HORSE Racing Ireland [HRI] will take time to review the effectiveness of its marketing campaign for Irish Champions Festival but says it has received “positive feedback” on the event experience at Leopardstown and the Curragh and that “several performance indicators show positive results”.

In advance of last weekend’s prestigious two-day meeting, a number of media commentators and racing industry figures remarked on the apparent lack of publicity around the event. However, HRI says it began a comprehensive marketing campaign in July.

A senior HRI spokesperson said: “HRI, working with Leopardstown Racecourse and the Curragh Racecourse, undertook a sustained and comprehensive marketing and communications campaign to promote Irish Champions Festival, which began in July. A wide variety of channels were used including traditional advertising on TV, local and national radio, racing newspapers and national newspapers, as well as digital advertising on social media and digital audio channels.

“Outdoor advertising was put in place in the locality of both racecourses, as well as at the All-Ireland Football Final and the College Football Classic in the Aviva. To promote the festival internationally, promotional stands were taken at York and Newmarket. HRI partnered with international racing partners in UK, France, and with World Horse Racing to reach and engage their audiences.

“HRI also engaged with local, national and international media – both racing and non-racing press – in the lead up to the Festival.”

While there is no disputing that the racing on both days was top-class, many observers have commented that there was a lack of ‘festival’ atmosphere at Leopardstown in particular.

On that topic, the HRI representative said: “The feedback we have been getting about both days of Irish Champions Festival from a variety of sources has been positive. There was a marked investment in the event experience across both venues which was received positively from our feedback to date.”

Asked about the main objectives of the marketing plan for Irish Champions Festival, HRI said: “The number one objective of Irish Champions Festival is to showcase world-class racing. HRI’s main marketing objective is to grow the appeal of the festival and to encourage our target audiences to attend the festival.

“While it is too soon to comment on the Irish Champions Festival’s marketing campaign success, several performance indicators show positive results. We are confident that the marketing campaign performed well against its objectives and will take any learnings into planning for next year.”

The official attendance across both days was broadly the same as last year, coming in at just under 19,000 racegoers in total. Asked if there is too much focus on racecourse attendance as a barometer of a fixture’s success, HRI said: “Many factors contribute to a race day’s success, and racecourse attendance is just one of those. We have a broad set of KPI’s that also include the quality of the racing on offer, the customer experience, and the domestic and international viewing figures, in addition to the attendance figures.”

Flat racing is one of HRI’s marketing priorities. “There is no doubt that National Hunt racing has a bigger following in Ireland, but HRI is confident that flat racing has huge potential to grow,” the spokesperson said. “HRI’s five-year Strategic Plan prioritises the promotion of flat racing and that work is already underway.

“The industry statistics we see from racehorse ownership would indicate an upward trajectory in flat horse ownership and this is a positive indicator of engagement with flat racing that we will look to capitalise on.”