Value for money

The Curragh had a great value bundle on offer for online customers for last Saturday’s Group One Keeneland Phoenix Stakes card. For €25 you gained admission, got a race card, a BBQ Burger and a €10 bet with the bookies.

Presuming the Burger would normally cost around €10 and the race card another €3 this leaves just €2 going towards admission out of the €25. Even French tracks, which are renowned for their low entry prices, would have to be impressed with a €2 admission for a Group One fixture.

That’s a long way down from the €50, admission only, price the Curragh was charging on Irish Derby Day just seven weeks ago and should be praised as a significant step in the right direction in the current climate as all tracks are experiencing a decline in their footfall.

This type of price bundle could easily be replicated at all racecourses and would go a long way to changing the public perception that a trip to the races has to cost a fortune. It should also be available to punters who rock up at the gate on the day and not just those that pre-book online.

Why not make a day out at the races the best value for money entertainment in the country? As inflation continues to bite it would send a very positive message that horse racing is open for business and all are welcome.

The secret ingredient to all the great racing days is the crowd. That is what makes festivals like Galway and Listowel such fun to be a part of and that experience could be replicated on a regular basis if each track offered similar value for money packages. The industry could catch a wave here as prices elsewhere spiral out of control and budgets become tight and it’s worth exploring how else a day at the races could be made better value for the customers.

On a similar note isn’t it about time the on-course bookmakers’ pitch fee was linked to attendance rather than admission price. The bookies currently pay a daily pitch fee equivalent to “five times the charge made to a member of the public for admission to that part of the racecourse.” Wouldn’t it make more sense to charge the bookmakers a fee linked to the number of people in attendance?

This would further incentivise the racecourses to attract larger crowds. The more people that turn up the more the bookmakers contribute and visa versa.

In my opinion falling attendances is one of the biggest issues facing the sport. In order for the sport to stay relevant it must do everything it can to get the numbers back up and price bundles such as at the Curragh last weekend is a good place to start.

Last weekend the All Blacks lost again, the defeat to South Africa was their fourth in five games. This mightn’t mean that much to many nowadays, but I remember as a teenager being at the old Limerick Racecourse on the famous day when Munster beat the All Blacks in 1978 and witnessing the sheer astonishment of everyone in attendance when the result of the game was announced over the public address. People literally couldn’t comprehend how any team could beat New Zealand, let alone a provincial side, such was their utter dominance in the sport of Rugby Union.

Rugby Union was an amateur game in those days, but the All Blacks were always an ultra-professional outfit and this was a key element that set them apart from all the other teams. In the new professional era of rugby the other sides have certainly closed the gap and the All Blacks dominance is no more.

While there have always been professional jockeys, you get the impression that the young men and women riding today are far more dedicated to their craft than the majority of their predecessors. In each previous generation there have been a handful of truly exceptional jockeys that stood out from the crowd, but nowadays it seems almost every rider is focussed on fitness, nutrition and constantly analysing their performance and the gap between the best and the rest is not as pronounced as it used to be.

There was a time when I could instantly pick out Ruby Walsh in a 30 runner field, but now the majority mimic aspects of his riding style and if he was still riding I’d probably struggle to spot him. You’d wonder if we’ll get to a stage where all the top riders are of such a high standard that there will be precious little to choose between them in terms of skill, strength and tactical awareness. Or perhaps it’s only a matter of time until someone comes along that raises the bar to an all together different level of performance.

If there is someone to do that they may well have been honing their skills at Dingle over the weekend at the Pony Racing Championships. Many of our best riders started off Pony Racing and it’s great to see that sport continuing despite their recent problems with insurance.

The crowds that turned up at Dingle would be the envy of any racecourse and it shows you don’t necessarily need fancy bars and restaurants to attract an audience. People simply love a good day out and the Pony Racing was certainly that.

And what an amazing couple of weeks it has been for Shark Hanlon and his family. Following on from the recent Galway Plate victory of Hewick his young son Paddy kept the party going in full swing by riding The Auld House to win the Dingle Derby.