UK RACETRACKS vs SA RACETRACKS.

Good evening, I have been giving some thought to the UK vs SA ratios vs population etc, and to be honest hard to comprehend, I am lost for words, but any inputs on the topic would be welcomed? Where have we lost it? what can we do to change it? They have full house and cost a fortune to enter the tracks, never mind the 5 star meals we can have for a song and free entry? The mind boggles!

Racecourses
There are 61 established racecourses in Great Britain, plus one that is planned to open in 2009 (Ffos Las), with a further two in Northern Ireland (Down Royal and Downpatrick):

Aintree Racecourse in Merseyside - (national hunt)
Ascot Racecourse in Berkshire -(mixed)
Ayr Racecourse in Ayrshire - (mixed)
Bangor on Dee Racecourse in Wrexham - (national hunt)
Bath Racecourse in Somerset - (flat)
Beverley Racecourse in the East Riding of Yorkshire - (flat)
Brighton Racecourse in East Sussex - (flat)
Carlisle Racecourse in Cumbria - (mixed)
Cartmel Racecourse in Cumbria - (national hunt)
Catterick Bridge in North Yorkshire - (mixed)
Cheltenham Racecourse in Gloucestershire - (national hunt)
Chepstow Racecourse in Monmouthshire - (mixed)
Chester Racecourse in Cheshire - (flat)
Doncaster Racecourse in South Yorkshire - (mixed)
Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey - (flat)
Exeter Racecourse in Devon - (national hunt)
Fakenham Racecourse in Norfolk - (national hunt)
Ffos Las Racecourse in Carmarthenshire - (mixed) (opens August 2009)
Folkestone Racecourse in Kent - (mixed)
Fontwell Park Racecourse in West Sussex - (national hunt)
Goodwood Racecourse in West Sussex - (flat)
Great Yarmouth Racecourse in Norfolk - (flat)
Great Leighs Racecourse in Essex - (flat) (opened April 2008)
Hamilton Park in South Lanarkshire - (flat)
Haydock Park Racecourse in Merseyside - (mixed)
Hereford Racecourse in Herefordshire - (national hunt)
Hexham Racecourse in Northumberland - (national hunt)
Huntingdon Racecourse in Cambridgeshire - (national hunt)
Kelso Racecourse in the Scottish Borders - (national hunt)
Kempton Park in Surrey - (mixed)
Leicester Racecourse in Leicestershire - (mixed)
Lingfield Park Racecourse in Surrey - (mixed)
Ludlow Racecourse in Shropshire - (national hunt)
Market Rasen Racecourse in Lincolnshire - (national hunt)
Musselburgh Racecourse in East Lothian - (mixed)
Newbury Racecourse in Berkshire - (mixed)
Newcastle Racecourse in Tyne and Wear - (mixed)
Newmarket Racecourses in Suffolk - (flat)
Newton Abbot Racecourse in Devon - (national hunt)
Nottingham Racecourse in Nottinghamshire - (flat)
Perth Racecourse in Perth and Kinross - (national hunt)
Plumpton Racecourse in East Sussex - (national hunt)
Pontefract Racecourse in West Yorkshire - (flat)
Redcar Racecourse in North Yorkshire - (flat)
Ripon Racecourse in North Yorkshire - (flat)
Salisbury Racecourse in Wiltshire - (flat)
Sandown Park Racecourse in Surrey - (mixed)
Sedgefield Racecourse in County Durham - (national hunt)
Southwell Racecourse in Nottinghamshire - (mixed)
Stratford-on-Avon Racecourse in Warwickshire - (national hunt)
Taunton Racecourse in Somerset - (national hunt)
Thirsk Racecourse in North Yorkshire - (flat)
Towcester Racecourse in Northamptonshire - (national hunt)
Uttoxeter Racecourse in Staffordshire - (national hunt)
Warwick Racecourse in Warwickshire - (mixed)
Wetherby Racecourse in West Yorkshire - (national hunt)
Wincanton Racecourse in Somerset - (national hunt)
Windsor Racecourse in Berkshire - (flat)
Wolverhampton Racecourse in the West Midlands - (flat)
Worcester Racecourse in Worcestershire - (national hunt)
York Racecourse in Yorkshire - (flat)

OK we have Turffontien and the Vaal, Greyville, Clairwood, Scottsville, Fairview and Arlington, Kenilworth and Durbanville and Kimberley. did I forget anyone = 10.

Do you know how the tracks are funded, or owned etc.? Is there a Phumelela or Gold Circle type entity or are they privately owned?

What is the horse population like compared to ours?

Is England that big - where do the people live? Oh I forgot. In London of course the rest is made up of the queens land race tracks a few golf courses and football pitches.

It is a crazy stat though. The population is just far bigger, the public are "race educated" puntersand the game still considered a noble sport over there. I may be wrong.

don't have time right now to give chapter and verse, but the crucial difference is that the racetrack companies have racing as their main activity, not betting. so they need to make money from sources other than betting, and they need to attract their own sponsors, which means they promote themselves properly to the racing and non-racing public alike, and they actually compete against each other which raises public awareness of the industry as a whole.

the betting money comes in as a levy charged on bookmakers and the tote, all at 10% of their overall revenue from punters (ie. after winnings). the betting market is competitive too, unlike SA which has institutionalised cartels, and as a result of that competition the levy funding has gone from £53m in 2001 to £117m last year. that amount is allocated to tracks and stakes by a central independent body with input from all stakeholders.

A good start at this time of night, thanks for the input, long time since I have been to school but the population was 60 million in the UK and 40 million Africa in 1951? sure someone can google for me?

Thanks for input greenbook, gives me some background.

Betting shops in the UK...

Stan James approx 150
Bet Fred approx 100
VC bet unknown
Labdbrokes 1905
William Hill 2034
Corals 1657
plus others and they all make a profit.

just under 6m attended racing in uk last year cant find the rsa results

Moved into your penthouse in Morningside yet?

Well everybody got excited by attendance at the Breaders cup +/- 60,000 which is close to what we had at the July yhis year and we have a far smaller population compared to the states. All will be well when all of our feature events in all provinces can pull 60,000.

morilihochilli Wrote:

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> Moved into your penthouse in Morningside yet?


been there done that,nearest bookies six miles now

Beautiful, what kind of caravan have you got?