The Worst Job in Sports
USA Today calls being a horse groom the worst job in sports. I don’t know about that — it sounds like being a team mascot or a urine collector is far more onerous.
Marketing Racing
How can racing attract more young people to the sport? That question comes up in a couple of recent interviews, one with handicapper Rick Lang and the other with outgoing Thoroughbred Racing Association president Joe Harper. Spend an afternoon at any track on a typical day and it’s pretty clear that the industry needs to find ways to draw in more fans under 50. Harper suggests better marketing: “We need to reinvent how we present our product to the public in a way that is sexier and more appealing…. We haven’t been very good at doing that.” No, racing hasn’t done a very good job of presenting its product, which I find sad because I love the sport and wish that more people in their twenties and thirties followed the horses or even just thought spending an occasional day at the track was a fun thing to do and not an exotic adventure.
Creating and motivating new fans — especially among the young — isn’t impossible. The popularity of Smarty Jones and Funny Cide, and the success of “Seabiscuit” (book and movie), shows there’s a receptive audience. A good start to grabbing these people would be dumping the soft-focus hugging-yuppies surging-horses montage ads and coming out with an edgy or funny print and television campaign. Perhaps something like the Lori Petty ads of 1999, which didn’t last long, but which people still talk about, indicating they had some effect. Every ad could prominently display the URL of an extensive, attractive, and easy to use web site devoted to new and casual fans, with tutorials, special features, weekly chats, racing history, an events/stakes calendar, a children’s section, and some sort of loyalty program, among other things. And there’s so much more that could be done…. I’d love to see fresher advertising from individual tracks (Suffolk should toss out that ad it’s been using since forever), and more giveaway days, family days, live music, late post-times on Friday nights, beer gardens, handicapping seminars. Am I being wildly naive? It seems to me that with a little creativity and boldness racing could do so much to gain new fans.
What’s Great About Racing
“The track is not named iPod Downs. (Yet.) … Experts are seldom right. (Being wrong with the world’s best handicappers is nothing to be ashamed of.) … You don’t have to gamble. (Sit calmly and watch a race without betting a dime on it and you’ll probably see things you’d have never noticed had you wagered a ten-spot.) … Lots of tracks are old. (And charming.)” I’d add that you can talk to the players, bring your own drinks to the track, and have a chance to walk out at the end of the day no poorer than when you came in. (ESPN)
Looking Back at 2004
What a year. There was Smarty Jones’ try for the Triple Crown, Azeri’s thrilling victory in the Go For Wand, and Funny Cide’s triumphant win in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. Trainer Steve Asmussen surpassed Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg’s single year record of 496 wins with an amazing 554 wins, and slots came to Pennsylvania. Here in Massachusetts, the MassCap returned to Suffolk Downs, and before a crowd of more than 17,000, Funny Cide, Offlee Wild, and The Lady’s Groom dueled down the stretch in one of the most exciting races at the track this year.
But it wasn’t just a good year at the races, it was a good year in the press. Smarty Jones, Zippy Chippy, the Breeders’ Cup — all inspired some great writing and reportage. Here are a few of the articles on the sport, the horses, and the players that I think are among the year’s best:
“Despite upset, a crowning moment for the sport”
Bob Ryan on the Belmont Stakes (Boston Globe)
“Down the stretch they come”
Meghan O’Rourke on loving horseracing (Slate)
“Free House, gone too soon”
Jay Hovdey on the death of Free House (Daily Racing Form)
Pack the Minivan
Grab the kiddies, and head to Aqueduct. “If ever a time existed for this lowly, seedy, you’ll-lose-your-family’s-mortgage industry to take action, it’s now. In case you missed the memo: Pop culture digs the unseemly.” (ESPN)
Time for Change
There’s a general awareness that racing exists. It’s just that it isn’t ‘cool’ to be a part of it,” writes Vic Zast. Racing needs a public relations campaign that’ll earn the sport some attention and buzz: “It’s time to stop preaching to the choir … The biggest mistake would be for the public relations practitioners to churn out stories about jockeys and great races run. It’s time for a showroom in Soho or a subservient chicken.” (Blood-Horse)
A Gamble for All
“Horse racing is a perpetual gamble, sometimes as much for insiders as for those who risk their money on the four-legged stars who can’t speak for themselves,” Matt Graves reminds us. (Times Union)
All In the Bloodlines
George Rowand marvels at his teenage son’s racing knowledge: “It’s a weird thing, really, to have a 15-year-old son who knows more about racing than I do. After all, I spent 17 years actively in the business, and another seven preparing to be in the business. That’s almost a quarter century, and along comes my son Michael, and he knows more of the nuances about today’s game that his old man does. He’s always saying things like, ‘Do you think Azeri will win the Eclipse Award if she runs well in the Breeders’ Cup Classic? What about if she runs fifth … what then?'” (Fauquier Times-Democrat)
No One to Stop the Crash
The lack of a national office is a perennial complaint of racing fans and horsemen, burned by widely varying state laws and industry disputes. “Nearly every other major sport has an overlord to preside over its disparate factions and intervene when conflict threatens to stop the action…. When horse racing careens toward trouble, there’s no one to stop the crash.” The situation isn’t likely to change soon, reports Tom Keyser: “The idea of a strong, centralized office runs counter to the reality of regulation on a decentralized basis, [NTRA commissioner D.G. Van Clief Jr.] said. In other words, racing is regulated by state commissions and legislatures, not an autocratic national office.” (Baltimore Sun)
Nothing New
Ron Artest’s brawl with fans at the Indiana Pacers-Detroit Pistons game last week has the commentariat abuzz with talk of boorish sports fan behavior. But ask a jockey — bad fans are nothing new. (Trentonian)
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Jessica Chapel writes and edits in Massachusetts. Railbird is a Thoroughbred horse racing blog published from June 2004 to July 2019. More / Contact
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