Racing For Change

Is the pr machine at work? - Racing has suddenly appeared in the media - sky news had a feature from Lingfield together with an interview with Noel Chance (or was it Noel Meade) about how difficult it will be getting horses qualified for Cheltenham
 
OK, here's a totally radical idea.

(OK, it isn't totally radical as you'll realise when you read on...)

The X-Factor and Pop Idol (ITV) and Strictly Come Dancing (BBC) have been huge financial successes. Why not exploit the format and try something similar with racing? "The 7lbs-X Factor", or "Whip Idol" (steady on...) or "Strictly Come Race Riding", featuring wannabe riders of all ages, shapes, sizes, abilities all competing for the chance to ride in a race at Royal Ascot en route to becoming a top jockey?

I'll be glad to host the show, if required, on account of my Robert Redford looks and Wildean wit, while Shadow Leader, Krizon (the eye candy judges), Flame (Mr Nasty Judge) and Merlin (Mr Sleazy Judge - only joking Merl) could award points and advise the contestants.
 
Last edited:
The guy on C4 imo is what is wrong about racing. What a comment though "i talk to lots of women in the office"
 
Pandering to specific groups doesn't strike me as the way to go.

C4 have had Leslie Graham, Emma Spencer, Tanya Stevenson, and Alice Fox-Pitt for long enough. I don't think it's brought many more viewers in.

BBC have had Clare Balding for a while and had Lydia Hyslop before without doing anything other than sparing us the inane rantings of Julian Wilson and Jimmy Lindley.

As for ethnics, if Ritchie [as AOB is wont to call him] Persad is representative of them, then heaven help us.

I have to say, my first thoght on seeing Nick Attenborough today was, "Jeezo, not another old school tie trying to change racing."

McCririck was right to pick up on this but I'd argue McCririck himself is old school tie but twenty times worse. Every time he appears on screen he probably drives away a percentage of potentially new racegoers. We need to get him off the TV screens for good.
 
Ashforth put up 10 or 12 points in the Racing Post yesterday (will try and find it and put them up) most of which could all be put into action pretty soon. They seemed pretty sensible.
 
How much lobbying does the BHA do at the top levels of the media?

We need influential people to be nagging influential people to get racing the same media coverage that cricket gets. Cricket gets mentions regularly on the news yet it's a load of cack.

Racing needs to be in the news.

If someone asked me what was the best thing to happen to British racing within the last generation or so I'd say it was a no-brainer: Frankie Dettori.

(No, I'm not saying Frankie doesn't have any brains...)

The guy - like him or not (and I do) - brought racing to the front pages. He was bubbly, to young women (and some men) he was attractive, to old women he was the playful grandson they wanted to cuddle, he was loud, he was arrested, etc etc...

He was news.

Much as I rate AP a phenomenon, he doesn't rate as news. No jockey riding today is news, apart from Fallon, and he's news for all the wrong reasons.

We need our racing personalities to be just that: personalities. We need them to say things that will get racing into the news (in the right way).

Paul Nicholls will make the news at Cheltenham when Kauto Star and Denman take first and second places in the Gold Cup. He won't make the news this evening. England's cricketers will and they probably aren't even playing.
 
To really light up Racing, it needs another Lester or Gordon Richards.
After STS won anything he ran in not many people in the office had heard of him, but they know about K Fallon alright.

Frankly, I don't think there is anything whatsoever that Racing could do to make a large difference in the public's interest - it needs a human super star jockey - on the Flat - to do it for them.

Meanwhile, Racing can work the PR machine & improve its house; as I said, that won't make a large difference.
 
Cricket is a major sport both in following and participation DO. Its publicity is just a reflection of that, its neither here nor there whether you like it or not.

Racing will not make the front pages because of jockeys i believe. Racing will always be seen primarily as a betting medium and sadly a fading one now that many more options are available. As a stand alone sport, it struggles because of identification. There is little real nationlistic or regional identification and however appealing some trainers and jockeys might be, it cannot capture the imagination of the casual viewer in the same way as tiger woods or steve redgrave say, because they are just one piece of a jigsaw. The best capture is the horses themselves and that works a bit with jumps because of their increasing familiarity over the seasons but struggles with flat of course because they are here today gone tomorrow

im not sure theres an easy answer to this. tend to agree with mrussell

As for publicity (again), racing is possibly quite fortunate to get the newspaper space and coverage it does
 
What racing needs is a top-spec promotional video.

Throw some cash at it, put it up on Youtube, and get C4 Racing to run with it during every broadcast - the Beeb too (to replace all footage of Parrot and the Fat Man).

If there is sufficient cash left over, broadcast it during commercial breaks on ITV and Sky during the World Cup - show the footie saps what they are missing.

Showcase the sport/action.

Dicking about with decimal odds is a waste of time, because it accentuates the betting side of the game, rather than where the excitement really lies - on the track.

The BHA's target demographic is not interested in betting on horse-racing anyway. Command of form/race-reading takes too long for Generation X to bother with, and if they do want a flutter, FOBTs and football coupons take a lot less effort for a much quicker buzz.

