RCA Annual Report 2020- Open Letter
2020 has been a year many of us will never forget. A global pandemic has changed the way we go about our daily business and our sport has had to come together like never before to ensure survival.
An Annual Report for 2019 did not feel like an appropriate communications piece this year, so the RCA Team have produced this summary of our work up until the initial lockdown began. A number of workstreams across the RCA were in full flow and helping racecourses to make progress in a multitude of areas. We were involved in strategic discussions about the future of the sport which, whilst postponed, will certainly return to the table.
Since March, unsurprisingly the RCA took on a new emergency function. Our work during the pandemic has been wholly dedicated to guiding racecourses through the uncertainty of lockdown and working with our industry partners to lobby for a return to action, which of course was granted on 1st June at Newcastle Racecourse and saw racing (behind closed doors) become the first major sport to recommence in Britain. Many of our team have taken on new roles to fulfil this work and it has been a significant effort, alongside our member racecourses and industry partners, to achieve what has been achieved thus far.
Covid-19 has given race meetings a very different look and feel (image courtesy of Beverley Racecourse)
This will continue until such a time as our emergency function is no longer required and we may revert back to the primary function of the RCA—to bring together the 59 racecourses of Great Britain, enabling them to be the best venues they can be and to represent them and their interests at industry level.
2020 will be the first full year for our Chief Executive David Armstrong, having joined in early 2019. Under David’s leadership the RCA has continued to play a key role in the strategic development of the sport on behalf of all racecourses. Perhaps the most critical was a structural review of the sport which resulted in both David and RCA Chairman Maggie Carver joining the BHA Board in 2019. At the same time, David replaced Maggie on the Levy Board.
Taking the theme of co-operation, Project Enable, the commercial review of the sport as a whole, was led by David during 2019. We are grateful for the fantastic engagement seen around the sport, in particular, from racecourses, which has resulted in a deep knowledge bank that we believe can help the sport create a commercial strategy for growth. Whilst the pandemic delayed the findings of Project Enable being shared more widely, we are looking forward to bringing the sport together to agree shared initiatives for the benefit of the future of the industry.
The past months have also seen significant growth for our subsidiary, RaceTech. Since 2019 RaceTech now provide outside broadcast facilities for all British Racecourses as well as starting stalls teams across the nation. RaceTech’s agility has enabled first-class coverage of the sport to continue to be delivered to millions of homes around the world whilst the sport takes place behind closed doors.
Of significant importance to the longevity of our sport has, and will continue to be, equine welfare. The RCA, through Caroline Davies, played a leading role in the creation of the Horse Welfare Board, an independent body established to safeguard the wellbeing of our horses now and in the future.
Earlier this year, the RCA welcomed the release of the Horse Welfare Board’s five-year strategy A Life Well Lived. The strategy will serve as a long-term focus for the sport in implementing and communicating welfare measures taken to ensure the highest standards of care continue to be provided for the whole life of horses bred for racing.
Key to its development was the use of data and an evidence-led approach to recommendations, of which there are 20 and a further 26 suggested workstreams. The RCA strongly advocates the strategy’s call for unity and recognises that all stakeholders hold an integral role in its implementation and future success. We will continue to press for the implementation of this strategy and to play our part wherever we can.
Racing
The RCA was closely involved with the production of the 2020 Fixture List throughout the entire process. The Fixture List was published in early August 2019, with a total of 1,481 fixtures initially programmed before another ten were subsequently re-added. These 10 had historically been staged at Towcester and we successfully defended their right to sell their fixtures whilst in administration. New measures which were agreed at the cross-industry Fixtures & Funding group included an extension of the Christmas and summer jump breaks and ensuring that the first race of the day is under way by 2pm in order to meet the needs of the betting public.
Constantly looking for innovative ways to enhance the Fixture List, two separate lunchtime racing trials took place in 2019 as a collaborative effort between the RCA and Levy Board. The trials were designed to gauge whether there was sufficient demand, primarily from a betting perspective, for lunchtime racing with the view to becoming a more regular feature within the racing programme. Whilst there was an overall benefit in terms of the per race turnover, the earliest lunchtime races performed somewhat disappointingly. The view of all involved was that the trial does offer some assistance in assessing the potential of earlier starts. Stakeholders were due to debate the merits of introducing earlier starts for fixtures at appropriate points during 2020, with a key focus on Saturdays during the summer, until the pandemic intervened.
Our team works closely with racecourses and the wider industry to ensure the fixture list meets the needs of all parties (image courtesy Hamilton Park Racecourse/Grossick Racing)
The geographic spread of racing remains a critical part of a healthy Fixture List. The RCA’s Racing Group developed a proposal to ensure horses and trainers in the north had sufficient opportunities local to them. This was subsequently presented to the BHA and, as a result, led to a new Juvenile Hurdle Series being added under the Northern Lights banner.
The RCA continues to play an important role in the Betting Liaison Group (BLG) and the Betting Data Analysis Group, which are now under the auspices of the Levy Board. There is no doubt that relationships with the betting industry have improved through the opportunity for open dialogue on a number of issues, including race times, race programmes and running orders and the value of additional fixtures.
