TWO events on either side of the world last week provided racing both at home and abroad with no small amount of food for thought for the coming years.
The second of these events came with the ruling by the British Government that the maximum stake on the highly controversial fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) will be reduced from £100 to £2. It is thought that this change will bring about the closure of a large number of betting shops in Britain.
This, in turn, will impact on Irish racing as betting shops in the UK represent a key customer base for Irish racing pictures and it is generally expected that betting shop closures in Britain will result in a drop in media rights income for Irish tracks.
Indeed, it is estimated by the Association of British Bookmakers that over 4,000 shops will close and 21,000 jobs will be lost.
How accurate these figures will prove to be is open to question and, in contrast to this, betting shops in Ireland have been able to sustain themselves without ever relying on FOBTs which have never been in operation here.
In any case, it was hardly a sustainable long term business model for in excess of 4,000 betting shops to have their survival intrinsically linked what with are effectively slot machines and nothing short of a social blight.
Furthermore, it is hardly a comfortable scenario that an income stream for Irish racing is somehow linked with these machines.
CONSEQUENCES
The announcement concerning FOBTs and the potential consequences for media rights income for Irish racecourses called to mind the second of last week’s events, which came at the Asian Racing Conference in Seoul where Hong Kong Jockey Club chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges told delegates that: “Our brand [racing] is dominated by gambling and we have to change that perception.”
He added that racing needs to change its brand position and broaden its customer base.
These pronouncements warrant more than just cursory consideration as they came from a hugely respected and major figure in the world of racing who was outlining a potential future path for the sport to take.
The comments from Engelbrecht-Bresges offer a telling pointer that horse racing needs to look at how it appeals to its current audience and how it will interact with potential audiences well into the future.
How horse racing goes about this is remains to be seen and the solution isn’t going to be found overnight but the manner in which the sport appeals to audiences, established and new, it is of the utmost importance.
The fact that horse racing has now lies outside the top 20 most popular sports in the world, having once been ranked much higher, offers telling evidence that a change of direction is required.
Fillies find sales favour
AFTER getting off to a solid opening at Tattersalls Ireland last week, the National Hunt store trade moved on to Goffs UK this week where the company’s one-day Spring Store Sale posted a decent set of returns.
In a couple of areas the final figures came up just short of last year’s returns but the auction still posted an overall set of results which bode well for the next month’s pivotal Land Rover and Derby Sales.
Away from the top lots and the overall results for the Spring Store Sale, one noteworthy point was the level of demand for fillies.
In recent years, various initiatives, headed by the introduction of high-profile races at the major festivals, have been implemented with the aim of improving demand for fillies and the results this week would indicate that trade for fillies has come a long way in a relatively short space of time.
In 2015, 46 of the 65 fillies offered at the Spring Sale were sold for an average of £14,397 and a median of £10,500.
Admittedly a smaller sample of fillies were offered for sale this week but the results for this category make for encouraging reading.
Of the 46 fillies offered at Doncaster on Tuesday, 39 of them were sold. They produced an average of £23,564 and a £17,000 median which represents quite an upswing in fortunes in the space of just three years.
There is no reason why this trend shouldn’t continue into the coming weeks while those considering selling their filly foals next winter can also take heart from these results.
Triple Crown on the double
NOT since Omaha and Bahram in 1935 have there been Triple Crown champions in the same season on either side of the Atlantic but such a reality could move tantalisingly closer next weekend when Saxon Warrior will bid to justify his position as the overwhelming favourite for the Derby at Epsom.
The authority of his 2000 Guineas victory, his pedigree and the manner in which Ballydoyle inmates progress from their first runs of the season all make his claims irresistible at this stage.
Meanwhile, in a fortnight Justify will bid to join the immortals of American racing when he bids for Belmont Stakes glory in New York. Bob Baffert’s colt, who yet again emphasised what an unquantifiable loss his sire Scat Daddy has been, emerged from the fog and mud in Pimlico last Saturday to complete the Kentucky Derby-Preakness Stakes double.
Some 36 horses have managed that feat but just 12 have gone on to greatness at Belmont which underlines the task facing Justify.
However, this colt has already become the first unraced juvenile since 1882 to win the Kentucky Derby and looks more than well equipped for the task at hand.