Simple steps
I hear every week on all the racing talk shows about people not going to the races and how all the governing bodies are commissioning thinktanks to get bigger crowds.
I think it’s very easy. If a few steps were taken it would be fixed.
1. Get rid of the entry gate fee.
2. Get bookmakers to give better odds than the tab and maybe they can smile as well (most of them look like they don’t want to be there).
3. Don’t charge $4 for drinks and $5 for hot dogs.
4. Make it a friendly place for punters — I don’t want to hear rock bands while I’m at the races. I want to concentrate on the horses and to punt.
At the end it’s about making a day at the races fun again.
My wife and I have not been to the races for years yet we used to love going two or three times a month.
We became sick and tired of stupid odds from bookmakers, rock bands, fashions on the field — and what is it with the national anthem before a horse race? Plus everything is getting more expensive.
Now I sit at home, put on tvn and have fun. The racecourses give me no reason to return.
Manly West (Qld)