Racing for change

and 150% over rounds

70 thousand through the gate today, must be doing something right

It's a fantastic meeting and seems to get better and better but it doesn't excuse greed. How many people will be put off with the prices and not go to a run of the mill meeting.

Oafs.
100%

They don't answer emails either.

Typically **e PR world failures who have stumbled into racing taking the crust off the port swilling, red-nosed, arses who know nothing about the real world. (Except what they read in the letters page of 'Ex Public-School Boy Buggery and Masochism Monthly').

Same people different jackets

Why would anybody ever buy a racecard.

You don't pay for and have them all posted to your home when you are betting on all the other meetings - so why shell out for something you don't normally use when at a course?

It's not as if they contain some hidden secrets that are only available to people on course - in fact, they are usually just a load of colourful carp.

i have written many threads on this so called "racing for change" and i have my own very open views...the people behind this scheme are not in it for the right reasons and the people involved are in th dark ages..i have worked in the racing world for nearly 15 years and in the process of putting my own ideas to them and hopefully they will listen...what is the point of listening to someone in their 60s who is stakeholder in the idea for change when they do not know there are so many business's who want to get involved and wont because of so many aspects of the industry that are wrong...it is not about filling the stands with drunks and late night bands, it is about fascilities, openess, investment - course attraction, correct prize money - helping owners and marketing the product and we should not forget it is a product (which i love) to the right people..days like today at aintree make me sigh..has anyone visited their site and read the input?..it is poor, boring and not what us horse lovers want...i have many friends who want to get involved but feel they are on a hiding to nothing and their site speaks volumes about blinkered vision - excuse the pun..i am on a mission to make racing about racing - the punter, the enjoyment, the fun, the fresh air, the better book %, and above all wanting to go time and time again like we all used to

& breathe

lol..i have just

You can get a can of Guinness cheaper in ASDA but you're unlikely to see the world's most famous steeplechase live there.

Can't understand people who go to major events and expect value for money catering.

Legoland admission - £38.00 per adult. Two adults + 3 children - one under three yrs. of age goes free. Total admission charge £132.00. It was packed !!!!!!!!! Amazing.

" .... and marketing the product and we should not forget it is a product (which i love) to the right people"
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If, by, "right people," you mean current enthusiasts and racing followers - then the last thing I/we want is some 'bright young thing' fresh out of 'Uni' , "marketing" racing to us.

i am 38 onlooker..was at british racing school when i was 16 so no fresh faced kid here

There is value for money and then there is a rip off though. I can understand over charging for beer as you have the choice to drink or not and must pay the price if you want to but I am always suprised by the prices of food.

It's not like the football where you are only there for a couple of hours and can easily not bother with the overpriced food if you don't want to. However you can easily be in the racetrack for 6 hours or more if you take into account travelling there etc. and you sometimes have to buy something to quench your hunger or your kids. It's not as if you can turn up the gate carrying a coolbox and its a bit degrading having to smuggle a couple of sandwiches in in your trousers/wifes handbag.

The whole racing day out is becoming as expensive as football. Why can't people look at the Towcester model. Obviously not for the big meetings as they look after themselves. Bangor-on-dee is £18 and not even a grandstand. However it is one of my favourite courses. Since it has come under the same management as Chester it has lost a lot of it's Character and become another money grabber.

I'd imagine the average person in a faminine-stricken Third World County could get through a day at the races without needing to eat.

A few of the fat f*ckers you see at the races would benefit from a few hours not cramming calories into their gobs.

The food at all big events is not only ridiculously expensive but of very poor quality. Why is that? Because the organisers have no notion of trying to satisfy their customers but want only to make more money. Food is an absolute winner. Charge the caterers a fortune so they in turn have to keep prices high and quality low. Its an absolute disgrace.

paid 13 pound for 2 cheese burgers on friday

agree with both posts above...it is no longer "user friendly"-my fave filly / mare of all time ironically...it is a poor state of affairs at the moment and you can dress up racing for change all you like but their ideas are not swifft and will not help get enthusiats back to racing or involved...everything is available on the internet - so why go?..because we want to that is why, but why go at such extortionate prices and over heads..it is not like many tracks are located that well..so they have to start attracting us back..how?..well sort out the track and its fascilities for starters and stop ripping us off...we all go to have fun and punt, but not to cost 100+ for a family of 4 prior to having a punt...they should take a big leaf out of what the open days are like at lambourn etc...get the kids involved, get them to love horses and want to ride / own in the future...it is not about drunks falling about at 4pm on a staurday

Cheaper than the Emirates and they get 70,000 every game.

it is all a rip off.

