Panel sessions from the 2003 Joint Annual
Meeting of HTA, Thoroughbred Racing
Associations and Racetracks of Canada
held in Hollywood, Florida, March 13-14, 2003

Women as Racing Fans:
An objective, or an afterthought?

Mr. Dave Johnson: The name of our conference this morning is "Women as Racing Fans: An objective or an afterthought." What’s the good news, the bad news, what are we doing right, what are we doing wrong.

Ms. Mary Midkiff: Your primary market is the male. I see it, though, as an objective, because there are lots of ways we can attract women to the track. The unsavory side, the perception of the unsavory racetrack environment is what keeps a lot of women away from the track. The dirty language, the smoke, the constant loud noise, the bad food, the horses being treated poorly—all of these things we’ve heard for years and years. There’s a grain of truth in every perception, but I think we can turn it around…with some education and some new draw. Getting women involved in racing on the administrative side—being the leaders to get other women involved—would be a way to start.

Mr. David Rovine: The good news is that women make up more than 50 percent of the population. The bad news is that there’s no focused, concerted marketing effort to reach out to them. The good news is that they will gamble, and they will participate like anybody else. If indeed we hear so much about racing being an entertainment, we really must decide that it is an entertainment. And if it becomes an entertainment, then we all know that it is the woman in the household that makes the entertainment decision. So are we in fact creating atmospheres and facilities and events that will attract women? I think not, in large degree, and that’s part of why we suffer from a lack of women at the track. The great news is they’re out there. We are an option like anything else if we position ourselves properly. They will come if talked to.

Mr. Johnson: Penny, what are the good news and the bad news?

Ms. Penny Chenery: The best thing I’ve read is David’s program of having an invited luncheon with a speaker, specifically to appeal to women to get them to the track. The first time is always the hardest. The bad news is I think I could have gotten out my speech notes from 17 years ago and still be appropriate.

Mr. Johnson: So there’s a difference in the perception and the reality, which is what Mary’s book is basically aiming at. Why don’t we start there, Mary, what’s the perception and what’s the reality?

Ms. Midkiff: It’s interesting, because my book is about the spiritual connection between women and horses, and racetracks don’t exactly conjure up a spiritual image. Maybe a lot of people saying “God” a lot, but other than that, there’s no real spiritual connection. There’s actually a real disconnect between the woman and the horse at the racetrack. I’d like to see a little bit closer relationship. Maybe …bringing non-racing horses and non-racing horse activities, to the racetrack. I know dressage at Saratoga is very popular. Once you get women to the tracks to see it is a wonderful venue, then there is a lot we can do there at the racetrack. From that, they come back again maybe for the races, or they tell friends, or they bring their family. So the disconnect part is something I’d like to see brought closer together.

Mr. Johnson: For the past several years, the poll that ESPN has been doing about women going to racing has bumped up two or three points every year, whereas it hasn’t with men. There is also the spiritual connection with children—kids love the horse, don’t they? They don’t know about the betting yet, but they love the animal. With that in mind, Dave, take the next step in terms of the perception and the reality.
Mr. Rovine: Well, perception is reality, so it doesn’t matter whether we have a product that’s appealing to women or not. They don’t believe we have a product that’s appealing to them, so they’re not coming. We’ve been successful at Gulfstream Park targeting women through three different events, and it’s very much like we target any new customer. It’s a bit of a bait-and-switch. As Doug Don, our former president, always said to me, “We’re in the business to sell mutuel tickets,” and any event that I do must culminate with the sale of the mutuel ticket. Getting somebody to the racetrack is only half the job of completing the sale of turning them on to the product. If they don’t buy a ticket, if they don’t bet on a race, then the experience is incomplete. it’s like walking into a car dealership and looking, walking out without buying a car. That salesman failed, and we fail often because we don’t get people to bet. We’ve created Family Day. As you talked about, the connection is with children, but that connection is obviously with women also. We’ve created female-driven concerts that appeal to women that will bring them to the track, and we created a women’s club, which is designed to bring women for an event. But each one of these things has a component that’s educational in terms of racing, and more specifically, ends with them being put in front of a live race and encouraged to bet.

Mr. Johnson: Tell us about your Women’s Club. How often is it done, what’s the success of it, how much does it cost, and what’s the result?