The detailed monthly betting turnover and gross win data which the leading betting operators are providing to PwC for anonymisation and aggregation is proving a vital tool in influencing race planning and fixture-related decisions for the sport with the Levy Board able to conduct detailed analysis of the data. Indeed, analysis of this data was a key part of the modelling around the funding of the resumption of racing behind closed doors following the COVID outbreak. The value of this information has been strengthened further with bet365 now providing its data to PWC, meaning that the seven largest Levy paying operators are all providing monthly data and actively involved in the BLG and data analysis process. The BLG, under the Chairmanship of the levy Board’s new Chairman, Paul Darling, has significant potential and we will continue to support its development.
Racecourse Services
The RCA’s work with the Sports Ground Safety Authority (SGSA) continued to develop as our Guide to the Green Guide, the SGSA’s operational handbook for the safe running of venues, was formally recognised as an approved piece of work. This acknowledgement is testament to the skill and knowledge of both our executive and the RCA’s Safety Group who have been an integral source of counsel.
Racecourses continue to upgrade the on-course experience to ensure they are as inclusive as possible and this extends to our participants, too. Alongside the BHA, the RCA was integral to a study relating to female jockeys and the facilities available to them on-course. The results of this were fed back via the RCA’s Technical Group and have started to be activated on-course.
During 2019, a detailed consultation on the racecourse licencing process was undertaken with the RCA providing counsel to the BHA. This process was concluded and implemented at the start of 2020, ensuring the racecourse licence remains relevant and fit for purpose as racecourses continue to develop as venues.
As part of the RCA’s commitment to training and skill enhancement across all racecourses, we were pleased to host the bi-annual Racing and Turf Management Conference earlier this year at Doncaster Racecourse, sponsored by Duralock. The extended three-day event covered a range of topics from turf husbandry to veterinary and medical best practice and was a fantastic gathering of colleagues from across racecourses. We are hopeful to re-introduce our training programme soon and will aim for a blended delivery of virtual and in-person sessions.
Customer Experience
With an ever-strong remit from our member racecourses, the RCA maintained its strong focus on raceday experience. Our Have a Great Day at the Races strategy, built using racegoer and public feedback, set out a four-tiered approach to activity: Great Racing, Great Company, Great Service and Great Value.
The Raceday Experience Forum met four times over the course of 2019 to cover each of these tiers in detail. Our research allowed racecourses to delve deeper into the different demographics of racegoers visiting the races and what experiences they sought. We engaged first-class speakers from outside of the sport to inspire our members and spark new conversation. Our curiosity took us on exciting field trips to see first-hand the latest trends in the worlds of racecourses, other major sports and leisure venues.
The culmination of this work was the 10th annual Showcase & Awards held at Hamilton Park Racecourse, the first time the event had been hosted in Scotland. The Showcase Awards saw the introduction of a new honour to celebrate diversity and inclusion within the sport. This was won by Scottish Racing for their pan-racecourse initiative to make each venue as inclusive as possible to those with Alzheimer’s, enhancing the quality of leisure time for hundreds of families. The new Showcase Champion Racecourse was confirmed as Pontefract Racecourse to a standing ovation and given the postponement of Showcase 2021, Norman Gundill and his team will retain the crown for (at least) another year!
Pontefract Racecourse will retain the Champion Racecourse crown into 2021
New initiatives
Our 2019 Operating Plan included a number of new initiatives for the RCA to assist our members in their commercial objectives. With 59 venues spread nationally, our members possess strong buying power. Our Finance Team was developing a joint procurement plan to help drive costs down on essential items for racecourses and this initiative will be more important than ever as the sport emerges from the pandemic. Equally, a project to help racecourses benchmark their operational capability was developed and will re-commence in 2021.
In addition, in the post-pandemic leisure world an integral aspect will be a digital customer experience. The RCA’s initial work on a shared racecourse app will continue with the aim of providing a simple, effective digital solution to ticketing and on-course purchase in addition to raceday information.
Coronavirus Response
As eluded to at the start of this letter, the RCA’s response to the Coronavirus pandemic was to swiftly adopt an emergency operating plan to ensure our resource was directed to racecourses in the most effective way possible.
Our Management Team has taken on new responsibilities to this end. Our initial focus was returning the sport behind closed doors given the many livelihoods at risk and welfare of our horses. The safety protocols behind this were extensive and we worked closely alongside Government and BHA to ensure they were as thorough as possible for the safety of all involved.
In addition to the safety protocol was creating a Fixture List that preserved the remainder of the flat season and introduced summer jumps at a safe time. With significant collaboration across the sport, this was achieved from 1st June and allowed major festivals including The Guineas, Royal Ascot and The Derby to take place.
All stakeholders have come together to ensure the collective survival of the sport. Our collective effort has been boosted by the Levy Board to whom we are extremely grateful for providing emergency funding in this uncertain time.
The sport has come together to face the Covid-19 pandemic
More recently, our attention has turned to welcoming crowds back to racecourses. Crowds are a vital part of any racecourse and their absence is noted on many levels. David has led the sport’s work in this area which has involved a further draft of detailed safety protocols and discussion with Government to pitch for pilot events.
Whilst all parties were understandably disappointed by the postponement of the Goodwood pilot event, the behind-the-scenes work has meant our sport is advanced in preparation for welcoming crowds. Our attention now turns to Doncaster, Newmarket and Warwick as our host racecourses for the forthcoming pilot events later this month.
As we look ahead to an uncertain future, please be assured of our continued and unstinting dedication to meet racecourses’ needs and forge a successful future for the racing industry. We would like to record our grateful thanks to all racecourses for their continued input and participation which is absolutely vital at this time.
