Seconds Out: Oli's latest monthly blog

Hello Racesharers!

We’re heading into Christmas with another successful year under our belts and an ever growing RaceShare community. I’m sure you’ve all got very annoyed with me in recent weeks reminding you to renew your ownership in the horses but it’s been so good to see the continued uptake and ownership growth in the RaceShare stable with both existing and new horses.

I’ve always said, right from the start, that the community element of syndicates such as ours at RaceShare are what really appeal to me (as well as the talented horses we all own) - but racing survives off of community, be it in training establishments like Newmarket, Lambourn or Malton or indeed within ownership groups or syndicates. Ultimately the sport is a passion, a hobby and a release for so many, and being able to celebrate and enjoy that with friends new and old is one of life’s great treats.

This time of year allows us to catch up with a lot of said friends, as it is Christmas party time and awards season in racing with various gongs handed out and get-togethers happening. I’m one of the lucky ones who knows they never have to worry about what they would say in a victory speech, as that’s normally Nick Luck’s annual headache, but it’s always good to let our hair down away from the racing press rooms or TV studios. Again, and similarly to my feelings whenever I leave a day at the races with RaceShare owners, I always leave Christmas parties or racing awards do’s feeling very lucky to be a part of this sport. There are some truly wonderful people involved in racing and as a community- yes it has its flaws but, when the chips are down, be it personally or industry wide, it has a remarkable habit of rallying around one another and pulling through.

And that is the point of this week's blog and, whilst I have mentioned it in dispatches in previous blogs, I get so frustrated by racing's instant negative reaction when new ideas are brought forward and trialled. Take the David Power Jockey Cup, for example: Flutter and RMG have come up with an admittedly eye-watering amount of money for the jockeys to compete for across ITV races this winter, with the leading jockey taking home the £500,000 first prize. No doubt that is life changing money for the victor but the hope is that the jockeys become more relatable and accessible and there is a narrative outside of the normal ones that fans can engage with and follow. It will be hard to quantify the immediate success of this- or indeed whether Flutter see a return on this investment- but it is Flutter and RMG’s money, and it’s their idea, so I hope it has the results they anticipate. A lot of people in racing moaned that this was a terrible concept and the money would be better off going into prize money and, whilst I am not ignoring the fact that prize money needs addressing (particularly for horses graded within a lot of our horses’ bracket), we can’t just pump every new pound of money into that area. New ideas should be trialled and supported and welcomed by people in racing because there will be one or two that cut through and the long term benefits of that means that the whole industry and sport benefit from it.

Say racing has a radical piece of technology, or content/show idea that really excites people, it sees tremendous audience growth and engagement with the next generation, who then use their new found love of the sport to come racing with their friends and communities. As a result, racing's attendance figures and viewing figures rise, the sport sees turnover grow, new owners come into the sport, prize money goes up etc etc. You get the point. Surely the whole ecosystem of racing benefits from that? That may be an idea unrelated to an immediate cure for prize money and it may require a bit of funding but, if they work, and sometimes they won’t, the sport will be in a far better place.

The reason the instant moaning and negative reactions really frustrate me all ties into both points that I’ve made above: 1) that racing is a great community and 2) it’s Christmas time!

It’s at this time of year that I see first hand the generosity and love within the industry. This week I hosted the Flutter Charity Ball alongside my ITV colleague Ed Chamberlin where over £200,000 was raised for Cure Leukaemia. On our table at that event were Niall and Leanne Hannity who just a few weeks before had hosted a fundraiser for the Injured Jockeys Fund and Graham Lee raising a quarter of a million. They deserve an awful lot of praise for a monumental effort in putting that on and raising such a large amount of money for Graham and his family that will be of huge help to them. And this week I attended the Sir Peter O’Sullevan Lunch where, again, a significant amount of money was raised, heading the way of great causes.

I appreciate that it sounds all very gravy train and I am always aware of the fortunate aspects of my job but every time I sit in a room at an event where charity is at its core, I am constantly reminded of the love, generosity and spirit of the racing community. Due to the nature of the sport, often those times are borne out during times of sadness or grief and that is something that in an ideal world none of us would face - but it is part of the game we love and at the worst times we’re reminded of the strength of community we continue to champion.

That is why we need to be far more positive as a sport and embrace new ideas. We are invariably good people (I think), we all love the same thing, and when really bad stuff happens we rally round and help with deep respect and love for the common ground we share… so, why when we need people to embrace fresh ideas and change is there an almost automatic negative button pressed? I don’t have an immediate cure and I guess this week's blog is an urge for people to be positive, but I’ve been reminded this week of just how lucky we are - so let’s enjoy it and embrace it all while we can.

Happy Christmas everyone, it’s been a genuine pleasure being a part of this again in 2024. Here’s to a successful 2025 with RaceShare horses old and new.

Lots of love,

Oli