Mr. Rovine: It’s actually been very successful. Nearly every one of our events sold out, and we’ve been doing it for the last three years. Saturday and Sunday are growing very nicely at Gulfstream Park, and we felt we needed to back into the week, and how can we get people to come in the middle of the week to the track. Who’s the logical individual? Who has the time and money to consume the product once we’ve brought them to the track? It really came down to high-end women as our logical target. I first thought, “Well, maybe we’ll do soap-opera hunks, and we’ll create this thing where women will come see it.” I was dead wrong. I had our media buyer look at who’s watching soap operas, and it did not match that demographic, so instead I got that demographic in a focus group, and we talked to these women. We talked to 15 women who had high income, lots of time on their hands, which go to lunch on Friday, and said, “What do you like? What do you want to see? What would make you go if there was such a place in your area?” We never told them it was at the racetrack. Out of that grew the Gulfstream Park Women’s Club, and it takes place six to eight times during the course of the year. It's not a club but we call it a club because we feel that sense of belonging and unity is part of the deal. We make very sure that they’re brought to the track through a turf club entrance, because it’s on Friday afternoon, and Friday afternoon at Gulfstream Park is dramatically different from a demographic point of view than it is on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday and Sunday we have a younger demographic. On Friday it's pretty much the core player, and we thought that these women and the core player would not be a perfect match, so we made sure that they were taken up to the turf club without seeing anything else on the racetrack. It costs $30 or $40 for the event; we got Saks Fifth Avenue Bal Harbor to be a sponsor, so they give a gift to everybody coming in. They have lunch, then the speaker will talk. We have some stars, but we also have subjects interesting to women. At 12:45 we take the speaker down to the winner’s circle. She presents a trophy for the first race. We invite them to box seats and to stay for the races. We have surveyed these people: 95 percent of them stay after the event, and 92 percent of them bet. That shows me that women are not hesitant to make a wager. You just need to present the product to them in the right manner.

Mr. Johnson: Do they come back?

Mr. Rovine: They definitely come back.

Mr. Johnson: And how much does it cost the track?

Mr. Rovine: We’re very fortunate that Gulfstream Park has a great relationship with our horsemen, and we share in a lot of events. They believe, like we do, in growing new customers, and they are a major supporter of this. Some of the events do lose money, because with a major star, selling a ticket at $30 or $40 barely pays for the lunch, let alone the person, but it gives us an awareness factor. It creates an image factor that is very positive and spins off into many, many positive benefits. Some of the speakers we have used are Naomi Judd, Sigourney Weaver, Dr. Ruth, Ivana Trump—unfortunately I can’t remember them all. We’ve had first-class stars, and they sell out, so when I do an event that is a non-star—women in investing and that type of thing—that sells out, too, because we’ve got them in the habit of coming. We all know the intimidation factor is overwhelming, and it is the multiple-visit experience that helps dissolve that nervousness. They get comfortable, it’s their track now. They know where to go, they know where the bathroom is, they bring a friend, and it works. The more we do it, the more it works.

Mr. Johnson: Penny, does this go with the notes you had 17 years ago?

Ms. Chenery: Well, I think what he’s doing is just right down what I would have recommended. What I said the last time I was here, and I still think is true, is that the racetracks have to not only accept the courting of women as a marketing philosophy, but also as a hospitality philosophy. Women know whether they’re welcome; they walk in and feel that they’re not. They are an afterthought. And it’s not enticing. Tracks aren’t user-friendly. There’s not enough signage to an absolute novice. But Mary talking about horses and spirituality, I think there’s a great bond between women and horses, and women love spectacle. They’re great people-watchers; they can relate to the event. You need to sell pari-mutuel tickets, and that will come, but you have to get them to the track first. They have to think it’s a fun thing to do, and that they’re welcome.

Mr. Johnson: Mary, while you were doing the research for your book, how does it blend in to what we’ve heard from Dave and Penny?

Ms. Midkiff: Well, I think it would’ve been great if the organizations that I’ve worked with over the years that include 80 to 90 percent women would’ve gotten a call from Arapaho Downs and a woman representative saying, “Have you ever considered Arapaho Downs for a venue for one of your events? Let’s work something out. We’ve got this racetrack, we’ve got a great party room, we’ve got entertainment, we have good food. Why don’t you bring Bowler County Horse Association out here for one of your board meetings, and we’ll treat you right. We’ll take you to the backside in the morning. We’ll strip a harness horse down so you can actually see…that there’s a beautiful animal under all that equipment, and show what we do in the mornings,” There’s so many ways, but the offer has never come, and we’re not going to seek it out from the non-racing side. We’re certainly intimidated by calling a racetrack and saying, “Would you consider having our women’s group come out?”

Mr. Johnson: So there’s a disconnect then. How do you make the connection? Is it through education?

Ms. Midkiff: I think so. Again, I would love to dispel some of the mythologies that there are all these secrets behind the doors of the racetrack, and show people what goes on in training in the mornings. I think it’s fascinating, and it smells so good to me. I love the way the backside smells, and I love to see a horse in full form—an athlete that’s gorgeous and then has a bath and feels good, and how well they’re treated. My goodness, they are treated like kings and queens. A lot of horsewomen don’t realize this. They think that a lot of other stuff goes on. I think through education and bringing them to the track, making it attractive, making it hospitable to them. What they enjoy becomes a way to eventually get them and their families, there to buy the mutuel ticket.

