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[craigbraddick]

One thing I have learned calling and doing social media for a track with a large winter following like Turf Paradise is we simply cannot rely on a grandstand full of people making small wagers race after race (attendance will never be what it was thirty years ago unless there are major changes to the entire industry no-one wants to make) and although people can make small wagers online and play every day (and we want to make them feel part of the action) I tried during the meet to develop relationships with what I would consider to be the mid level horseplayers (in terms of their handle.)

After one season, I have drawn the following conclusions:

1. Takeout is not as big a consideration to many mid-level horseplayers as perhaps it is to horseplayers here on Paceadvantage. Though I can imagine the higher you go up the wagering scale as a horseplayer, the more important it becomes.

2. Everyone has bets they like and prefer...a Pick 5 or a Pick 6 almost regardless of carryover does not appeal to the same category of horseplayer who prefers straight bets or specializes in Exactas, Trifectas and Doubles.

3. Listening to a mid-level (handle wise) horseplayer is really the key to keeping their business. I have had countless complaints about horses getting beat, the wagering menu, etc. and people saying: "I will never play your track again." Yet, if you talk to them (and sometimes that means taking a risk and calling them out on what they say) I have often found people WANT to play but more importantly WANT to be listened too. More often than not you are not going to be able to solve their issue but to LISTEN to them and LEARN from them totally changes the dynamic if they want to communicate. Some of the people who initially made the most ardent complaints were the ones I ended up texting back and forth with during the whole meet about who we like in certain race and so on. If people who work at tracks do not treat horseplayers as people of the most important value, nothing will ever work.

4. Analyst picks (and I had to make picks every day) have to be seen for entertainment purposes only. You may learn something, you may not, but if every single race caller and every single analyst no matter how diligent they are (or are not!) made a profit as a horseplayer, they probably would not be working at the track for a living!

5. There needs to be widespread access to very simple past performances. Form figures for the last six races, a plus or a minus by the name to indicate early or late pace and a sentence or two about each horses chances. When people are ready to take it more seriously, they can start tackling the past performances and learning the nuances of them.