OTI Director Terry Henderson’s articles will feature in the weekly edition of Winning Post throughout spring. Below is the second edition from Saturday, September 14.
As a punter or owner in horse racing, there’s no better place than Australia.
I was reminded again of this last weekend in New York, where despite the excellent hospitality of local officials, the owners’ sector was dominated by a few wealthy people. Getting a bet on was restricted to one betting supplier — betting machines only.
To then hear on-course punters cheering on horse numbers, not names, brought home to me how lucky we are to still have the vitality and variety we enjoy at our race tracks.
The ease of access to be a part-owner in a horse and having a myriad of betting options with either the pari-mutuel (TAB) or bookmakers is at the heart of racing’s success in Australia.
It’s a big reason why Australia remains the only country that has a horse race that ‘stops the nation’.
More than a million people have a bet on racing each week. The money generated, particularly if it’s through the TAB, is the lifeblood of our good stake money. That prizemoney makes it possible for Australians with a small amount of idle cash to buy an interest in a racehorse knowing that they have a reasonable chance of a financial return.
Australian owners also enjoy the hospitality of racing clubs (which compared to 15 years ago is excellent) as they relish in the atmosphere of watching their horse run. Off the track, there’s a multitude of outlets to catch the excitement.
While the headlines focus on the 50-plus races in Australia that are now worth $1 million or more, stakes money paid to our country participants has also become much more appealing. And with many races now paying down to 10th place, the net cost of racing a horse, even if it’s not a winner, is reduced substantially.
In comparison to the UK, the amount our horses earn for running third in a Wyong maiden is the equivalent of a Newmarket (UK) win.
I agree with the purists that the general quality of horses in Australia, especially for distances over 1600m, is inferior to those horses in Europe, Japan and Hong Kong.
However, that’s not what makes our racing successful. While we all love the champions, our racing thrives on involvement, atmosphere and having a bet.
Our racing system itself, based primarily around handicapping, is an anathema to a racing world where all stakes races are weight-for-age. Our forefathers, thank goodness, saw this as the way of giving everyone a chance.
With more racetracks and racehorses than any other country, it’s no surprise that the racing industry is one of the biggest contributors to our economy — over $6 billion per annum.
Governments love us as they take a large slice of the betting dollar. This was recently improved further (for governments) with the introduction of the point-of-consumption tax. It actually irks me that governments are often very reluctant to acknowledge the importance of racing to society.
So let’s not forget how lucky we are to have our Australian style racing. There is no shortage of doomsayers around the world (many holding significant positions) who will tell you that horse racing is a dying activity.
They’ll tell you that today’s social values are inconsistent with racing. Unfortunately, it’s not difficult for them to come up with examples to prove their point, be they through the isolated cases of ill-treatment to horses or gambling.
It is imperative, if we want to continue to enjoy what we have and stay relevant to the broader public, we must stay conscious of our responsibilities to society and try wherever we can to bridge the gaps between our respective priorities.