Racing For Change

Diamond Geezer

Diamond Geezer

Gone But Not Forgotten
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May 2, 2003
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Marcus Armytage in The Daily Telegraph

Racing For Change, the new board which has been given the task of widening the sport's popularity, has announced the first 10 of a series of trials.



After an initial pronouncement last summer that the board wanted racing to attract more Bens than Brians to the racecourse, their first steps have been eagerly awaited by slightly sceptical racing insiders.

Best summed up as a raft of 'little things' it includes a trial of decimal odds over a weekend in the spring and funded media training for jockeys and trainers, who will be listed on racecards by the first names and surnames and who will benefit from a £100,000 fund to reward them for interviews with the non-racing media.

Racing For Change's report is highly critical of the "current reluctance by some of racing's stars to work more closely with the media, which is having a detrimental effect on the positive publicity that can be achieved" and this is one area they will attempt to tackle first.

Other ideas include the outcome of photo finishes to be displayed on screen at the same time as the judge announces the result, saddlecloth numbers to be larger to improve visibility, plus race names and racecourse announcements to be simplified.

Apart from trialling decimal odds, bookmakers will be encouraged to offer standard each-way terms. Individual racecourses will undertake initiatives to improve the enjoyment and understanding of a day at the races while a free membership club for young adults offering discounted admission will be set up along with a website to attract new customers and help novices. You can view an official video explaining the concepts at www.telegraph.co.uk/tv.

Chris McFadden, the chairman of Racing For Change, said: "British horse racing is the envy of the racing world with our abundance of outstanding horses. Yet the sport needs to work harder to connect with a wider public. This is, no doubt, a result of a significantly more competitive betting and leisure environment – so we have to raise our game."

He added: "Our recent consultations have delivered many more good ideas that we can start to implement. We just need the courage to trial them and measure the outcomes. Work to overhaul the Fixture List and develop racing's prize assets is under way and we expect to make further announcements over the next couple of months."
 
How are decimal odds any clearer than fractions. If you have not got a clue than decimals dont help. Ive had this conversation many times with people who feel the new generation of punters want the prices in between say 7-4 and 15-8 or the 19-20 instead of 5-6 or 10-11 but Im strongly of the opinion that fractions are sacred and if you want decimals than bet with the Tote.
 
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Gearoid said:
How are decimal odds any clearer than fractions. If you have not got a clue than decimals dont help. Ive had this conversation many times with people who feel the new generation of punters want the prices in between say 7-4 and 15-8 or the 19-20 instead of 5-6 or 10-11 but Im strongly of the opinion that fractions are sacred and if you want decimals than bet with the Tote.
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Absolutely. Why this constant pandering to the lowest common denominator? The great British public as a whole seem to be getting more and more stupid by the day as it is, without encouraging it further.

Besides which, how precisely are they intending to 'trial' decimal prices? Is this for early prices, board prices, starting prices, a combination of the three or what? The software overhaul that would be required to facilitate such a trial would not be workable for just a short period and apart from anything else, is another way of pushing the entire betting industry more and more into the pocket of Betfair.
 
:mad:The simplification of race names - what does that mean ?

The Oaks a mile and a half race for girl horses
 
Shadow Leader said:
Another way of pushing the entire betting industry more and more into the pocket of Betfair.
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Couldn't agree with this any more. Already have the media plugging Betfair at every possible opportunity.

Racing needs to modernise but pandering to a wannabe monopoly won't help the matters. However bookmakers need to make sure they keep their side of the bargain up as every bookmaker who goes 1/6 odds on-course simply drives more and more custom to the exchanges.
 
I couldn't care less whether the odds are presented in decimals or fractions. I don't necessarily believe one system will be any easier for the non-racing-orientated racegoer to understand and they tend not to worry about value, just about backing a winner.

I think it's just an idea to experiment with and maybe canvass opinion on it on the days in question then take it from there.

I imagine a number of such racegoers will be disappointed if they have a fiver at 5 (under the decimal system) and only get 25 quid back. I imagine they'd be thinking they were getting 5/1. I can see the bookies backing this change.

If Racing For Change really want to make an impact, they should be exploring ways of ensuring that much much more of money bet gets returned to the sport than is the case just now.
 
Shadow Leader said:
Why this constant pandering to the lowest common denominator?
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I'll take that as a pun. :)

I think going decimal is probably a good thing, as the young generation won't have learnt 'fractions' ... come to think of it, they have trouble with miles & yards, too, let alone furlongs!

Metric race distances next?

Not forgetting the common ignorance about stones & pounds .... kilograms must be on the way! :whistle:
 
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DO makes a good point. Ive paid out many a tote bet and most of time the punter thinks they are being left short, not realising the stake is included in the returns. All it will do is give Betfair a perfect PR weekend - SP 2.75 Betfair SP - 2.88.
 
Gamla Stan said:
Couldn't agree with this any more. Already have the media plugging Betfair at every possible opportunity.
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Even if that were true, then what would the problem be. Low-margin high turnover wagering is the future, just a shame the BHA haven't latched on to that yet with the tote up for sale.
 
mrussell said:
I'll take that as a pun. :)

I think going decimal is probably a good thing, as the young generation won't have learnt 'fractions' ... come to think of it, they have trouble with miles & yards, too, let alone furlongs!

