UK RACETRACKS vs SA RACETRACKS.

Latest stats

UK population 61,186,000 has 61 tracks

SA population 47,850,700 has 10 tracks

So UK is 1 million people per track, and we're not far off 5 million people per track.

I suppose the UK is more densely populated, so more people are close to the tracks.

Any guesses on the active racehorse populations?

Here are a few ideas - all of which are based entirely on guesswork!

1.) Education is crucial to being able to enjoy racing. A massive whack of our population is illiterate ( including, it would seem, some of our Tellytrack studio staff! ) so how can they ever particiapte. The tote does its best to circumvent this by offering what are 'virtual' lottery type bets but there is not much hope of proper 'handicappers' developing out there on the back of negligible education.

2.) Given the closure of many of our tracks much of the racing is B-O-R-I-N-G with the same old soup meat plodding around the same old venues. UK offers a fascinating selection of tracks with dramatically differing characteristics.

3.) We race 364 days a year. The industry D-E-S-P-E-R-A-T-E-L-Y needs a shut down period or season so that all role players can take a break, rest horses properly, do vaccinations and basically freshen up.

4.) The fact that the UK has both flat and jump racing gives an almighty boost to interest. Jumps fans are now gearing up for their season. It's a whole fresh start. In the flat season the jumps fans look for older flat horses who might successfully make the transition to obstacles.

5.) Many 'bread and butter' UK owners appear more 'horse oriented' than SA. Here horses are treated as a commodity to be dispensed with ( to where? ) as soon as they underperform.

6.) Earnings per capita make it more feasible for UK fans to participate.

7.) The majority of racecourses stage relatively few meetings by South African standards. Hence I would assume that a lot of effort is put into those meetings that are staged. The meetings also appear to be well supported by the towns in which they are staged. As they are relatively few and far between many locals seem keen to attend.

8.) An effective public transport system makes it easy to attend without having to own a car. When I attended Cheltenham in 2005 British Rail not only promoted the event but also provided masses of transport from London to Cheltenham.

9.) Because we race 364 days per year many trainers use races as grass gallops. This is a disgrace and contributes towards massive form gyrations. With a limited season and more competition for a racing 'slot' perhaps more horses ( and I'm excluding inexperienced 2 yr olds ) would come to the course racing fit. I'm simply amazed when a trainer announces in an interview that a horse is running 60-70% fit. What do our stipes think of that?

10.) I used to attend every local race meeting in the 90's. You MIGHT get me to a course ( but not always ) if I have a runner or it is a really special day. I'm soory, chaps, but international racing opened my eyes to just how poorly many of our races are run and how fundamentally B-O-R-I-N-G venues such as Durbanville, Scottsville & the Vaal Sand Track are.

11.) Please introduce me to the genius who built a sand track with a 1000 metre straight? That's a training centre and not a racetrack. Real entertainment!