‘I want this to be an exciting, vibrant venue 365 days a year’
KEVIN HIRE carries a vision in his head of what a perfect day’s racing looks like from his perspective.
The new general manager at Ffos Las wants racegoers – both new and old – to leave the course with a smile of satisfaction and an intention to come back for more.
Kevin is certainly no stranger to the venue, having spent two years previously working for both Ffos Las and Chepstow as senior business relationship manager across both courses.
But after a stint working in the tech and innovation field, he has returned to his roots as a local man with a simple plan – to make Ffos Las a sporting attraction that people want to flock to again and again.
“My perfect day here,” he says, looking out of his office window across the course, “would consist of a crowd of four to five thousand, hearing loads of local accents, seeing people smiling and being happy and walking away contented after a wonderful day’s racing.
“They would thank us for hosting as they left, and we’d thank them for coming and look forward to welcoming them back.
“The infrastructure is here, the standard of racing is here, and for me now, it’s all about getting people back in here again.
“The Covid pandemic was a huge challenge for the racing industry, as it was for many others. But we got through it and now people are eager to go racing again.”
With a background in newspapers and local radio, Kevin has always been a natural communicator and now he feels he has an important message to tell.
His conviction is that Ffos Las has weathered some recent storms, but the facility is still the most modern and fan-friendly arena in the UK. Now he wants to re-energise what the course has to offer to local sports fans and businesses and tap the potential of a sport he feels still has so much to offer to new admirers, he says.
“We need to always have a welcome for the traditional racing fans, who love a day’s racing, but also appeal to others too,” he said.
“I want people to come here for the first time and feel they loved the experience and want to return. I want them to feel ‘I really want to experience that again’.
“I also want this place to be a vibrant, exciting venue for 365 days of the year.”
That means a three-pronged strategy – to feel familiar and welcoming to local people, a magnetic attraction for those coming from further afield including holidaymakers, while also turning the heads of those from near or far who simply have yet to fall for the charms of horse racing.
“The sport itself has so much going for it,” says Kevin, a local himself and a rugby season-ticket holder at the Scarlets.
“Welsh racing is a bit like the Welsh rugby team. We are always having to punch above our weight. There is always fantastic young talent coming through.
“I like to give people a look behind the scenes at all that talent, excitement and expertise. People forget what incredible athletes jockeys are and the dedication that goes into being at the top of their profession.”
But turning people on to some of the calendar’s major highlights at Ffos Las – such as the excitement of the Welsh Champion Hurdle in October – is not enough these days.
There has to be more to draw in crowds than simply what happens on the track.
“One of the challenges horse racing has is that unlike football and rugby, there isn’t that tribal following of attachments to one particular club or team,” adds Kevin.
“But what it does have is a unique opportunity to watch the highest quality performers within an overall enjoyable experience.
“The sporting action itself only lasts for 20 minutes or so, so we have to make sure everything else at the course is absolutely spot on. We have 22 race days. If you put those to one side, then we also have a venue here which is a fantastic facility.
“We can utilise it for the community and building up events that attract local people is hugely important to us. Combined with that are developing contacts with local businesses too.
“Within the 25-mile radius catchment area, we want local people to come back to the racecourse after Covid and then to keep coming back.
“We want to build relationships with local companies and organisations.
“If we can get the basics right and get local people to want to come to this course in their numbers, anything is possible.”
As for the familiar faces, at present there are around 250 annual members who buy tickets for the whole season. It’s a group the new general manager would like to grow and develop.
“It’s a mix of male and female, which is great, and it’s not the stereotype of race-goers from the past with flat caps and all the rest of it,” he adds. “It’s a genuine mix of different people, with different interests and it’s certainly not all about betting.
“We have special offers to visit other courses and also trainers’ yards and that’s something we want to build so those people feel part of a special community.
“There is lots to do and loads of ambition. But my role is to take things one step at a time.”