Metric race distances next?

Not forgetting the common ignorance about stones & pounds .... kilograms must be on the way! :whistle:
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Metric distances are a much better idea IMO - well better than having decimal shows and EP's etc. since a number of other countries are already using metres for distances.

Like I commented to a friend a few months back the bookmakers will all end up taking a feed off Betfair with one or two tiny changes - course punters will be better at 4.1, 8.4, 9.6, 14.5 etc. in 6 months time.
 
On Sky Sports News last night they said the decimal equivalent of 15/8 would be 1.9 and 100/30 to 3.33. That just shows how much easier it would be?
 
If only that was true... hands up who mentally subtracts 1 from every price they see on Betfair?
 
The Sky Sports example you give Walsworth aren't decimal odds - the decimal odds version of 100/30 is 4.33 and 15/8 2.875. If they're not going to use decimal odds properly they're just inventing another form to go along with fractions, decimals, US and Italian odds.
 
Gareth - no, if it's 1.98, it's 1.98.

Is this decimalisation going to be a la Betfair or the example proferred by Sky? If it's the latter, I give up!
 
Irish Stamp said:
The Sky Sports example you give Walsworth aren't decimal odds - the decimal odds version of 100/30 is 4.33 and 15/8 2.875. If they're not going to use decimal odds properly they're just inventing another form to go along with fractions, decimals, US and Italian odds.
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I know that, but they didn't, that's my point. If a sports journo doesn't understand what difference will it make to Joe Bloggs?
 
Why not use both? BHA could provide bookies with larger boards to vacate this change, keeps everyone happy.
 
Richard Philips has suggested a major documentary about racing - as the only documentaries previously aired show the 'darker' side of the sport - might be a good idea?
 
I think 'racing' is too wide a remit for the public to take in in one indigestible gulp, but I can see it being a nice idea if it were to follow the exploits of an apprentice jockey, from earliest fumblings around at the racing school, first race, weighing-room protocols, words with the trainer, that sort of thing. Better perhaps to follow two apprentices, a young lad and a girl, to balance out the doc and show a career option to other youngsters.

It would be the sort of thing that could be stretched over a few half-hour programmes, introducing scenes showing other jobs being done, like the trainer and his secretary putting in race entries, a shot of the offices at a busy racecourse with the Clerk coming in from inspecting, etc., and discussing with personable types how interesting their jobs are. Also a look at how racing starts with foals on studs (and the people who care for them), emphasising how many aspects there are to the sport apart from betting issues.

I think it's true that there's been an emphasis on how bad racing's been, with the Fallon case and the two docs on crooks. It'd be good to have some balance, that's for sure, but whether a tv company would be up for that, it's hard to know. Worth the BHA putting out feelers, though.
 
lochsong said:
Richard Philips has suggested a major documentary about racing - as the only documentaries previously aired show the 'darker' side of the sport - might be a good idea?
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Would be a good idea but getting people to take part would be the hard bit.

It's been suggested that a program in a similar style to "Jockeys" in the US (without all the subsequent bitching about how somebody got a particular ride or X riders private life) - hopefully if they go ahead with this it will get more youngsters (under 18's) involved in the sport, there are enough young girls who watch show jumping and eventing so why not racing?

Racing needs to help itself and getting a handle on the media side of things and corruption would be a start to this.
 
Racing doesn't target its audience specifically enough, I feel. It says it wants to attract younger people and yet it doesn't actually do enough to achieve that. Yes, it ran Club 18-30 or whatever it was, but that has a slight whiff of the Girl Guides about it. All racecourses develop huge databases of local and area clients - they mass-mail to thousands of businesses offering them the chance to take up sponsorship, launch brands, hold conferences, hire very expensive hospitality boxes for corporate hooleys, etc. What they haven't yet done to enough is to reach out to households. Yes, they try to capture data every time you fill out a competition form by asking for your e-mail and home address, so that they can then send you pretty much the same guff they send to businesses. What they're not doing is holding enough days specifically geared towards younger people, whether they're married with kids or not. Putting on the occasional Family Fun Day is not what I mean. I mean encouraging displays and trade stands which will particularly appeal to the 20s and 30s demographic, including a kids' creche every meeting, free centre-course activities which are fun like go-karts, climbing walls, Wii Fit demos, local gym/health club stands, and a good live band playing danceable music between races and for a set after. Push for the age group which you say you want to engage in a way that's relevant to them, not lump them in with the 'fain daining' crowd at dotty prices, or grizzled old AMs who've been coming for the past 70 years. Open up more bistros (indoor/outdoor seating) on course and cut down or out the tacky-looking burger/chip vans.

Make it more 'cafe culture' oriented in the way that younger people live in towns and cities. That also encourages less heavy boozing - if you present a lot of your course as chips-to-go, you are sending out a rather different message than prawns tempura with a chilly Pinot Grigio (at sensible, not wallet-ripping prices). It's racecourses which need to change their own culture and environment, not expect to force people to adhere to some soppy dress code and then present them with either a restaurant at second-mortgage prices or a greasy van or a loud, beer-slopped bar. Simples!
 
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