This past weekend, Adrenaline Fest was held at Hiawatha Horse Park in Xarnia, Ontario. This upcoming weekend, Xtreme Horsepower will be held at Georgian Downs in Innisfil, Ontario. Both of these events have been designed to stimulate interest in harness racing. The goal of Adrenaline Fest is to introduce harness racing to individuals that would not normally think of going to the races by making racing part of a festival celebrating the horse. Xtreme Horsepower is designed to increase interest in racing by tapping into the younger generation's fascination in Xtreme Sports (ever see the X-Games on ESPN?).
Xtreme Horsepower has proven to be somewhat successful as the third edition is being held this Saturday. For those of you that are interested in seeing it this year, you may check the Georgian Downs website for the a free program later this week as well as watch a live video feed (find a track in the United States offering this). Some simulcast and ADW websites in the United States such as NJAW will be accepting wagers on the Xtreme Horsepower card. Adrenaline Fest has just concluded. While reports indicate it was successful, further analysis is required to see if it will return next year.
The question is why don't we try any events such as these in the United States? Make no mistake about it, an event or two like these will not solve harness racing's problems; takeouts are still to high; unfriendly race program and conditions; we take too long to complete a race card; we race too much/too long so our best horses are stretched thin and we have fan fatigue; many still don't want to recognize society's changing views regarding animal cruelty and see nothing wrong with whipping; we have owners continuing to use (and flock to) trainers that regularly get nailed for drug positives and tracks which don't show these trainers the door; drivers/trainers that get banned in certain states/provinces or tracks move to other jurisdiction and openly are welcomed at other tracks. However, even if all of racing's ills are resolved, if we don't develop new fans to replace the fans that are aging and moving on, it doesn't matter. We can't wait until we solve all our problems; if you don't get the interest of someone when they are young (say, under thirty), odds are you never will.
We don't even need to wait for an Adrenaline Fest or Xtreme Horsepower to try to attract new fans. It can be as simple as a racino putting monitors on the casino floor to expose people who never wagered on a harness race to racing. Put a couple of tellers on the casino floor, even if just by the bar to allow people to wager on the races while they play the slots. How about racing once in awhile during the daytime on a weekend or holiday to introduce racing to people who normally don't visit the racino when live racing takes place? Your track is not a racino? You can still race once in a while when you can attract your local population instead of always racing when you can get the most exposure in the simulcast marketplace; not like Monticello which only races during the week except two Sundays a year.
It doesn't always take rocket science; sometime all it takes is a will.
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