Qld's 2004 Greyhound of the Year - Greyhound-Data

NOPAIN,NOGAINA COUPLE of things made me sit backand think about racing’s future.One was an SBS documentary series titled“The Agony of Reform”. It talked about the1980s move away from socialism and centralplanning towards free markets, and how hardit was to handle the change.In Russia, Chili, India, Poland (rememberdockyard electrician Lech Walenza andSolidarite?) and elsewhere, communistpolitburos saw their power base collapsingand objected. But the people liked the ideaeven though it first confused everyone andcaused prices to rise.Eventually they learned how to handle it.Competition got rid of featherbedding,reduced prices, encouraged entrepreneurs andmost people prospered. It wasn’t always easybut the changes paid dividends.The other point is closer to home andcomes from Bruce McHugh, a successfulbusinessman and chairman of the Sydney TurfClub, home of the Golden Slipper.“The worst thing about it is that the olderwe get, the less we want change and it’s thehardest thing to bring about,” he told theSydney Morning Herald. “Everybody whohas been successful in my life has acceptedchange. Anyone who hasn’t has been left inthe wake.”Well, that’s talking the talk.But is racing prepared to change?Or should it anyway?Greyhound racing is certainly ahead of thegame in one area. The quality of our top racingstock and the skill of the people who breed,feed, fix and train them has never been better.Racing’s raw material is fine and stillimproving (although it does get spread verythinly at times). Interestingly, all thoseactivities are subject to intense competition.At the same time, racing’s managementand business structures remain much thesame, even though new markets and newsystems have emerged around us: TABs,ClubTABs, PubTABs, SKY, twilightmeetings, morning meetings, new bet types,phone betting, computer betting and differentsorts of customers.Racing people had little to do with thesechanges. They were the work of Governmentsand distant TAB shareholders. Racing simplytagged along. Perhaps it’s been blinded bythe twin headlights of tradition and heavyregulation.Growth At RiskCritically, racing’s dominant source ofincome - TAB betting - is now at risk. Overallgrowth is not covering inflation. Despiteoccasional boosts, racing is steadily losing itsshare of the gambling dollar.Worse, it’s knocking back any realopportunities to develop new business - frombetting exchanges or off-course bookmaking,for example.The GoodOilOver the past few years greyhounds canpoint to a number of improvements.But if you look closely, you’ll find theseare nearly all administrative or minoroperational matters: drug testing (led by thegallops), racing rugs, starting boxes(prompted by Work Cover), on-linenominations, prizemoney payment systems(prompted by the GST), club auditing and thelike.Greyhound adoption programs are helpfulbut have a tiny impact.On the other hand, track design is still inthe trial and error stage.Some strategic priorities are hard tounderstand.Racing’s “separation of powers” - i.e.interstate rivalries - slow down progress.Management by committee is the normeverywhere.Electronic racing form comes out in adozen different ways.Average field quality has fallen away.And any new marketing measures havebeen modest or have been preaching to theconverted. Victoria’s Watchdog campaign onSKY, although successful in its own way, fitsinto this category (it also suggests some highlyunprofessional bets).What Dog is That?The key to the future is going to be theneed to look not just to trainers oradministrators or even owners, but to potentialnew customers and what most interests them.For example, do we have a brand?Can the public latch on to greyhoundracing the same way it does to Coke and Pepsi,or Ford and Holden?Not really.Very often, we are no longer a racingcommodity but part of the generic productknown as gambling. Four-legged pokermachines, if you like.The hard fact is that “going to the dogs”is either a down-market activity or a highlynegative part of the lexicon. Our name goesinto the newspaper only when something badhappens*.Ernst & Young’s survey for the QGRA in1995 revealed our public image varies fromvague to nasty. It’s easy to forget that if you’rean insider and talk mostly to other insiders(which is what most of us do).A good test would be to stop 100 peoplewalking down the street and ask them to tellyou what activity involved Whisky Assassinor Bogie Leigh. I doubt you would get fivecorrect answers.That percentage might have jumpedduring Flying Amy’s reign, but that followedserious efforts to spread the word (theGreyhound Coaches promotion, for example).Which only proves the point.To gain an end customer, and keep him,that image must first be turned around. Tobuild new business there is no other possibleoption.Folks in the street have to know who weare, what we do and how they can take part.They have to know enough about greyhoundhistory to tell their neighbours what it’s allWith BRUCETEAGUEabout.They might be more interested than youthink.Not long ago Sam Cauchi of Rocky RidgeFarm (60 km north of Sydney) opened up hisstud to the public for a joint promotion withthe local Care Flight Child Helicopter service.It wasn’t especially well publicised yet acouple of thousand people flocked in, all agogat the facilities and the state-of-the-arttechnology that goes into looking after EliteState, Kobble Creek, Token Prince andcompany.A good number of those lookers hadbarely seen a greyhound before and knewlittle about them. Now they know much more.They’ll tell their friends.This is not a revolutionary concept.For example, the Courier Mail reports thatBundaberg Brewed Drinks has just spent $1million on a facility to show visitors how itmakes ginger beer. It’s part of a plan to doublethe size of the company’s business in the nextthree years.There was a time when you didn’t reallyhave to promote greyhound racing. It kind ofsold itself.Crowds of 10,000 or 15,000 flocked tobig city tracks to have a bet and enjoy thehigh-powered atmosphere. No more.To spread the word now, greyhoundracing will have to go to the people, not theother way round. That’s a big change,involving major re-organisation and major reallocationof resources. There may be someagony in that reform. But it’s the only wayahead in the long term.Let’s not wait too long though.“Efforts must be made to enliven publicinterest in the sport which is of course a long,arduous and costly task,” wrote Norm Smith,chairman of the NSW Greyhound RacingControl Board, in its 1981 annual report.Even Rip Van Winkle didn’t sleep for thatlong.(* A recent exception was an excellentSydney Morning Herald item on PaulFelgate and Just The Best. 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