Racecourse looks back on season of success
Perth Racecourse chief executive Hazel Peplinski is reflecting on a successful 2017.
Ticket revenue was up, with a focused marketing campaign helping the racecourse enjoy its first ever sell-out at the Saturday Summer Carnival.
The new irrigation system, which was unveiled at the start of the 2017 season, has also improved consistency of the going.
That contributed significantly to a 53 per cent decrease in non-runners and a four per cent increase in field sizes.
The quality of runners has been of a particularly high standard, with highlights including Ballyandy winning on his chase debut at the Glorious Finale in September, beating Fagan by a length in a memorable battle.
“The irrigation project was a huge investment for us with a £250,000 capital expenditure,”Peplinski said.
“It was a challenging installation process with tricky winter ground conditions and was not only completed on time and within budget but, due to an unseasonal dry spring, became essential for our season opener, The Perth Festival.
“We’ve had tremendous feedback from trainers who have expressed their delight at the improved consistency of the going.
“And ultimately the investment has already returned a sustainable commercial benefit in the dramatic drop in the ratio of non-runners after declarations have been made.”
Advance interest in raceday corporate packages for 2018 has been strong since the season ended and they will go on sale in early November.
To reflect a growing trend for more flexible, informal dining Perth Racecourse will also be adapting a number of its hospitality packages in the private boxes for the year ahead.
Looking forward to 2018, Peplinski is confident that an anticipated step change in prize money levels will further enhance Perth’s status.
She said:“We’re excited to be substantially increasing our investment in prize money, which we are confident will help grow field sizes yet again in 2018 by encouraging more owners and trainers to sit up and notice what is happening here at Perth.
“We’re also pleased to be able to add a second Saturday fixture on June 23 which, if the sell-out success of our existing August Saturday fixture is anything to go by, will be a huge opportunity for us to bring live horse-racing to a wider audience.”
Following the success of the EBF Gold Castle Listed Stakes race at the Perth Festival, a second listed stakes has been allocated to the annual opening meeting in April.
The Fair Maid of Perth Steeplechase will target class 1 mares that are deemed to have the required stamina to see out the full three miles.
This new feature race has already secured the commercial support of the Thoroughbred Breeders Association, who are naturally aligned to this type of contest which helps the industry to identify the very best national hunt broodmares of the future.