Galway: why all the despondency?
We know attendances and betting were well down, but considering we are in the middle of the deepest recession in the history of the state, they were more than satisfactory.
There seems little point in comparing what we are left with now, with what went on in this country over the last decade.
It is only in the past twelve months or so we have all come to realise the lunatics were in charge of the asylum, that the economy had been taken over by out-of-control bankers and developers, fuelled by governments who seemed oblivious to the fact they were literally perched on a house of cards.
Well, the chickens have long come home to roost and plastic is no longer king!
Yes attendances, compared to last year, at Galway were down 18%, bookmaker turnover by 24% and 20% with the Tote.
So what? This country, and racing, has long been in dire need of a reality check and, to my mind, Galway performed admirably.
A total attendance in excess of 143,000 was perfectly acceptable and the 42,415 on the Thursday was nothing short of astonishing.
The bookmakers held over €13m, amazing, and waffling all day about it being down is a waste of time.
There were days last week when the weather was simply atrocious. The press-room was busy from early morning and throughout Tuesday and Friday, as we peered out, it just seemed to bucket down all of the time.
Galway has become such a huge success because it pours its profits back into facilities and because they listen to their customers.
And many of the customers complained about the admission prices. The €30.00 on Wednesday and Thursday, in particular, were the focus of much of the moaning.
A man who brought his wife and say three kids to the races was €66 behind (€2 each for the kids to get in), before he even bought an ice cream for the little terrors!
Back a loser or two onto that and there was no way he was coming back the next day. Trust the Galway executive to look at that for the future.
There is surely a strong case for reducing prices, not just at Galway, but in general for Irish race meetings.
I know of one prominent figure in the game here, with a very high profile, who believes there is now cause to consider, at least for many meetings, letting people in for nothing and dispensing with casual workers for the day.
Attendances at your run-of-the-mill meetings have become almost irrelevant and the funding of most courses is now based on the money they get from SIS-ATR.
Indeed, one racecourse manager told me this week that, without such money, his track would be closed within the hour.
This is the way it works, as I understand it. Essentially, every day you race is worth €31,200.
It is made up of €6,000, even if the meeting is abandoned, plus €25,200 if racing takes place.
As well there is a one-off payment each year of €4,156 for media rights.
That’s why a place like Fairyhouse, for instance, will not have a problem putting on a so-called industry day on a wet Tuesday, when the place will be virtually deserted.
If courses don’t want to allow punters in for nothing then surely they must consider greatly reducing admission prices.
It was €18.000 into Cork on Sunday and Monday and, I believe, that is too much. Mind you, at least Cork is making an effort in another way.
They have decided if you pay into four meetings, you will get in free for the fifth and that will certainly be some reward for their hardcore clients. You suspect, however, more is needed.
The world is changing and many of us in the game will lose little sleep at the caging of the mythical Celtic Tiger.
Hopefully, the days of tossing money around like confetti are gone. Remember those premier handicaps on the flat, that we constantly railed against here, when they raced for obscene amounts of money, when a third of what was on offer would have seen the same horses competing?
And if those utterly wasteful sideshows in racing are now destined for the bin, then it only goes to prove that every cloud does actually have a silver lining!
Changing times call for thinking well outside of the box. The comfort zones are a distant past and that’s when real leaders emerge.
