'WINNING' IS STILL RACING'S BIGGEST DRAWCARD

By Graham Potter | Sunday, September 8, 2013

The pleasure of winning is a major drawcard in terms of inspiring participation within the racing industry.

When I refer to ‘winning’ here, I am not necessarily talking about the financial profit that can accrue from on-track success. Sure that adds another dimension to the happiness of the occasion, but money is a fleeting barometer.

The essence of the pleasure I am talking about … and the part that will remain intact forever … is the experience of the rare combination of thrill, excitement and vibrant release of emotion that arrives in a flash of colour and all-out action as the silks worn by ‘your’ jockey carried by the magnificent, muscle-bound stride of ‘your’ horse hits the line ahead of all other runners.

If some of the examples of the reaction of owners are taken into account, the level of satisfaction that this type of result evokes is seemingly boundless.

Most importantly, it is also infectious.

Any regular race-goer would have seen many ‘winning’ celebrations … as I have … but it never fails to catch my eye when there are young children right there in the thick of things, picking up the vibe from their parents and enjoying the family’s winning moment to the full.

Why does it catch my eye?

Because racing needs to foster enthusiasm within the next generation of racegoers which, at the moment, has no certain profile and is not a guaranteed delivery.

Some race-clubs on big race-days, whatever the rights and wrongs of the reasons for it, do the future of racing a distinct disservice by holding ‘Over 18 only’ events.

That’s for another debate.

Thankfully that situation is countered in other areas … such as some provincial tracks which, in truth, are not only more user-friendly for younger children but they also encourage their inclusion.

Like at the Sunshine Coast on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

When Schillacking scored a debut win at the Sunshine Coast today the reaction in the grandstand both epitomised a growing trend and a hope for the future.

The growing trend is the increase in multiple ownership of individual horses (syndication, if you will). Several owners were there to help call their horse home and some of them had brought their young family members, in which racing needs to invest, with them.

I am sure those families left the track with the level of enjoyment that racing can bring etched in their memory with future conquests in mind.

Of course it would be foolish to pretend that racing’s downside does not exist but, as I said at the outset, the pleasure of winning is a major drawcard in terms of inspiring participation within the racing industry and when that aim is achieved, as it was in the Shillacking result, it is a moment worth savouring by all concerned.

If you could bottle the feeling displayed in the sequence of photos shown here it would be worth its weight in gold.

Today, tomorrow … young and old … there can be no doubt that winning is an emotion for all ages!