MY CALL - ATTENDANCE FIGURES ARE ONE THING BUT BETTING TURNOVER IS THE ULTIMATE MEASURE OF SUCCESS

By David Fowler | Tuesday, May 17, 2016

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.

Do racetrack attendances count for anything anymore?

I doubt it.

The Brisbane Racing Club were delighted with their 6000 plus roll-up for Ubet BTC Cup day and by today’s standards, that’s a good figure.

In fact, the club was unexpectedly delighted suggesting the “walk in the gate” numbers were strong to bolster their pre-bookings.

Advertising and marketing promoting just the day itself rather than the bells and whistles experience must be working.

But does a crowd figure, once a high priority KPI, demonstrate success or failure?

Certainly not.

With technology developing at a furious pace and widening the viewing and betting alternatives, crunching the numbers is not the sole measure of success.

It’s betting turnover figures that spell the ultimate result.

A graph showing an upward trend for attendances and turnover would be nirvana but that isn’t or won’t be happening.

If you can flatline the attendance line, you’re doing well.

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Race clubs run a business and it’s tough going for many of them these days

There’s no point getting warm or fuzzy if there are huge numbers but those numbers are not spending.

The primary return is in food and beverage.

BRC offer several swanky options at Carnival time to entice young men and women to dress well and enjoy the raceday in style.

While it might be hard for some to swallow, the racing action generally plays a minor role in the social experience the club is offering .

Let them eat good food and drink fine wine.

“It’s their day and they’re often paying top dollar. We can’t dictate how they spend every minute,” a high profile committeeman confided to me.

A Carnival financial result will often make or break a club’s bottom line.

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I noticed with interest Martin Knibbs chaired Saturdays’ Doomben meet.

Honestly, he has lengths on several of his counterparts on a number of fronts.

I speak with some authority as I worked closely with him during his stint as the trot’s chief stipe from 2006 to 2010.

He mixed raceday knowledge with non raceday administration in a savvy manner.

Of course his experience in Hong Kong laid an excellent foundation for his return to Australia.

Don’t take my word for it. Just ask my fellow HRO columnist John Schreck, the best chief steward Sydney had by a country mile.

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What did we learn from Doomben on Saturday?

We can boom horses too quickly. Read Tiyatrolani.

We can react too severely to altering betting markets by a singular performance. Read Mackintosh.

We can always back this mare with confidence for a top three performance. Read Real Love.

Excluding the winner, the BTC Cup form will be useless from a 10,000 or Stradbroke viewpoint.

And my primary horse to follow is Souchez on the Sires Produce / J.J.Atkins path.

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Head to Eagle Farm on Thursday.

Watch the barrier trials on the new track from 1pm and try out the new facilities which will be up and running.

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