- This topic has 77 replies, 30 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 11 months ago by
.
- Posts
Max,
It’s just occured to me why the ‘racing to music’ idea wouldn’t work.
You know exactly how long a piece of music is but you don’t know exactly how long the race is going to be.
One of my iPod experiments was with Bolero by Ravel but the race was run a little faster than expected & by the time the ‘big finish’ came in the jockeys had already weighed in!
Grass. You love it really…Anthony, I’ve got this mental image of a string quartet in my head: Was that the original Kempton idea? That would solve the timing problem, but not the volume.
Saratoga cards a steeplechase as the first race each Thursday in August, probably out of tradition more than anything. There’s always complaints from other handicappers that it’s "cruel", "barbaric", impossible to handicap (mind you, very few American race fans have even seen a jump race in person, let alone try to wager on one), the horses are all too slow for the flat, it takes away from the obviously superior NY-bred claiming turf sprints, and according to one racing commentator, steeplechasing is a completely different sport.
That said, mixed cards have worked at many other tracks, and would probably pique the interest of casual fans.
I don’t understand this continually need to find or try new gimmicks – Racing to music, mixed meetings – will that pack them in? I think we all know it won’t – not really.
However, there is something that we all know does work, here’s an example:
# 2793 the average midweek attendance at Salisbury 2008
# 2743 the average midweek attendance at Salisbury 2009# 4313 the attendance when Salisbury offered free admission last year.
Hopefully, the RFC initiate of a Weeks Free Admission, later this year may help focus the minds of our decision makers and betters.
Perhaps a more accurate measure of the result of Free Admission is to compare the actual attendance for the corresponding meeting from previous years.
Salisbury 2000 – 2009 – Last Meeting of the Season
2000 – 2063
2001 – 2563
2002 – 2685
2003 – 2471
2004 – 2370
2005 – 2324
2006 – 2911
2007 – 2822
2008 – 2259
2009 – 4313 – Free AdmissionPompete, I’ll admit something to you.
Alot of the gimmicks that get suggested that I approve of aren’t because I think they’ll get more people through the gates, they’re just things that I’d quite like to see personally.
Free entry is something I support for both reasons though. Let’s say the cost of entry is £20. Once you’re in you buy a racecard (£2), some food (£5 at least), some booze (£10 if you’re a lightweight like me) & have some bets (£50 last time I went).
Racecourses could increase the price of the peripherals slightly (let’s say £4 for a racecard, 20p more on a pint of beer & charge outside catering firms slightly more), they’d easily make up the lost admission charge & the people inside would have more money to spend on the other stuff. In my naive opinion, everyone would be a winner (except people backing Binocular today hehehehe).
While I’m at it, I’d like to suggest racecourses have a giftshop, not because more people would come but because it would be an extra revenue stream & I’d quite like a Haydock branded fleece!
:D Grass. You love it really…
Anthony, I’ve got this mental image of a string quartet in my head: Was that the original Kempton idea? That would solve the timing problem, but not the volume.
I’m not sure what the original idea was but it’s appealing to me again now you’ve said that.
Thinking about it, if you were going to have live musicians, why restrict it to just during races? You could have them playing all day long.
The parade ring area at Haydock is usually pretty quiet, a nice quartet playing in the background would be heavenly. Although if they were to play while the horses are parading I’d expect them to get pretty sick of the ‘Champions’ theme by the end of it!
Anthony, you’re right some of the gimmicks could be fun and enjoyed by the majority of us, so I don’t want to come across as being stuffy on the issue. Let’s by all means try new and different things.
On the issue of Free Admission, I’m not suggesting that this should be applied to all courses all of the time but rather should be used strategically throughout the year specifically to encourage more/new people to go racing as the evidence suggest that it works.
On Sportinglife Radio a few weeks ago they had an interview with the CEO of Towcester. What became clear from the interview was that there was an increase in revenue streams which where generated far beyond simply having more people spending more money at the course on raceday. For example, because of the increase in numbers attending the course they where able to extract a keener price from there suppliers and vendors…..It just strikes me that there really is a Brave New World out there for racecourses if they have the courage to engage in it.
Agreed the free admission at Towcester does work for them but the CEO at Towcester has also admitted it is not a model that would work at all courses.
I couldn’t see it being viable at the large courses where they are able to get near full houses charging extortionate admission charges (Chester and York for example).
However, as Salisbury have shown, it could work at smaller courses.
I suppose one problem is a large number of the smaller courses are privately owned and, dare I say, not always managed by savvy businessmen and are stuck with the “we have always done it this way” mentality.
