The fallout from Future Champions Day continues to hit the headlines after the much respected Alastair Down's scathing attack in last Sunday's Racing Post which was thought provoking & surprising as so many in the upper echelon's of racing dare not attack this new direction that our sport is following.
In Wednesday's RP David Redvers (most people on the fringes of the sport would ask who?) strikes back at AD's piece in a very measured way typical of what you would expect from a well educated man but at times in the piece it belies what could have been a well thought out response to just become a downright attack on a very well respected figure in racing's credibility. It feels like a public schoolboy's response with posturing towards who has the bigger package that would have been better left in the playground rather than appearing in the sport's flagship publication for example Redvers says 'Last year I encouraged my clients to part with more than £20 million over the next 5 years as sponsors of the QIPCO British Champion Series. That's the biggest single sponsorship deal in British Racing'. That's great but stop blowing your own trumpet after all I'm sure his percentage is now looking pretty healthy now the Qataris have come along (previous to becoming involved with the Qatar boys, Redvers ran an averagely successful Bloodstock service) so take on board criticism, if someone clearly as influential as Redvers can broker that deal then surely he has good ideas that can be put forward into how we push things forward for the greater good of our sport so why not share them instead of losing sleep over what may happen if a newspaper article might offend his new bosses.
I feel herein lies the real problem as our sport is run by a hierarchy of marketing specialists & public schoolboys with the odd horsemen thrown in for good measure, it is just a combination that from the outside doesn't work.
Future Champions Day itself is a good idea but only if it is followed through to the letter as it is called Future Champions Day so why was the Cesarewitch run on that day? Next year of course the day will be moved back 6 days to the Friday before Champions Day itself...what genius came up with putting it on a Friday?
I was at Shadwell day at Newmarket recently & it was poorly attended FCD will be no better. To me all these clever people at Great British Racing & The Champions Series are missing a real trick in fact British Racing is...we have a real chance to enhance the sport so why not allow these big days to be moved to Sunday's??
I was a young kid back in 1992 when Sunday racing was first introduced but I do remember that it was supposed to be the flagship product for British Racing yet over 20 years later name me one major Flat meeting other than the 1000 Guineas that takes place on a Sunday?
Why is that I wonder?
Sunday's like Saturday's can attract the most people (apart from Festival meetings of course) especially younger racegoers coming for the first time with their parents yet the racing this country provides on a Sunday is by in large awful with noncompetitive races.
The Arc is run in France on a Sunday in fact the majority of France's major races are run on the sabbath as are some of Ireland's Top races similar to Germany & Italy yet we don't in this country.
Why is that I wonder?
Sunday's like Saturday's can attract the most people (apart from Festival meetings of course) especially younger racegoers coming for the first time with their parents yet the racing this country provides on a Sunday is by in large awful with noncompetitive races.
The Arc is run in France on a Sunday in fact the majority of France's major races are run on the sabbath as are some of Ireland's Top races similar to Germany & Italy yet we don't in this country.
With all the debate on FCD & Champions Day itself surely it's obvious stage FCD on a Saturday followed by Champions Day on Sunday thus creating a more coherent Champions Weekend. I take Redvers point from his piece today that we cannot stand alone in what is now a global sport but if we introduce top races on Sunday's it will help with the conundrum of where to slot races in to the European Pattern or at least spark a debate.
Redvers say's 'I care nothing for gimmicks, know little of conjuring but quite a bit about which end bites & which end kicks' which from what I've seen of the man is clearly true but unfortunately I don't believe AD was criticising Redvers but those who run GBR & BCS as those people do know a lot about gimmicks & conjuring. This sport strives to appeal to the wider audience but do not think that fanfares when the winners arrive, or lollipop sticks with horses names on really help attract new people. I read GBR's mission statement before I started writing my blog, it makes interesting reading.
Starting with:
#1 Aim - Tell racing's compelling stories 52 weeks a year
Objective - Widen racing's exposure across all media platforms
This is a great start as when has anything like that happened this year, I see nothing new in newspapers, TV news or even Sky Sports News that relates to this.
Twitter is a huge resource which does get used enough in my opinion except when it seems to suit.
I'll leave you to form your own opinion of the other 6 Key Objectives for this year.
The Champions Series itself is a decent idea its just not be followed through correctly as I said earlier I am not a fan of fanfare's or Lollipop sticks with horses colours on. Horse racing is the second largest spectator sport in this country & one of the longest established yet the powers that be still seem confused at how to target younger people or just attract new people to the sport.
