MY CALL - TAPPING INTO THE 'YOUTH MARKET' WITH A VIEW TO THE FUTURE

By David Fowler | Tuesday, October 30, 2012

David Fowler is the principal thoroughbred caller for Radio TAB. David, who is a keen form student and punter, has enjoyed a lifetime involvement in the racing media. His personal blog, ‘My Call’, appears exclusively on HRO.

Recently-appointed BRC chairman Neville Bell hit the ground running and pulled off a masterstroke at Doomben last Saturday.

Bell's special guest was Wyatt Roy, the LNP Federal Member for Longman, who enjoyed his day out at the races with partner Hillary.

Roy earned national recognition when he became the youngest member to be admitted to Federal Parliament at 20 years of age in the 2010 election.

You can never introduce enough politicians to the theatre of the racetrack and Roy was impressed by the atmosphere at Doomben.

And at 22 years, he understands what makes young people tick. This is what race-club committees need to tap into with a view to the future.

With the strong possibility of an LNP Federal election victory in 2013, Wyatt Roy's support will be an excellent asset.

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While this website is "horseracingonly.com.au", allowed me some leeway.

Any political junkie will tell you media reports have the US election result as neck and neck between Obama and Romney with a week to go.

Yet every betting market has the Democrats (Obama) around the $1.30 mark with the Republicans (Romney) priced at $3 bucks.

How can this stark difference be?

Similarly, the latest Newspoll has Labor and the LNP deadlocked at 50 each on the two party preferred yet the LNP are dominant at $1.40 with most betting agencies.

I can't answer the question of why the disparity but I do know one thing. The betting market is rarely wrong.

Time will tell.

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I winced when some of the Racing Retro team on Sunday derided the Sunday Telegraph's decision to highlight the Waterhouse-Singleton fracas rather than highlight Ocean Park's Cox Plate victory.

Boys, I hate to tell you but reading the review of races in the Sunday papers is long gone with so much immediate information at our fingertips.

Let's face it, most of us like to read about other people. Their joys and, yes, their woes.

Both Waterhouse and Singleton are dynamic personalities. Their clash has had many racing people talking, offering one opinion or the other.

Gossip sells papers.

I've mentioned this before but it amazes me how many administrators and media want to sanitize racing and protect it in a bubble.

It has the same good and bad apples as society does.

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Sea Siren's Manikato win on Friday night gave another thumbs up to Brisbane's Winter Carnival.

This followed Solzhenitsyn's Toorak Handicap triumph and Buffering's Group
victories.

It's foolish to judge a Carnival's strength at the time. Subsequent performances, good or bad, are the best yardstick.

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Next week's blog will be devoted entirely to trying to find the Melbourne Cup winner and the trifecta and first four.

To use a political term, I'm ruling nothing in or out at this stage as the final balance of the field is still in limbo.

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