My track Newbury was one of the last to join the £3+ a pint crew , their angle has changed in the last 2 years and it sickings me.

It is enough to make you give up drink, i dont drink at racecourses anymore......

a dont mind paying for the big meetings its the daily stuff thats no value

it was 4.40 for pint of bulmers cider

I live in hereford and when I can go I book a table in the restaurant.It is never full. Before the current owners took over the bar attached was open to anyone.Now it is for the exclusive use of diners.So over and over again you see people who have paid £15 to get in to the course walk up the steps,see this empty bar and come in to have a drink.

"Sorry sir diners only" the bar is deserted.How does that make people want to come racing?

It's simple - either don't go racing, or eat and drink before you do, enjoy your day, and build up an awesome appetite for dinner later.

If everyone did it, you'd soon see prices drop.

GR isnt that what the poor do ?

Getreal are you suggesting that when I go racing I should feel as if i'm from a famine stricken 3rd world country. Not my idea of a good time to be honest.

The fact is when I use to go to Aintree GN day I would try and get there early so would have had breakfast about 10ish, got train to track at about half 11 and by the time the final race finished, que and got back to liverpool was about half 6.

It's a long time to go without food and we usually ended up getting something. Its not like football or a concert at night etc. you are there for most of the day.

The point is they should be thinking how to make the experience better. Food and drink are quite important components.If they hand picked quality caterers and charged a fair rent so we could eat and drink without getting a mortgage we might not come away feeling like we have been shafted

exactly Dobbo...they do not help themselves...the cost of running a bar and restaurant has over heads, but implement them well and people will go to them...they just see it as a short quick**and not about long term...if i were go to the races tomorrow, i would expect to enjoy it and not worry about how much it costs before i start to get stuck in...i remember the stow dog track -they did it well and made a small fortune from it until they got greedy..costs are minimal to them but they force prices up becaue they think they can get away with it...prize money is shockingly bad, but if you combine the two then sponsorship and ownership / syndicates will occur more..but racing for change is an all singing dancing group who do not understand and a fancy website full of dullards...what can anyone on that site do to make the racing world popular again?...very littel...their site is particularly bad and is poorly designed - i question where the money has gone to be honest...i have an idea though...

Most of the flat/summer courses are reaping what they have sowed. Gangs of**ed up people taking the fights off the high street onto the racecourse. They just want numbers in spending and to hell with the concequences.

exactly Martin...i remember going to races in late 80s and never even contemplating that behaviour would occur...now i am disgusted it is allowed and how the tracks near enough invite it...big party discounts* what is that all about?...it spells trouble...marketing families and business clientel is way forward...get people like me back to tracks....i went to Punchestown last year and they know how to do it...so why cant we in UK?....took my gf at time and we had a great time and felt safe, public transport was easy, access to all parts of course, areas to sit and varied prices...but most improtantly the people there were amazingly hospitable and everyone seemed nice...you go to UK tracks and you expect to see some form of rumble

Went to the festival at punchestown four years ago absolute quality. We could learn so much from Ireland. I think the main difference is they are all in love with the game there even the people on a social day anda few beers have great knowledge.

100% agree Martin...they know how to have a race meeting without being crammed in and fun..one day we will learn, but whilst current Racing for Change people in place - we have no chance...one day you will see bus sorting it all out - i hope

They would never ask the likes of us or others on sites like this. We know to much. Rather ask someone who has a few qualifications.

well i have a degree and comtemplating doing my Masters this year..so hopefully that is enough...i am no brain box..from burnt oak originally (very bad place) and brought up in a very bad education system,..but if i can change then so can they...ala Rocky IV style

No offence Mr Bus but you know the racing game. They are asking people who have no knowledge of the game.

