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If he dosen’t run, all PNs comments have done is line the bookies pocket. It’s tough enough trying to get a couple of shillings out of the bookies without placing horses that don’t run. It would be better if Findlay came out and spoke.
"According to Lydia today, horse racing is the second most attended sporting activity in the country"
Probably because it’s on every single day.
"There’s the rub, Graeme. The sacrifice is worth it to me, but I know I’m in a minority on this forum. As I said earlier, I’ve been racing on beer buses/stag dos and had a cracking time. And I know several lads who prefer racing now to football as a result and can’t wait for the summer."
I guess you’re right. I mean, look at darts and the atmosphere booze brings, and there dosen’t seem to be any great hassle. Maybe i’m being naive.
"What about the courses paying a tipster to educate the public? They run orientation seminars an hour before racing – free to attend with your ticket. They explain all this and go through the racecard bit by bit. No tips, just education"
I think earlier you wanted people introduced to racing who would never consider watching a race. Well people who attend courses don’t fall under this bracket. What would help would be racing sites no wanting people to subscribe all the time, and catchier advertising. Racing channels costing more than a bbc tv license dosen’t help much either, but if that’s the cost then that’s the cost. It’s a pitty there aren’t more races on council telly.(bbc 1&2, ITV, channels 4 & 5)
I will look into that article you mentioned, and see how much that book is aswell.
I sure the papers. and the bbc site, used PNs quotes about entering him for the race with headlines suggesting that he’s a definite runner. He in my book never said that, and the headlines are misleading.
I’m not that young, 26 soon, going on 76. Anyway, i can’t speak for anyone apart from myself. I just think that horse racing isn’t a sport that you can take to people in the realistic aim of it having widespread appeal. The potential market is the gambler. It’s the gambler who needs targeted, regardless of age. I think society focuses too much on the young at times. Target everyone from Granny Smith and her dog who like a shot at the bingo, to the wee man at the end of the street with a limp.
As far as introducing it to people at racecourse leve, which you’d know alot about Max, then it’s probably a catch 22, British youngsters go where cheap booze is. Then again so does trouble, so do you sacrifice the civility of a race track meeting to attract punters with cheap booze ?
Advertising for the novice would also help i’d imagine. Give the sport some glossy advertising in magazines and newspapers to add to the glamour. Explain to people what a furlong is, what a handicap is, what blinkers are, how the ground effects runners.
We can talk until the sun comes down, but it will always be about opinions. For me horse racing is a sport of the gambler, and therefore will only appeal to the gambler, regardless of age. Here’s a quick thought, maybe the BHA should take advantage on horse racing interest from you pound a year punter at grand national time, to bring the sport to them on a more regular basis ?
Fists – yes bookies are an integral part of racing, but the punter will always be there regardless of how few betting companys there are. If a dozen went bust tomorrow, then there are so many mainstream online sites that people would just move onto another one. Basically, the punter will always be there, and so will the bookie. Bookies are like drug kingpins, one falls and another is waiting to take his place.
Max – i think you’ve got the age old thought process whereas some people think that what’s good for us is good for everyone else. You obviously get a good buzz out of gambling, and thoroughly enjoy it. However, let’s not fool ourselves that it should be a past time that every youngster should partake in, or that they’re missing out. I love a bet myself, and i like looking at stats and trying to pick out a winner. Let’s look at the bigger picture though, gambling isn’t something that all youngsters should be involved in, the bookies would absolutely love that. In my humble opinion, betting is something that you find, it shouldn’t necessarily be put upon you by betting enthusiasts or over zealous advertising. I don’t think any country needs a generation of young folks throwing money down the pan, losing assets or having unpredicatble moods in accordance to what has happened on a race track or football pitch.
He so did not get on with Clare Balding. Years ago I was working for a bloodstock agent who was staying down at Goodwood (with JW and one fairly well known Impressionist among others) for the August meeting when I got a call from him asking him to fax in the following:
Dear Clare
Who is the best on the BBC team at doing a Paddock Inspection?
Yours sincerely
Miss R Soles (Rebecca)Fax duly arrived and JW who was in on joke thrust it under Clares nose to read out which she duly did not realising she had been set up. After reading out – Miss R Soles – she desperatly tried to redeem herslf by saying "shes called Rebecca!" but by then Wilson and comrades were in hysterics. Added to that a Paddock Inspection was their euphamism for a bl*wjob.
She never forgave him. The whole incident is referred to in the book and I really do feel mortified that I was the sender if not the culprit behind the deed.
"GTD, why do you ask me about Internet Punters? Have I said something?"
Nope. I just think that the ammount of punters who bet online is an indication that racing is going in the right direction in terms of progessional popularity as a sport. It’s not all doom and gloom.
What’s the deal with SPs btw, i done a google search and didn’t see anything about it.
Cheers Max. It’s a difficult one all the same. You obviously have a deep passion for horse racing. It’s not easy promoting a sport that goes hand in hand with gambling, which is for 18 and overs.
It’s simply not as marketable as football, or have the same mass appeal. Everyone had a football, but how many have had a horse ?
Being such an enthusiast, i thought you’d be delighted with the ammount of punters that internet gambling has brought to racing ?
What kind of handicap will hear the echo have for the national. It seems to have a small bit of backing in one or 2 places.
I can only think of what got me into the racing properly, and that was big name horses as opposed to the charisma of jockeys. Kauto Star and Deman, in my opinion, have more of a pull that any jockey. Then again, why not have both i suppose.
As for that American jockey you mentioned, i hadn’t even heard of her before, but i have heard of Big Brown and Curlin.
Could it not also be argued that, pre credit crunch anyway, racing was in a healthier position that ever before in terms of attracting punters. I’d imagine the era of internet gambling has seen to this ?
Little things that could also help, which can’t be stopped, is the early retuirement of class horses i.e Zarkava.
Yup, a good horse and good performance. I still haven’t changed my mind about the value though.
You’re entitled to your opinion obviously. I just wouldn’t be so quick to judge someone as i don’t know the going ons in their life. Your minds obviously made up though.
This is a very interesting comment in an article i read.
A wry certainty, instead, courses through him – and a couple of hours later he breaks his three-day drought and wins the first race at Salisbury on a 16-1 shot. As he stretches out his hand I remind him that his father once joked that he had become a "miserable *******".
"Yeah, when you’re wasting hard, your character changes. You lose your temper much more quickly. I was probably full of rage then. People might still say I’m miserable, but when you get to know me a little, like now, I’m OK. I’m all right really."
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This is taken for a separate article….
For it seems what is being portrayed as a bad attitude is no more than a combination of a hectic schedule, an intense focus on his job and an inherent shyness at a time when the sport’s wish of its fairy godmother is that its most successful jockeys are all media-savvy showmen like Frankie Dettori.
But even Moore’s driver, Mick Guest, says his passenger is so focused on the day ahead that he is hard to talk to on the way to the races. "During office hours," Guest says, "it’s tunnel vision, but he’s the life and soul on the way home."
Moore also readily admits to a distinct unease at being in front of a camera. "It’s not so much shyness but I’m just not very good at it," he explains. "I cringe listening to replays of myself. Even at school I never wanted to be there for the school photo."
There are parallels with jumping’s multiple champion AP McCoy at the same stage. His intensity cast him as an angry man in the early days, both are teetotal and both set themselves high standards.
