Racing could be fishy business
published: Friday | November 28, 2003
By Howard Hamilton- Horse Sense
I TOOK a trip recently to Seattle, Washington and was fascinated by Pike Place Fish Market. This must easily be one of the most fascinating markets in the world and in fact is world famous. Each day, the residents and tourists flock to the Pike Place Fish Market to watch workers throw fish around, and minute by minute, have a rollicking good time.
That a bunch of fishmongers could create a delightful work environment was sufficiently notable that the Pike Place Fish Market has spawned a whole industry of business guides built around a video, FISH! and a book of the same name. There is a most interesting article by Don Clipping in a recent issue of the Thoroughbred Times that makes comparison between the success of the Pike Place Fish Market and the increasing problems of the horse racing business.
He points out that the Pike Place Fish Market has succeeded famously because its owners and employees have transformed a mundane business into an entertainment business. On the other hand, horse racing, an entertainment business, is becoming more and more transformed into a mundane enterprise.
I have written so often about the state of our local racing industry that sometimes I wonder why I bother, but let us think back to the last visit that you made to Caymanas track. Were you greeted warmly at every contact with race track employees? Did employees help make your day more enjoyable or were there obstacles to a fun day at the track? When you went to the mutual line to place a bet, was the person taking your wager less or more engaging than an ATM?
In many ways, racing can be looked at as a three-legged stool; one leg is the racing - the quality of the horses, the addition of simulcasting.
The second leg is wagering. In many ways the bettor is better off today because of the multiplicity of wagering options - Exactas, Quinellas, Trifectas, Superfectas, you name it.
SHAKIEST OF THE THREE LEGS
The third leg is customer service. This is certainly the shakiest of the three legs. Racing people complain about the loss of customers to the entertainment venues but pay little attention to how many customers have been driven to the gaming lounges and lottery shops because of shoddy customer service at the race track.
The continuing decline in attendance and amount wagered does not seem to have generated the level of concern with the "management" of Caymanas Track Limited. The recently held yearling sale is a clear indication that we are heading in the wrong direction. While there were quality horses produced by the few breeders left in the business, there were less buyers than in previous years. It is now more than a year since talk of divestment and a restructure of the racing industry. I think the time has come when the shareholders have to come to the realisation that the current board at Caymanas Track Limited has been unable to provide the energy and drive necessary to move the industry out of the quagmire into which it continues to sink deeper and deeper. The fact that the company is still without a quality management team, speaks volumes to the inefficiency of the current board.
The horsemen's associations have become dormant. They seem to be resting on the laurels gained from the adjustment to purses for which they successfully argued. Unfortunately this adjustment is not sustainable and the declining sales at Caymanas Track Limited are sinking the company further into debt. The current purse structure is a major contributor to their increasing debt burden.
Sadly, racing cannot survive as a viable sport and wagering business without improved customer service to the racing consumer. When the public is denied the spectacle of one of the top three year olds racing in the Super Stakes because of the increasing problems of stones on the walkway then one can understand the indifference that exists at all levels.
What can it cost to have some women picking up stones on a regular basis, placing them in a bag and moving them off the track? This certainly is not Rocket Science but I doubt that you will have any improvement until the disgruntled Horsemen, being unable to take any more, seek some legal or other recourse. The lack of supervision and general slackness that prevails at Caymanas Track is turning away more and more of those who looked forward to a fun day at the track.
Making the racetrack a fun work environment will not be easy because the industry tends to be encrusted in dysfunctional behaviours and attitudes. The first step is that management and staff must make the commitment jointly to improving attitudes and customer service. It cannot come as an edict from on high, but top management must sign onto the effort fully.
Horse Sense will be taking a break for the next three weeks while the writer attends refresher courses and seminars on recent developments in the Gaming Industry. He takes this opportunity of wishing all his readers a very happy Christmas and renewed energy for 2004. Howard L. Hamilton, C.D., J.P., is a former Chairman of Caymanas Track Limited and is the current President of Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association of Jamaica. He can be contacted at howham@cwjamaica.com.