I have been going to Aintree each year on the Friday for the past 10 years. I also go racing all accross the country on a regular basis (just so people don't think I only have experience of a big meet). When I first went it was so enjoyable and everywhere was accessable quite easily. However, year on year it has been getting slightly worse, until last year the tatts were so bad i decided this year to get tickets for the princess royal stand at £60 each thinking that it may be slightly better. How wrong I was - drunken yobs, teenagers drunk, loud and abusive, impossible to get bet/drink/toilet all between a race - ended up watching my only winner Burton Point from a tv inside the stand - don't get me wrong I cheer on my horse as loudly as the next person but there is a way of doing it, aggressive is not the way, but i'm afraid that's what most people were doing. Unable to take drinks out onto the stand. Q 10 deep for bar and toilets. What did this all add up to? Leaving after the 4th. I love my racing and the horses but this has gone too far, aintree have got greedy and are selling to many tickets. If RFC are trying to get people into the sport then they need to look at this. I'm paying £60 for a ticket and leave after the 4th due to reasons stated above says something, and this is before me even mentioning the fact of trying to avoid coming into contact with any girl - due to the fact that i didn't want my navy suit turned orange! :(. Doubt very much I will be going next year, which is a shame because it was once so good and the racing is so very good as well. I should mention though, just before leaving was speaking to a few gentlemen and one had his son there - he was 9 years old - so smartly dressed, well spoken etc....I really hope he doesn't take after alot of what he was seeing yesterday.

It needs to change from the top - and that is not going to happen. Personally I have had enough of the game, I have never been a massive punter (more football) but the way the whole racing product is is just poor. Fed up with non triers that never get pulled in after a shocking effort, if you can make it pay you will get shut down by the books.

The constant lies of all the reps on tv is just pathetic when everyone knows what really goes on, the sp manipulation, the going descriptions not accurate, presenters not willing to ask questions that punters want the answers to, BBC presenters (clueless), C4 presenters (awful), admission prices, food and drink prices, stewards, shop staff who have not been trained and do not have a clue about racing/betting,FOBTS, the racing post adverts which are shall we say misleading - the list goes on and for that reason I am out until the Cheltenham festival when I have the week off every year.

The racing game is finished imo - and there certainly will not be no new blood going racing. Only blood will be from the stag dos they now encourage.

PS - my sister is a manager of a will hill shop and she popped round earlier and said the biggest bet taken today on any horse in her shop was £10 and shop was pretty empty.

Bad times Al2010, i feel for you.

I went to cheltenham festival for tje first 3 days, i will not put up with the forth day.


The dollar is ruining this country.

Love it when someone you know goes racing and ask you to give em some winners
so you have a look for them and because you dont give them 3 big priced winners they look at you as some sort of fraudster -
always gets me that one .

Although there are a some total maniacs on this forum there are a lot of real racing people.People who love the sport .It should be the first port of call for RFC but I guess we are seen as outmoded traditionalists.We want a bit of decorum. A bit of fair play.A bit of value for money.We dont want a punch up on the way to the ring.We dont want to get drunk every time we go racing and we dont want to hang about after to watch the Sugarbabes. What do we know?

Just about sums up the sad state of affairs Dobbo

no offence taken Martin...but they are asking people who do know the game but who want to line their own pocket...their site and media stories says it all..i am in the game yes, but young enough to know how all ages want it to be and how it should be...the above post sums it up...what chance have the so called "experts" in racing for change got to get above poster back...zero...they need people who love the game and understand it..i see it from all aspects and they cannot because it is not about the money or the numbers...it is almost on a par woith with the big festivals - about selling tickets and not about the clientel...sort out prize money and the rest will follow - i guarantee that

I would guess they are taking advice from marketing professionals. Always people who have no clue about what they are marketing but a high opinion of their own perceptive ideas. Hence decimal odds, jockeys first names, Denman versus Kauto.(Oh dear there were more than two runners I didn't realise that).

