Racing needs to act fast and get on its front foot

HORSE racing has been in a relatively fortunate position in recent weeks.

The delayed resumption of football, rugby and a range of other sports has given the industry an opportunity to reach a wider audience.

Racing restarted on Monday, June 1 at Newcastle and the first fixture in Wales since the Covid-19 outbreak took place on Monday evening at Chepstow. There were nine races and 98 runners, so plenty of owners – despite the fact they couldn’t attend – were desperate to see their horses in action.

It attracted plenty of interest from the Welsh media with ITV Wales filming at the course twice and BBC Wales also recording a feature for the evening news.

To try to broaden the appeal of our sport further, the course ran an initiative on Instagram Live on Monday with various celebrities being interviewed during the evening including George North, Jonathan Davies, Richard Johnson, Josh Navidi and Frankie Foster from Love Island. The idea was to inform a wider audience that racing had resumed in Wales and also encourage – mainly younger – people to consider attending once the restrictions on crowds are lifted.

It’s going to be more important than ever to be on the front foot in terms of marketing and promotion when all customers are allowed back inside sporting venues and other entertainment businesses.

Grace Harris was the first Welshbased trainer to send out a winner after the resumption of racing when Bungee Jump won at 33-1 at Newmarket. The mare was purchased for £10,000 and she has won five times since, including four at Chepstow.

A few days later Ron Harris was on the scoresheet when Equally Fast won at Lingfield ridden by Kieran O’Neill.

This week focus transfers to Royal Ascot when it will be a bizarre atmosphere with no-one in attendance at an event which would usually attract up to 70,000 people on its biggest day and 300,000 across the whole five days. The prize money has dropped by 50% because of the pandemic on racing’s finances, but it will still be £3.6m across the week.

Fans will be able watch the action on ITV.

Chepstow’s next fixture behind closed doors is next Tuesday with all the action on Sky Sports Racing.