I suspect it takes some nerve and a great leap of faith to go the “free admission” route and many are not prepared to take what they perceive as a big risk.
It will be interesting to see if Salisbury follow up on their free admission at their final 2009 meeting – if they do then other courses may pay heed and follow suite.
The other thing to bear in mind is Towcester is viewed as a rebel course as it is the only one not to be a member of the RCA – it could be possible there is some dogmatism in the RCA in not wanting to be seen to follow Towcester’s example.
Salisbury have already confirmed they will be doing the same again this year. Also as part of the RFC’s intitive of a ‘Weeks Free Racing’ both Ascot (28th April, Sagaro Stakes Day, Grandstand) and Goodwood (May 1st, Lennox & Gordon enclosures) shall be offering free admission.
It is RFC’s intention that one course per day for one week will offer free admission.
I would assume/hope that part of the initive would be some meaningful market research on the day of each meeting against which the success of otherwise of the intitive maybe measured.
Perhaps the BHA can confirm this.
I couldn’t see it being viable at the large courses where they are able to get near full houses charging extortionate admission charges (Chester and York for example).
The irony being that I wouldn’t go to alot of the big courses even if they were free. Chester in particular: too many people, too much snobbery.
As it stands, racing in the UK is too expensive to be considered a form of weekend family entertainment. People would rather go to a movie or football game. Tracks that have offered free admission have almost always increased their revenue, because more people=more people buying food/souvenirs/programs=more people betting.
Going back to the original subject, I can’t find a good reason to change the starting procedure for jump races. Besides the fact that quite a few horses hate the gate or can’t even fit, if it ain’t broke, why fix it?
Anthony, Chester is a definite visit. Caligula couldn’t have organised a better party than those on August Saturdays. Kicking off at ten in the morning, they’re still partying at three am.
Endless lager, gangs of Hollyoaks-style chickadees wearing little but high heel shoes, the odd punch up to let off steam and superfast racehorses burning round those twisty bends like living Ferraris; all drenched in summer sunshine. One of the few meetings I don’t begrudge a thirty quid lick.
Miss Woodford, I’ve got no worries about the weekend attendances here: Attendances at the course are holding up well. Kids get in free too – though I will support you on the food front. A scandal. I was told recently that there is special 1000 gns burger planned for Newmarket this year which is going to cost hungry racegoers around seventeen dollars (equiv)- without fries.
Salisbury have already confirmed they will be doing the same again this year. Also as part of the RFC’s intitive of a ‘Weeks Free Racing’ both Ascot (28th April, Sagaro Stakes Day, Grandstand) and Goodwood (May 1st, Lennox & Gordon enclosures) shall be offering free admission.
Not too sure if RFC can take full credit – Ascot announced their free admission on Sagaro day last November and without checking through my e-mails I am pretty certain the Goodwood announcement came before teh RFC announcement
It is RFC’s intention that one course per day for one week will offer free admission.
I wonder if RFC will be "underwriting" the initiative, in case courses do lose out financially?
I would assume/hope that part of the initive would be some meaningful market research on the day of each meeting against which the success of otherwise of the intitive maybe measured.
That would be the logical assumption however logic and UK racing do not always go hand in hand – we can but hope
I really hope the experiment works and even if free admission is not the answer then let’s hope there is a way of cutting admission prices. My main worry is can courses be forced to reduce prices or offer free admission?
Regading Chester Max has summed up perfectly exactly why I detest going there
Me too. If I want to get hammered while ogling young ladies wearing not much, I’ll go to a nightclub.
Or Haydock Park.
To be honest, I don’t like big crowds anywhere. As much as I’d imagine the Cheltenham Festival is fantastic (for example) I don’t think I could manage it.
As it stands, racing in the UK is too expensive to be considered a form of weekend family entertainment. People would rather go to a movie or football game. Tracks that have offered free admission have almost always increased their revenue, because more people=more people buying food/souvenirs/programs=more people betting.
You have it backwards. Racing in UK and Ireland is much better attended than racing in the US where admission is either free or just a couple of bucks. Outside of the boutique meets, the only people you see trackside at most US tracks are middle aged "capper" dudes who bitch about the price of a hot dog. People don’t go because it’s seen it’s seen as cheap, and therefore worthless, entertainment (of course it doesn’t help that most US tracks have all the charm of an industrial estate, and little variation in the races offered).
You get a much more varied client el on the other side of the pond, and more families too.
Grass. You love it really…
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.