I grew up around horse
racing and my first job was working for Brian Embleton at Fredericton Raceway during
the summer of Clipper Seelster’s historic journey in 1982. My primary job was to assist the race office
and write a column for Atlantic Post Calls.
In those days we raced two times a week and the APC published on a
weekly basis, so I was usually pretty busy.
I took the time to
learn about the operation of a racetrack and Embleton was a great teacher who
helped pave the way to my becoming a race track manager many years later. An early lesson for me was him getting on the
telephone to the local radio stations on the afternoon of a race day. He was looking to drum up some promotional
air time for Fredericton Raceway; trying to get the local DJ’s and news and
sports people to talk about the race program that night.
He did that when
Clipper Seelster came to town - acting on a hunch that something special was
going to happen that evening. He was motivated
to get more people out to the track hoping it would translate into a solid
night at the mutuels. Back then a race
track manager would measure his success by the pari-mutuel handle and the
attendance - remember when you used to have to pay admittance to the racetrack?
- which usually went hand in hand.
He was disappointed
that night, however, though certainly not because of what happened on the
racetrack. The disappointment came from
the race program only generating a wager of $30,000.
You see, thirty years
ago, in an age when there was no simulcast, no inter-track wagering or
teletheatres, no VLT’s or Coasters lounges and tickets were purchased $2.00 at
a time, an on-track wager of $30,000 was still considered a disappointment on a
Monday evening in July. We hoped Thursday
night would be better though, after all it was a payday in Fredericton.
Flash forward almost
ten years and Fredericton Raceway experienced its biggest live wager ever on
July 1, 1991. I was Race Secretary by
that time and horses were plentiful so I was able to assemble a big 16-dash
holiday card highlighted by the Walter Dale Memorial and the Atlantic Sires
Stakes pacing show, featuring the three-year-old pacing colts and fillies.
It was like a Fredericton
version of the ‘Breeders Crown’ and the Canada Day afternoon super card was a
big draw for horses, owners and their families.
The place was packed with race fans and bettors and at the end of the
day the wager was $116,997 for the sixteen races, an average of $7,312 per dash
and a new program high.
This historic occasion
was recorded in traditional Fredericton fashion. It was triumphantly scribbled (probably by
Frank Donovan) on the wooden wall in the office under the grandstand, the
previous high scratched out.
The only time wagering ever
surpassed that high mark was during a couple of FREX weeks but they were always
double-header cards and the combined totals of two programs would have exceeded
$116,979.
Of course, the 1980’s
and early 1990’s were the high point of live wagering in Fredericton and the handle
has been on a steady 20-year decline since then.
I became the General
Manager of Fredericton Raceway in the early 2000’s and during my seven years
there and I was able to anticipate consistent numbers at the mutuels, though
not the high marks of the previous decades.
The Canada Day super card would traditionally average $3,000 per dash
and the two-year-old Atlantic Sires Stakes races on the New Brunswick Day
holiday program were around $2,200-$2,500.
FREX week was good for $2,500 per dash - sometimes higher - and the
regular over night events started out around $800 in May and June, building up
to $1,200 by July, depending on the weather.
At the end of the year the bottom line was always the same -
$1,500-$1,600 per dash except for my final year in 2008 when it was just under $1,400.
This year in Fredericton
the average for a live race program was only $805 per dash, the lowest number
in decades and more than 40% less than it was five years ago. In fact, the live wager has dropped steadily and
significantly since 2008. The numbers
per race:
·
2009 ($1,166) down 15%
·
2010 ($1,015) down 13%
·
2011 ($914) down 10%
·
2012 ($827) down 9%
·
2013 ($805) down 3%
Fredericton had been one
of the wagering leaders in the Maritimes through the last decade but now
lingers in the bottom three along with the other New Brunswick track,
Exhibition Park Raceway in Saint John.
