Attracting (And Retaining) Youth to Racing

The author & girlfriend Madison Stansberry at Keeneland

by Trent Ledbetter

Name a sporting event where you walk in and can leave with double the money you came with. A sporting event where you are three feet from million dollar athletes. A sporting event where you can feel the rush of victory and the agony of defeat nine times in one day.

Horse racing is a sport like no other. It requires the perfect unity of a human and horse to power each other to the finish line. The Kentucky Derby gets more popular every year, Keeneland has set attendance records the past two years, and we see major crowds at racetracks around the country. American Pharaoh winning the Triple Crown brought the sport back to public eye. Millions tuned in to watch the incredible feat be sealed as he crossed the finish line at Belmont. But even as millions of people come to tracks and watch these races, the sport is missing a major demographic, the younger crowd.

Growing up in Kentucky about five miles from Turfway Park and a short drive from River Downs (now Belterra Park), I was at the track with my grandpa holding a program before I could even read. As I grew older, I learned how to read a program, what to look for in the paddock, and also the rush you get as a longshot shocks the whole track and leaves people speechless.

Like most handicappers, I remember my first big win. I was eight years old and my grandpa handed me the program and told me to pick a horse. At the time, my entire betting strategy was to look at who Garrett Gomez was riding, not because he was the leading rider at the time, but because I thought his name sounded cool. Anyway, Gomez must have been riding a longshot that day, because I left the track $45 richer. To most people, that's not a big win, but when you're eight, you feel like the richest man in the world. And thus my love for horse racing was born.

I recently got the chance to visit Keeneland for their College Scholarship Day, when college students come down, experience Keeneland, receive cool free stuff, and get entered to win multiple scholarships. I started the Keeneland day like I do most, with a trip to the track kitchen and a walk past all of the stables, admiring the names like Casse, Baffert, and Lukas as we passed by their reserved parking spots. Admission was free and as my girlfriend and I walked through the gates, what met our eyes was a huge tent surrounded by college students in their finest Keeneland suits and dresses.

As we approached the tent, I was struck by the amount of free gear Keeneland was offering, along with Southern Proper, a prominent preppy clothing brand. Every student received a shirt or hat, a free admission ticket to Keeneland, a coupon for the gift shop, along with free food and beverages. They gave out these free items in a bright yellow bag, and by the second race of the day, the bags were everywhere. There were 36,000 people in attendance that day–the second-highest for a Friday at Keeneland, and a major part of that crowd was college students.

As the races went by, I watched to see the difference between the seasoned handicappers and the lively college students. I went to windows instead of the electronic wagering booths, and what I heard was painful to someone who has grown up at a racetrack. The students were walking up to the windows and had no idea what they were doing. They stumbled through phrases until the clerk could make out what they wanted. They made simple bets that lacked the opportunity for the big payouts. They wagered blindly and carelessly, there just for the atmosphere.

Now, what if Keeneland could take these massive crowds of college kids and get them to come back? The result would be amazing: a brighter future for the sport, and more viewers and dollars being poured into the sport. The question is, “How?”

As I looked through my bag of goodies from Keeneland, I noticed that none of these items had a direct correlation with handicapping. A nice hat, free admission ticket, and a gift shop coupon. These are all great, but what if there was something in there that enhanced these kids' chances of winning? It's our human nature that if we win at something, we try to repeat our actions and are drawn to repeating that feeling. What if inside that goody bag was a guide to handicapping? A paper that explained a trifecta, a box wager, or the proper words to say when at a betting window. A coupon for a free program, so that these kids who are there for one day learn what they are doing.

If you have thousands of college kids looking at tote boards, and knowing that the trifecta paid a thousand dollars, you'll have thousands of kids rushing to the betting windows making trifecta bets. How many of us are great the first time we ever play a sport? How many of us can play an instrument the first time we pick it up? The same can be said for horse racing; these kids are doing it for one day, and although they leave having a good time, they aren't being taught how to win.

Keeneland is executing the first step perfectly: they are attracting thousands of kids to these races, but unless they implement ways to keep them there, it's all in vain. Take advantage of having this amount of kids at the track, teach them what they are doing, give them the tools to hit the big winners, and you now have thousands of lifetime handicappers. The industry would grow, attendance would grow, and the sport would thrive.

This is a call to action to all tracks out there: get these kids to the track and give them the resources to learn. And a call to action to all kids: immerse yourself in this environment and this sport. Equip yourself with this knowledge, feel the rush of victory, fill your pockets with your winnings, and fall in love with horse racing.

Trent Ledbetter is a 19-year-old student at Thomas More College in northern Kentucky.

 

Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.

Copy Article Link

X

Never miss another story from the TDN

Click Here to sign up for a free subscription.