Ms. Chenery: My home track now is Keeneland, which does, of course, a wonderful job. I was thinking of the smaller tracks who can’t afford a Gulfstream Park effort. Women identify with other women. We want to cheer for a Greta Kritzweiler and Julie Krone and Kim Prather. We want to know how a woman trainer is faring, and if she’s on the cusp of a good horse, something good is going for her. We’ll come out to cheer her if you tell us about her and play up the fact that she has something good going. If you had a woman or a man—somebody who is good with people—who will canvass the women’s clubs in the area you live in, and then you as the racetrack invite their officers or their program chairman to come as your guest. Stay with them. Actually host them for lunch. Then call them up later and say, “How was it? Did you have a good time?” You, Mr. Marketing Director, don’t have to sit with them all afternoon, but have somebody who’s good with people to shepherd them around. Then the next time they come, will anybody recognize that they were the honored guest last week? Train some of your people to recognize the ones you’ve been courting; just say hello. Keeneland used to have a wonderful institution where Norma Greeley, the wife of the general manager/president, and Daisy Battle, the wife of the racing secretary, invited trainers’ wives to a luncheon every day. You would go by that table and see a happy bunch of women, all chattering away. The average trainer’s wife is tickled to be invited and get dressed up and have an occasion to go and see what her husband does. Again, it gives women a sense of identity with the whole deal, with racing. We are spiritually touched by athletic contests, by the drama of the event, by the beauty of the horse. They’re obscured, certainly by racing, but you have to get women there first, and you have to make them feel welcome. You have to research where they are and then specifically invite them out.

Mr. Johnson: Mary talked earlier about the perception from some people that the horses are mistreated. The starter in New York, Bobby Duncan, has turned around the starting gate situation to give a different perception. Maybe we could pick up on that.

Ms. Midkiff: People and horses, that kind of a cooperative kind of relationship approach, gets you much more out of the relationship than dominance versus force. This is pervasive everywhere in our culture today, and it’s wonderful; it’s a great change. Racing has been one of those groups that’s been slow to embrace it, because of the deep tradition, but I’m seeing lots of changes in the backside and in management and in the starters and so forth, to, how can we work with the horse as an animal to keep him calm and to keep his nervous system in check so that he can run his or her best race possible. You want to save all that nervous energy, you don’t want to burn it out just trying to get in the gate. So they’ve learned a lot of techniques from these horse whisperers, the natural horsemanship approach, because again you’re dealing with a nervous system and a brain and a big, strong animal, and you want to save him or her. I have also learned that the livestock industry is now using women more and more in managing cattle, because women have a very calming sense about them, and they try to move cattle through chutes into trailers and so forth going to the slaughterhouse in a very managed, calm way. The beef doesn’t lose weight on the way to, the slaughterhouse. I know that sounds maybe a little graphic, but it’s a perfect demonstration of how an industry has embraced a woman’s touch and her intuition to calm nerves.

Ms. Chenery: I was stuck on something that Dave said, which is that he’s marketing; he’s not publicity. I think that is one of the things that hurts us in racing. We’re such a tradition-bound industry. We should all be in publicity. I’m an actual cheerleader. But I would like to see some of that in every one of you—to be proud of our product and happy with our experience and let that be communicated to everybody that is working there. We have so many pony girls. We have women in every field on the backstretch, and through morning tours and open houses, this can be demonstrated to women. In the rural communities you can get the 4H. Dave talked about high-end women. You also have to start thinking about the young people—how to get young women at the track. That certainly involves identification with other women who are in the industry, but the young single gals want to have a good time. They want to feel that they’re at home, that they have a place on the racetrack.

Mr. Johnson: Some thoughts on the aesthetics?

Ms. Chenery: Not every track can afford a new facility, but you can certainly keep it clean, well-painted. Keep signs up so that a woman for the first time can find her way around. There’s so much aesthetic beauty inherent in racing that you may not be aware of. I’m not sure how many people know why you should go to the paddock or what happens at the paddock. You could have a sign saying, “Things to look for in your selection when you look at the horse in the paddock.” Teach them to enjoy the aesthetics of the horse; I know you have to sell pari-mutuel tickets, but you have to get them there first. You have to get them in a good mood.

Mr. Rovine: I agree. You have to get them in the door. It’s nice for us all to talk about the passions and that we love the sport, but that’s not going to get people to the racetrack. We’ve all loved the sport for 100 years, and that’s not helped us in this very competitive times, where there’s so much entertainment choice for the American public. We have to really reach out there, create a definitive marketing plan, definitive events, and make a concerted effort to reach out to any audience that we want to get—whether it’s women or not. If we don’t do that, people won’t come. We’re naïve to believe that we can say “Great racing, great racing, great racing, and it’s a pretty sport, and look how pretty the horses are,” and that’s going to bring anybody to the racetrack. We have to invest in a plan. We have to invest in a concept, because everybody else who we’re competing against, whether it’s gaming or entertainment, is doing that. If we don’t decide that we can find the hook to get them in the track, we’re not going to grow the product. We’re not going get new people to the racetrack.