It is also interesting to note that, although Saint John has the worst
live wagering numbers in the Maritimes ($523) by about 30%; their numbers have
remained steady within 3%, suggesting that they themselves have bottomed out.
There are various
reasons why live wagering has reached this very low point in New Brunswick and maybe
that can be a blog for another day.
I laud the efforts of
HRNB and their endeavor to form a mutually beneficial business partnership with
Atlantic Lottery Corporation for the future but, if they are successful, they
must learn from the failings of the administrators of the industry in Ontario
which means not getting caught up in the trappings of the VLT revenue at the
expense of the personal experience at the racetrack. I’m not sure we are as friendly and welcoming
as we could be.
We need to revisit
harness racing’s roots and remind ourselves about what made those times so
successful and try to abstain from blaming lotteries and government for where
we find ourselves today. The time for
blame has passed and, besides, it is not all their fault.
The focus should be on the
relationship between the harness racing industry and its most important
customer - the person who comes to the racetrack to get close to the excitement
of the sport. It’s not just about the patron
who wants to drop his money in a VLT.
More importantly, it’s about
the guy - or girl - who may like the horses or enjoys the competitiveness of
racing. Maybe he’ll want to buy a horse himself
some day, or with some friends. Maybe
they will bring their friends to the track and spend a few dollars at the
wickets, something we have seen in Fredericton in the recent past.
A good experience
starts with a professional presentation.
We need an operating tote board that displays real time odds for the
novice and serious bettor. This is
critical and I am sure it has been a detriment to live wagering in the province
the past two years, especially in Fredericton.
The local newspaper once referred to it as “Mickey Mouse” which does
nothing to enhance the image of the sport in the eyes of many.
A consistent race
schedule is important as well. If we
want patrons to come to the track they actually have to know when to come. The racing schedule in Fredericton has
literally changed from year to year but the tourism brochures in the city still
have harness racing running on Thursday nights at 7:00 pm though that hasn’t
actually happened in over two years. And
don’t get me started about the radio ads that ran this year promoting harness
racing at Fredericton Raceway on Saturdays it wasn’t even open. (That happened last weekend and the track has
been closed for almost three weeks)
Circuit racing needs to
be considered in this province and this business of alternating weeks has been
a failure when patrons demand a consistent schedule that is familiar and easy
to follow.
And while you always
have to grow and change with the times, it might also be helpful to take a look
back to the days when Fredericton enjoyed some of its greatest successes.
When New Brunswick again
hosts the Atlantic Sires Stakes program (not if, I’m an optimist), go back to
the traditional dates and turn the holiday cards into events. The stakes program
brings the horses, their owners and their families to the race track. It will bring locals to the track and bettors
from out of town.
Most importantly, it
will create an atmosphere at the racetrack, just like it did a few years ago
when crowds would line the racetrack to watch and wager on the horses.
Of course, it will take
much more than these few points to reverse the current wagering trends and I’m
certainly not implying that we ignore the changes taking place in our
business. Having VLTs at racetracks and
capitalizing on the technology now available to wager on our product off-site
has a significant place as well.
I just believe that
bringing people to the track and betting on the horses are the foundation of
our industry and potentially the greatest source of growth.
I don’t expect we’ll
ever scratch out the number 116,997 on the wall but it can serve as a reminder of how great
things were and should be.
I wonder if it is still
on the wall in that back office. Maybe next summer I’ll
go back and find that out.
I hope I have to fight
through a crowd to get there.
Just like I used to.
Just like I used to.
* * * * *
Overall wagering in New
Brunswick is down approximately 15% so far this year compared to 2012. In the next few weeks, I’ll bring you an
in-depth look at the wagering trends in the province over the past five years
and I will break down where the money is actually coming from.
* * * * *
For more blogs on New Brunswick harness racing go to thefrederictonscene.blogspot.ca
For more
historical data, pictures and stories please LIKE Fredericton Raceway 125 on Facebook.
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