Its simple just make it more accessible & easy to understand
Racemakers are one of the few ideas that I like since BCS originated although how they have been used is not so good especially as there hardly ever where they're supposed to be. I have conducted my own surveys amongst friends & racegoers recently, all have said the racemaker idea is good just poorly executed with the majority of responses along the lines of 'I would not want some posh kid trying to explain how to read a racecard or how to place a bet' most of the suggestions were wouldn't it be better for someone who has racing experience to do this either ex stable staff or even some of the TV presenters as there enough working freelance who could spare the time.
One idea I have always liked is having a booth or similar at every course on a major racing day where people can go to ask questions or be given a quick guide on the jargon of racing which is manned by experienced racing people. Another idea would be when you book your tickets your a sent a pdf guide or perhaps the best & most used would be a link to a How To Racing website specifically designed to help the novice racegoer with interactive features like 'Ask Dettori' or 'Ask Matt Chapman, Clare Balding for example'.
The advertising of The BCS is also lacking, yes it is on Trains, at Train Stations & in the media but the majority do not know it is a day of any real significance as Richard Hughes (used in the poster below) is not really known outside Horse Racing a point proved on my way between Bracknell & London the other day I asked 20 people what the poster was in relation to & who Richard Hughes was, only 2 knew the others answers ranged from motor racing to cycling.
If there is a TV advert for Champions Day then I haven't seen it.
Sky Sports News is an excellent platform for all sports yet Horse Racing is always last on for a maximum of 5 mins if BCS is to go forward we need to keep people up to date so they can follow what is going on. It would be a good idea if once a week throughout BCS we could have updates on the standings, latest results on Sky Sports News (Although I believe this would work I doubt it will happen as the majority of BCS races are on RUK which doesn't help). Some newspapers barely cover racing anymore I know but latest updates on the BCS would help broaden the appeal, if £20 million has been invested in this series then one would hope that the money is there for more blanket advertising with an ambassador for the series each year (Michael Owen is apparently an ambassador this year but who knew?) we must use to our advantage the celebrity clientele that racing attracts; Ant & Dec spring to mind as they are hugely popular with the general public even Jeremey Kyle would be appealing so why could a TV advert not be put together advertising the days of the series followed by all singing all dancing one for Champions Day? Even if this advert did not appear on terrestrial TV then surely YouTube would be a great platform for such an advert.
I have grievances with Channel 4 for how they have ripped out the heart & soul of its racing coverage but I can however praise them for the build up to The Grand National with Alan Carr's Grand National Specstacular a particular highlight, never before had our sport been put in the general public's view more vividly. The BCS is of course different to The Grand National but with Channel 4 as the sole terrestrial broadcaster why couldn't there be a weekly panel / review show reviewing the recent Champions Series races & previewing the next round, you'd just need someone more charismatic & public friendly than Nick Luck to host it.
The BCS is geared around 35 races in 5 categories Sprint, Mile, Fillies & Mares, Middle Distance & Long Distance. As I said earlier its a good idea that's just a little flawed for me, Its now in its 3rd year & well I just don't get the categories or the races that are included.
Its not the easiest to explain to the general public so simplify it
The 5 classics should be a separate entity which surprisingly already has a name 'The Triple Crown', it would bring the prestige back & hopefully you would have more horses attempting it.
The other categories just need to be simplified Mile is fine, Sprint is fine, Long Distance surely its easier just to say Stayers, Fillies & Mares is a category I don't like as the races don't fit for a whole series so I would add a few more & Middle Distance is bearable. If you separate the 5 classics then any 3 year old who wins those races his or her points are not carried into the other categories thus levelling the playing field. To add more incentive to the triple crown QIPCO could offer a £1 million bonus to any horse winning all 3.
