Archive
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
Letter of the Week

What's in a name?

Some months ago, Richard Callander lamented in his column the fact that Sydney’s Kensington track does not carry the name Randwick. Callander argued that the track loses prestige, and turnover, by failing to capitalise on the cachet of the racecourse that surrounds it.

It therefore surprised me to read Adrian Dunn’s opinion (21/6) that the proposed inside track at Flemington could be named Maribyrnong or Ascot Vale (but presumably not Kensington — another adjacent suburb) to avoid tarnishing the Flemington brand.

Callander thinks we mindless punters will splurge more dough on one of these greyhound tracks if it is called Randwick Inner or Flemington Riverside, yet Dunn seems to feel it makes no difference what it’s called.

If Callander is right, and we apply the Flemington name to the new track to boost its turnover figures, we risk trashing the Flemington brand, which until now has been exclusively associated with wide expanses of lush green turf and top-class racing.

(Admittedly, Dunn merely reported fears of this brand-trashing — he didn’t say he agreed with them.)

Perhaps the neatest solution is to apply the name of yet another neighbouring suburb to the new Flemington track — Newmarket.

That way some punters may be fooled into thinking they are betting on the July Course or the Rowley Mile, rather than investing on "product" racing round and round a dizzying dog track.

Dale Scott
Cremorne (Vic)
Today's Racing
Friday 29 March
Saturday 30 March
Sunday 31 March