You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. However, you can lead a thoroughbred racing novice to a terminal and make them bet if you add value to their day at the races with free educational material.
On-course wagering at Australian tracks has been in decline for several years due to a number of factors, including the increasing ease of mobile wagering, the alluring offers of corporate bookmakers and the rising demand for fixed odds. In the current environment, the low-hanging fruit for race clubs dependent on raceday tote turnover to pay their bills are recreational punters, and the most recreational punters of all are fun-seeking, first-time attendees.
A traditional racebook may as well be written in an extinct language for all the sense it makes to the average person experiencing their introduction to thoroughbred racing. Impartial, insightful, intelligible information, supplied free of charge, is the key to getting raceday newcomers to open their wallets and engage in recreational betting. And with inadvertent assistance from Perth Racing’s wagering partner, TABtouch, that is what I did at Ascot and Belmont.
I remain at a loss as to why TABtouch developed its Bet with Cash functionality, but it lent itself brilliantly to Perth Racing’s perforated tip sheets I developed to supply punters with pre-programmed $20 tote betting tickets for each race plus the main quadrella. Simply tear off the relevant card, scan the barcode at a terminal and insert cash to follow the best bets of the on-course form analyst.
I would love you to visit my blog every day for its daily serve of fresh content. But I would love you more if you hired me. I am well-bred, by Racing Post out of WA Turf Club. I am well-rounded, a winner over many courses and distances. And I am well-placed, available to add value to your existing team. Do the form on a racing, wagering and communications thoroughbred at markworwood.com.