My new categories & races:
The Triple Crown - 2000 / 1000 / Oaks / Derby & St Leger
Mile - Lockinge / Diomed (Epsom upgrade to Group 2) / St James's Palace / Queen Anne / Summer Mile / Sussex / Sovereign (Salisbury upgrade to Group 2) / Celebration Mile / QEII (Bonus any horse who wins 3 out of the 9 £500,000)
Sprint - Palace House (upgrade to Group 2) / Duke Of York / Temple / King's Stand / Diamond Jubilee / July Cup / Nunthorpe / Sprint Cup / Champions Sprint (Bonus any horse who wins 3 out of the 9 £500,000)
Stayers - Sagaro / Ormonde / Yorkshire Cup / Henry II / Gold Cup / Goodwood Cup / Geoffrey Freer / Lonsdale Cup / Doncaster Cup / Champion Stayers Cup (better than Long Distance Cup) (Bonus any horse who wins 3 out of the 10 £500,000)
Fillies & Mares - Dahlia / Middleton / Princess Elizabeth / Coronation Stakes / Windsor Forest / Falmouth / Nassau / Yorkshire Oaks / Sun Chariot / Fillies & Mares Stakes (Bonus any horse who wins 3 out of the 10 £500,000)
Middle Distance - Jockey Club Stakes / Brigadier Gerard / Coronation Cup / Prince Of Wales's Stakes / Hardwicke / Coral Eclipse / Princess Of Wale's Goldsmith Stakes / King George / International / (including something like the) Winter Hill (Windsor,might add spice to the mix) / QIPCO Champion Stakes (Bonus any horse who wins 3 out of the 10 £500,000)
Champions Day itself has to be moved from its date in the calendar for the main reason of the deteriorating weather later into October (as I wrote this today it had been raining for over 7 hours) move it to the weekend before the Arc (last in Sept) giving it more chance to be run in decent weather & fair ground for all concerned. People will say that it can't be done as its a week between races but why not the Champion is 1m2f & the Arc is 1m4f over the year's there are few horses to have completed the double let alone attempt it. Of course Newmarket's Cambridgeshire is that weekend but as so many of the races from that meeting are moving to FCD would it make a real difference, Newmarket already takes place on 3 consecutive Saturday's anyway so there is no issue there.
I would propose this for next season;
Future Champions Day Saturday 27th Sept 2014
British Champions Day Sunday 28th Sept 2014
Betfred Cambridgeshire Saturday 4th Oct 2014 incorporating Tattersalls Millions Races
Prix De L'Arc De Triomphe Sunday 5th October 2014
Betfred Cesarewitch Saturday 11th October 2014
Ascot Beer Festival Friday & Saturday 18th - 19th October 2014
I would imagine the line up for FCD somewhere along these lines Fillies Mile / Royal Lodge / Middle Park / Dewhurst / Oh So Sharp (rather than Rockfel) / Cornwallis (moving from Ascot's Beer Festival meeting) so it is a true championship deciding day.
Champions Day itself in my eyes needs some tinkering as it should be a day of purely Group races in which all distances are crowned so I would go for Long Distance Cup / Sprint / QEII / Champion Stakes / Fillies & Mares / Sun Chariot (moved from Newmarket giving 3 year olds & upwards there chance instead of taking on colts in QEII) & I would like to see a 1m4f contest for colts as well but with the Arc just around the corner I don't see that ever happening if it did Ascot's Cumberland Lodge would be a perfect upgrade race.
I would drop The Joel Stakes from The Champions series but keep it incorporated into the Cambridgeshire meeting along with the Tattersall sales races & the fillies Listed races from the sales meeting. The Cambridgeshire has been in this slot before as I remember many times that it was the big meeting before Arc Day.
The Cesarewitch meeting would then have a line up of handicap itself, Rockfel, Somerville Tattersall Stakes (which could be changed to Ascot for a later meeting), Challenge, Autumn & Darley Stakes.
Ascot's Beer Festival could then be put back into the former slot of the Champions Day meeting featuring The Bengough Stakes, Cumberland Lodge & probably a better place for the Tattersall Stakes to slot into as well the 2 Listed races that make up that meeting plus the big 7f Handicap.
It's a small amount of tinkering but I believe it would work, I can hear arguments that the Cadran & Long Distance Cup are a week apart plus The Dewhurst & Lagarde, Fillies Mile & Marcel Boussac, Abbaye & Champions Sprint plus the big 2 of Champion Stakes & Arc but its a week its not the same day. It gives owners, trainers more choice as to with races that would suit their horses best & if the weather intervenes they don't have long to wait before another chance to run so it won't interrupt the training as markedly as a 2 week gap.
Horses that run in the Cadran, Marcel Boussac, Lagarde aren't usually aimed at Champions Day anyway while sprinters can run every week if required. There are always different targets for horses whatever the prestige of a certain event as Trainers are creatures of habit & will habitually train with certain races in mind whether its Champions Day or not.
I believe that we have a fantastic product & that the sport so many of us love so dearly deserves the chance to shine on a wider stage. We just need the people at the top take head & be prepared to listen then we will have some something truly outstanding.
I believe that we have a fantastic product & that the sport so many of us love so dearly deserves the chance to shine on a wider stage. We just need the people at the top take head & be prepared to listen then we will have some something truly outstanding.
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