I’m not sure the Order of Merit did much to promote racing Adam. Racing has a recent history littered with failed attempts to capture the public imagination with what I would term ‘contrived’ competitions/contests such as the Shergar Cup.
You are right though, we don’t do enough to promote the horses. Horses like Kauto Star or Sea The Stars could do more for racing than any artificial competition ever will if their marketing potential was maximised.
Same goes for big races such as teh Grand National and the Derby. I’d guess that most of the people on the forum could trace back their initial fascination/interest with racing to one or other of those two events.