canvass as many racegoers as it can, since courses are diverse in terms of catchment area, disposable income of their patrons, number of meetings per year, etc.:
Do they want just a 'fun' day out now and then?
Do they want to go racing a lot more, perhaps because they're now retired, and have more free time?
Do they want to be involved a bit more, by joining racing clubs or syndicates? If so, how much would they be prepared to spend?
Do they want to be full owners of a horse or horses - and again, how much could they invest?
There's little point of honking on about buying a racehorse if your interest is just to have a fun day, perhaps with a bunch of mates or the family, once or twice a year - perhaps for birthdays, stag/hen parties, etc., or a work outing. So, once you've got X number of people saying they'd just like fun racing, then develop that theme:
What would you like on your day's racing? The list could be endless, but lets say we start with:
...An entrance fee of £5, all one enclosure
...An entrance fee from £10, with two or more enclosures, giving more elite areas in some
...A wide range of food and drink outlets (restaurant, bistro, cafe, mobile food vans)
...Basic bars, and a limited number of fast-food type amenities
...Plenty of activities for the kids, such as funfair, pony rides, other amusements
...Not interested in kids' facilities
...Disabled and creche facilities
...Special packages, inc. entry, card, a drink, betting voucher, racecourse tour
...Free transport to/from nearest railway station
...Adjacent to rail and bus services
...Other on-course or adjacent amenities such as a hotel/casino/golf club/leisure club
and racing/leisure packages
...On-course shop with assorted merchandise
...A range of competitions throughout the meeting - a lucky draw, betting comp, best-dressed lady/man, etc.
...Pre-racing tipsters
Anyway, you get the gist of it. From there, you know what the 'fun' racing public wants from its day out, and can pitch more to that if those are the majority results.
If they want to go racing more, then what would appeal most:
...Annual membership, basic
...Annual membership with additional privileges, such as: dedicated parking, inclusive race cards, dedicated bar, outings (to yards, studs, other courses), reciprocal meetings, etc.
...In the case of dual-purpose courses, Flat AM only, or NH AM only
Returning racing to Ye Goode Olde Days of top - or at least regular quality - races and meetings is reactionary, I'm afraid. Anyone thinking that Dundalk and Ffos Las (and the well-intended Great Leighs) isn't the future of racing is living in 1958. With 60 operating courses, the UK needs all the nags it can get - Ireland has a plethora of them and nobody really cares whether the card's stuffed with Class 5 and 6 contenders, because each race is still a betting opportunity. However, as far as the 'fun' racegoer is concerned, it's of considerably less interest to them that a horse is rated 0-60 than it is just having a nice day out, free from the humdrum and banal, and going home perhaps £4 up on the day.
Believe it or not - and this is aimed particularly at stay-at-home punters - most people who go racing go for a nice day out, not to paddock-pick, not to try doing their own sectionals, not to dispute the Clerk's going stick as more like 8.2 than 7.8. Such exotica are in very, very much the minority, and - judging from their postings on various forums - also very, very much the minority in actually going racing. So, there's no point at all in pitching a more elitist, quality-loaded, fined-down calendar at them, because they don't put money into racecourses. They put their money into betting, and thus by default into the Levy, but they don't help racecourses to survive by staying at home and doing their critiquing from their Laz-ee-Boys.
In essence, there's no one thing which is 'racing' - courses are too individual to be thought of as one lumpen clod. Horses are specialists, too - there are those who would no more want to run round Epsom than set fire to their tails, so there's little point in thinking that scaling back at X course means more good runners at Y. It doesn't, and it won't.
Anyway, it's an absurd time and I must get some zzzzzs in before Lingfield tomorrow.
