Ramsay: Show Me The Drama

From access to jockeys' and stewards' rooms to employing new technologies like helmet cams, racing can and should do much more to shape a dramatic narrative for television viewers, according to Jim Ramsay, who spoke at the “Racing Media and the 21st Century Fan” panel during Wednesday's second session of the Asian Racing Conference in Mumbai. Ramsay is a director and producer, and has worked for IMG and Channel 4 Racing on such events as the Cheltenham Festival, the Grand National, the Epsom Derby and Royal Ascot.

Ramsay's case was simple. Racing has a natural tension and excitement built into it, so why not take advantage of it and use it to create a better entertainment experience? By way of example, he reminded attendees of the 2001 G1 Cox Plate in Australia, which saw eventual winner Northerly (Aus), Sunline (NZ) and Viscount (Aus) finish in a blanket photo after a roughly run final 100 meters.

“There were three separate objections in the race, and Moonee Valley Racecourse transmitted the inquiry,” said Ramsay. “It was on the monitors around the racecourse and on television. It was akin to a courtroom drama, and virtually all Australian racegoers stayed in their seats, transfixed on the evidence, deliberations, and cross examinations. Imagine watching 'Twelve Angry Men' or 'To Kill a Mockingbird' without seeing what was happening in the courtroom. Why would you not want to show this drama?”

In the same vein, Ramsay has been granted access to jockeys' rooms in places like Dubai, Saudi Arabia, and India, and said the results were often “spectacular.”

“We saw different jockeys prepare for the race in their own unique way, and visiting the jockeys' room kept the tension and anticipation high,” he said.

There was humor to be captured, too. At one race meeting, jockey Christophe Soumillon, weighing in, was confused (and probably a touch worried) by his dramatically increased poundage.

“Frankie Dettori was messing about behind him, putting his foot on the scale,” explained Ramsay. “Only when Frankie started smacking his bottom with his whip did he laugh and realize what he was doing.”

Those sort of light moments, said Ramsay, can help tell a story about racing's participants.

Ramsay acknowledged such access requires explicit trust between camera crews and producers on one side, and jockeys and tracks officials on the other. “But please believe me when I tell you that most people I've worked with in horse racing television care just as much about horses, racecourses, owners and breeders as themselves,” he said.

Technological advances, particularly in the form of small, lightweight cameras, can be used to show a side of the action rarely seen before by viewers.

“We have spent a vast amount of money on things like drones, tracking cameras, helicopters and high-speed cameras that can record 5,600 frames a second,” he said. “One way to extend this further is with a mini-camera on a jockey's helmet, as it shows their skill, split-second decision making, and the horse's courage. We need to film and promote these characters into huge well-known stars akin to cricketers, racing drivers and footballers.”

Ramsay revealed that, for the first time, Channel 4 Racing plans to outfit a jockey with an earpiece and microphone for the 2016 Cheltenham Festival, and will converse with him or her on the way to the starting gate (the apparatus will be removed before the race, however).

“We desperately need to build stories about trainers and jockeys,” said Ramsay. “And please don't forgot about the horse's character, and his loves and habits.”

To illustrate this last point, Ramsay showed a video of Frankel (GB) who, walking to the track each morning in the fall, stopped by a stand of apple trees and took a few bites of the apples that had fallen.

“Let us work together to reveal the traits and quirks of the horses, rather than the connections simply saying, 'Nice horse' about their runner,” Ramsay said.

Ramsay also addressed the 800-pound occultist in the room. “Often trainers claim that to perform interviews before a race is unlucky, and that they're superstitious,” he said. “It's absurd. We have surely moved on from the 17th century in believing that if an alleged witch survived being immersed in water that she's a witch, and if she drowns, she's innocent. I think…the best answer would be to follow the Premier League, and make a one-minute interview for all owners, trainers and jockeys compulsory if they have a horse in the race. It will promote the sport and make it more transparent, as well as organically educating the racegoer.”

He concluded, “The best line of 'Jerry McGuire' wasn't 'Show me the money.' It was, 'Help me help you.' I do not believe we can expand our audience, and reflect the appeal of this magnificent sport, without the support of racing authorities, racecourses, breeders, owners, journalists, trainers, jockeys and stable staff. We all are a passion for the sport. Trust us, and we can deliver a program that neutral fans will find stimulating and enthralling.”

Racing's Market Push…

Attracting and retaining customers was the the focus of “How We Market Racing,” one of the panels during Wednesday's second session of the ARC. Representatives from India, Australia, Hong Kong, Korea, and Tasmania joined to talk shop about what has worked for them and, in some cases, what hasn't.

For the Korea Racing Authority, which was facing wagering stagnation and a public image problem, the path to attracting new fans began with a major facelift to the organization.

“Our CEO said, 'We need to change everything except the horse,'” said Ben Heo, executive director of marketing for the KRA.

So what was so wrong with racing in Korea? In truth, by U.S. standards, it hardly seemed to be crisis-mode time. Handle had dropped from $7.1 billion in 2012 to $6.95 billion in 2014–a substantial but not precipitous 2.3% slide. But combined with growing domestic (casino gambling) and regional (sports betting) competitors, along with the public's perception that racing was a seedy vice, the KRA felt it was time for decisive action.

