Finding Ways to Promote Horses Could Save Horse Racing

In the past few years, horse racing has been in the spotlight with Zenyatta, Rachel Alexandra, Uncle Mo and others.  But with other “popular” horses retiring this year, it’s time for racing to be proactive in finding a new heir to the public opinion throne.

It is true that even with crowd-favorite horses, racing is still in a dire straight.  People may know the horse and even watch some of its big races, but they don’t really know who the horse is unless it has won the Kentucky Derby.

However, that is easily fixable if racing wants to put in the effort.  Instead of just highlighting the fan-favorites during the busy seasons like Breeders’ Cup or Kentucky Derby, push these horses all year long.  Sure, some horses do fall off the radar, but that’s where a backup plan comes in.

Instead of just focusing on one horse like Uncle Mo, have a few different ones to talk about.  There are some hard-knocking campaigners out there at the stakes level that seem to show up everywhere. 

In the past few years, we’ve had horses like Awesome Gem and Evening Attire, but they have never been promoted like they should.

Hard campaigners do go to some allowance races along the way, but Evening Attire’s last nine races before he retired in July 2008 were all in stakes races.  Just think of the casual fan following that this horse could have had if he had been promoted by the industry.

In the current age, Regally Ready is the perfect horse for racing to focus on with promotions.  The Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner looks to be around for a while, and as a gelding, there is no fear of someone offering money for a stud deal. 

With his owners making big plans for the horse, Regally Ready could be a great start to making a “people’s horse.”

“We have great plans to travel the world with [Regally Ready]," co-owner Tom Ludt said.  "We hope he takes us to many great places with victories.”

Another horse that could be one for racing to focus on next year is Mike Repole’s Stay Thirsty.

Repole definitely has his detractors, but even with Uncle Mo gone, he still has a fan-favorite horse with Stay Thirsty.  The Repole stable team has also handled promoting his horses right by letting fans see into their daily lives with updates, pictures, and videos on their Facebook fan pages.

Facebook isn’t the end all when it comes to seeing how many fans a horse has, but the three-year-old Travers winner has almost 1,500 (Uncle Mo has over 7,400).  But there’s no doubt that, at least some of them, don’t know that much about horse racing.

If horse racing wants to stay alive, it needs to focus on promoting its stars all year-round, not just during the big races.  There are plenty of horses around the country that could grab a following if they were promoted, and with all the different forms of social media, there is little excuse not to use it.

A big fan horse doesn’t become a sensation overnight, but with a little help from the industry and the multitude of ways available to promote them, the process can be sped up and possibly even save racing. 

If Facebook is any indication, the fans are out there; the industry just needs to get them involved in the sport.