The BHA's focus is in the wrong place, imo.
 
Will credit Greydesire on TRF with best idea ive come across. A reality show with say Nichols Henderson and Mullins throughout a season. Week by week or whatever. Mainstream Tv. Three very articulate and intelligent trainers who would explain and convey the ups and downs excpetionally well (so long as they didnt do any singing)

Theres always an unfolding drama behind the scenes which should appeal to the casual viewer


i think a promotional video directed by a top class director could be a draw, rather than a boring montage of past clips and silly hats.
 
While I make no attempt to hide my contempt for cricket as a sport, I would argue whether its popularity, which I suspect is in decline due to demographic changes, in England is due to its widespread coverage in the media. Take that coverage away and the chances are it would nosedive.

England is merely hanging on to the coat tails of the other cricketing nations to whom it exported the sport. The English need to let go (the way Scotland did with football and golf.)

But of course I'm not being 100% serious in all this.
 
I think you are unable to hide your complete lack of knowledge about the sport...although i couldnt (as you suggest) take you seriously here

And even worse, you simply havent noticed that we beat the best team in the world during the summer and on the verge of beating the next best now

The idea that this sport (out of all sports) survives only on hype is incredible. I would say that cricket's devotees are probably more dedicated than those of many other sports (in my experience).



It would also disappoint you to know that scotland has one of the highest participation rates (% of population) in the UK. And that it is clearly thriving in Ireland :)
 
... because of the mass coverage it gets...:p

I don't understand the first thing about cricket. One of the family got a 'set' when we were young and I remember going down to the park to try playing. I'm not sure any of us had a clue. I think we tried it four or five times and gave it up. Rounders is much simpler. The English always try and complicate everything.

As for beating the top nations, it must be difficult to lose a game of cricket ... There seem to be more ways of getting a draw than a class of second year boys sharing one cigarette.

The Scottish participation rate surprises rather than disappoints me. It's probably an indication of the greater tolerance of increasing immigration we have up here...
 
Last edited:
Clivex - a reality show? Oh dear. I can see it now a cross between Booze Britian (the jockeys) and fantasy love island (the trainers).
 
Desert Orchid said:
... because of the mass coverage it gets...:p

As for beating the top nations, it must be difficult to lose a game of cricket ... There seem to be more ways of getting a draw than a class of second year boys sharing one cigarette.
Click to expand...
Test cricket is as difficult and complex as chess and certainly should not be taken lightly, draws are actually quite rare nowadays.
 
Australia - The best team in the world? Not sure about that Clivex. The old guard need to retire and the new boys ain't good enough.
 
Cricket and racing are actually remarkably similar DO; that's why they are my two favourite sports.

The key to both is the complexity of solving the puzzle, and the number of variables - racing has form (of horse, trainer, rider), ground conditions, track characteristics, distance, weight, obstacles, breeding etc. etc. Cricket has pitch condition and deterioration, condition of the ball, atmospheric conditions (the combination of the previous three, along with skill dictate whether a bowler will be able to swing, seam or spin the ball), form of players, intricacy of tactics (particularly test matches), the list goes on.

Baseball (rounders) is simply cricket with all the variables taken out, reducing it to a boring game in the same way that american dirt racing is like our racing with all the variables removed, also reducing it to a boring game.
 
Galileo said:
Ashforth put up 10 or 12 points in the Racing Post yesterday (will try and find it and put them up) most of which could all be put into action pretty soon. They seemed pretty sensible.
Click to expand...


Just remembered this now...

1) Abolish the three card trick -paying for parking, entry and racecard.
2) Extend experiments with free or reduced admission charges
3) A big screen at every racecourse on every race day
4) Television screens dedicated to the coverage of other race meetings
5) Food - reasonable in terms of quality and price
6) Adopt a modern dress code - smart casual wear
7) Promotion - More focus on the premier level meetings with the middle level should be funded largley through direct commercial neogiations between the racecourses and betting industry.
8) Bullet races - experiment with them
9) Scrap furlongs - should be metres
10) Develop a programme of big race Sundays
11) Create a must be there end of flat season championships
12) Customer care - On a raceday the racecourse managers should pretend to be a customer and keep asking themselves "what would aa customer think of this"

Alot of this is pretty sensible to me and very doable (apart from the end of season flat championships perhaps) - but what often turns me off going to the races is simply lack of information AFTER the race. I cannot see any reason why the racecourses can not have a contract with RUK, Channel 4, RTE, ATR etc that when jockeys/trainers are interviewed after the races they it is relayed over the racecourse sound system either live or shortly afterwards. There is nothing more frustrating than going to a big meeting but coming away from the day knowing no plans for the horses you have just seen, no excuses for the defeated horses, no reaction from connections etc. It is one thing that really puts me off so much as when I see an impressive maiden hurdle winner or smart looking two year old I want to know what the plans/reaction of the trainer was and future targets etc. I think it is little things like that, that keep people from going racing and just watching it on TV - find the benefits of watching racing from home and bring them to the racecourse.
 
Back
Top