So they changed the name of Seoul Race Park to LetsRun Park (the track had already begun plans to build a theme park in the infield, slated to open in 2020), and embraced a four-pronged, integrated approach to running both racing operations and the theme park. The KRA called the approach KING, short for Kind (offer great customer service), Intelligent (the KRA unveiled a single card that can be used for admission, betting, and even parking), New (the launch of a new racing festival, plus a massive new infield tote), and Global (a focus on international races, targeting foreign tourists, etc.).

The KRA, said Heo, also made an organizational switch from stressing product value (in the form of solely racing) to place value (based around LetsRun Park, but including racing). They began a Cherry Blossom Night Festival at the track, a music festival, and an equestrian show.

The early results of the KRA's push seem promising. The 2015 handle rebounded to $7.02 billion, despite the fact that OTB attendance was down 22%–that being a result of a new policy aimed an improving customer experience that required every person in an OTB to have an assigned seat.

The KRA made a change to their OTBs in a different way, too. To help improve racing's image, some OTBs are now used as cultural centers on dark days.

In some ways, Dr. Eliot Forbes, CEO of Tasracing, had a steeper hill to climb. Tasracing was established in 2009 by the Tasmanian State Parliament and was put in charge of the development of racing and breeding in Tasmania. The island state off the southern tip of Australia had a scant 1% of the market share in Australian racing at the time, and in 2011, saw its handle at just under A$350 million.

Since then, Tasmania has enjoyed huge gains. By the 2014/2015 season, Tasmania was handling well over A$450 million–a 30% boost in wagering–and saw its general revenues grow by 54%. It's market share doubled to 2%.

“This growth has been delivered with the same volume of produce, and with a reduced cost structure,” said Forbes. “And since we're a small state [500,000 people], we have only a handful of races and can't compete with the biggest states in terms of quality or prize money levels.”

So how did Tasracing achieve this growth? Some keys included a switch to evening racing on Wednesdays in the summer, a successful push to have Tasmanian signals simulcasted to key international markets (Hong Kong in the afternoon, France in the morning), and innovation through new technologies. Forbes pointed to the “Punter's Dashboard” on www.tasracing.com.au as a tool that's been well received. The dashboard includes easily accessible information, including expert tips, free video replays, pace handicapping charts, and the GPS-based analysis tool Stride-Master.

Nick Addison, executive manager of commercial operations for the Victoria Racing Club, talked about marketing racing in a different way: to potential sponsors. He noted the outlandish sponsorship money paid to athletes like Roger Federer (A$58 million/year), Tiger Woods (A$50 million/year) and Lebron James (A$44 million), and said that while racing isn't currently anywhere near that point, it had the potential to be a major player.

He commented, “Consider a few things: 1) Racing is gender neutral–it appeals to males and females, and most of you know how important the female market is for advertising dollars. 2) It appeals to broad demographics and age brackets. 3) It's international, as we've seen this week. 4) It's a media-friendly product, and frankly, at times, it's a sexy product. And 5) It's a unique mix of sport and entertainment that has the power to ingrain itself on society. We all know how a major horse can do that around the world.”

Not all tracks and jurisdictions can claim to tick the boxes on the above checklist, and Addison said it's incumbent upon them to do so. “One of the really important points is that the racetrack experience for racegoers needs to be optimum,” he said. “We know at Flemington, over the years, we probably underestimated that. People pay pretty good sums for general admission, they stand on the front lawn and there's no shade, they queue up in long lines for bars and bathrooms, and it's a very expensive proposition. It's really important that you invest the time and money to enhance the experience of racegoers while they're there.”

At a synergistic level, that enhanced experience can attract sponsors, while sponsors can also help craft experiences for your customers. “Racegoers are looking for new things to do at the track,” said Addison. “One example is that we work closely with a sponsor of ours at Flemington called Swisse. They're a major vitamin and skin care business in Australia and now pushing into Asia. Surprisingly, they developed a day spa at the track. You may think, what on earth is a day spa doing at the track? But what it does is to provide an opportunity for non-hardcore racegoers who are there to pass their time during the day and engage the track in a way they perhaps wouldn't have.”

Princess Zahra Gives Keynote Address…

Princess Zahra Aga Khan delivered the keynote speech during the ARC's opening day Tuesday, where she outlined some of her family's philosophies over 250 years of breeding racehorses and urged breeders to exercise patience in their production of Thoroughbreds for the betterment of the breed.

“Along with all the usual variables that we breeders look at such as conformation, distance aptitudes, character, physical fragilities, etc., we have an explicit policy of maintaining the genetic diversity of our broodmare band,” said Princess Zahra. “We are constantly trying new matings and sire-lines, to try to preserve our families and revive those who have gone dormant.”

“Take for example the expanse of time between Petite Etoile's last Group 1 win in the 1961 Coronation S., and the next Group 1 win by a filly from that family, Zainta's 1998 St Alary: it took 37 years to revive that branch of Mumtaz Mahal's line, but when it was revived, it gave us Zarkava, probably the best filly ever bred under my father's ownership.”

“This is thanks to my father's perseverance, but possibly also thanks to the variable that we consider the least when taking our breeding decisions: cost. I do not mean that we go to the most expensive stallions and are blind to the expense–quite the contrary. You will often see good Aga Khan mares visiting unfashionable and affordable stallions, and you may wonder, why?”

To read Princess Zahra's speech in its entirety, click here