Maurice I hope to prove you wrong one day...but i totally accept how you feel...all this money piled into racing for change..has anyone seen a benefit?...nothing has changed, it is just a cold blast...it is a show at the moment and needs investigation from the top...you cannot have an "independent" group who are competely thinking with their own monies...you need people who love going to paddock, unsaddling enclosure, chit chat, talking to the nearest person about chances and fancies again..watching them thindering down the straight..oing back to the bar and mingling with normal people, not idiots out to get lashed by 3rd race....stopping hen and stag parties is the first point and if they forget about money and think about overall aspect then courses may just get it...but asking course stakeholders their opinion is worthless

Have none of ye heard of sandwiches and a hip flask? Sod the prices at the races... I also try and find a hole in a hedge somewheres where I can slip through unnoticed.

Well, I'm always looking for Value for money...

I hope you or someone else does prove me wrong, how many people believe the game is straight though - NONE. Then you see a horse drift like a barge and miraculously get stuck in the stalls and dont try a yard, cut all this bullsh1t out and people may start believing in the game. Ban trainers/jockeys/owners whatever it takes to clean it up - the trouble is they dont want to hear about it at the top as they are all on the gravy train theirselves and wont upset anyone.

When there is a rep on tv saying "we've layed this for 10k here and fortunes there" why cant someone turn around and ask why certain individuals cannot get more than a pound on a bet live on tv? They will get the sack no doubt and wont upset their peers as they are also riding this gravy train.

The sport is doomed if it carries on as it does, I hope it isn't but I am finished with it and i've been betting for 20 years.

lol BD..good idea..but defeats the millions invested in Racing for Change..where has the money gone we should be asking?

Nobody thinks it is straight but attracting 'beer heads' wont make it last, stupid marketing imo

Maurice that aspect is always going to happen...where there is money there will always be corruption..it is the nature of life...people cant help themselves..but there is a lot of new integrity going on gaming world and it is really starting to help..it will never stop it..it is impossible as people will always try to find a way of manipulation...but things are changing, i see it every day and that kind of thing is being addressed..a long process i grant you, but a needed one...i watch each day things being done correctly and hope one day the sport will be clean...but my point is getting us back to racing, taking your family, enjoying the day and not getting ripped off...investing in racing, ownership and syndicates..inviting your friends and not having to look over your shoulder

I know it will always be there but after reading the magician (1) (i think)!! thread the other day you basically have the people at the top who can do something about it but wont. Anyway good luck in your quest - you will need it but I fear more and more people will be leaving rather than coming.

I went to Wetherby last week. It was School Hols & a Grandma was taking a couple of grandchildren for a day out. Unfortunately she was carrying a supermarket bag with a picnic - s/wiches, fruit & dinks (not alchohol). Told that she could not bring food/drink in. Really embarrasing for all concerned - inc gateman.

I can quite understand stopping the chavs bringing cans in...but this was a bit too much, & I doubt they will return

fair enough Maurice, but give bus a chance...at least i have the right ideas and believe in integrity in the books...if you could see what i saw each day, anyone risking it now is a fool..the post you speak about is painful to read and annoying when things need to go forward..he has my sympathy but again things will change and for the better

wish racecourses would clean up the plastic beer cups from the rings.

Dobbo 10 Apr 23:00
I would guess they are taking advice from marketing professionals. Always people who have no clue about what they are marketing but a high opinion of their own perceptive ideas
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Correct - other than I would change one word ...

presentation ideas ....... "perceptive," - is the last thing that they are.

First went there when Red Rum won his third national in 77. The place was a real shiithole then and on a few occasions the course was nearly a goner. Even in the 80's you'd get a crowd of around 5,000 on the Thurs and 8,00 on the Fri. What they have done facility wise is absolutely fantastic and the place is thriving - though of course the crowd numbers that attend these showpiece meetings not a real indicator of the present state of the sport which needs streamlining in some form or another. However, I have considered for a while now that there is a real danger of someone putting together a rival event in a local park full of beer tents and food stands that are reasonably priced, local celebrities,a stage with bands playing, a ferris wheel, best dressed competitions, and ending with a firework display at dusk. They then give the day a theme heading, the crowds go and enjoy it and realise that they don't need racing.This could happen. I'll give you an example; a lady at work has been going to ladies day at Aintree for the past decade with a group of around 10 female friends - they attend no other raceday .This time, they took the day off work, got dolled up, and stayed the day in a local pub. That's how much the racing matters to them.