international conference of horseracing authorities

Japan Racing Association Named Official Partner Of International Conference Of Horseracing Authorities

The Japan Racing Association (JRA) has become the official partner of the 55th International Conference of Horseracing Authorities, which is organized by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA). The conference is customarily held at the beginning of October.

The first International Conference of Horseracing Authorities was organized and hosted by the Société d'Encouragement in Paris, France, on October 9, 1967. In 1993 the IFHA was funded with amalgamating around sixty members and since 1994, the annual conference has been organized by the IFHA at France Galop.

This official partnership will contribute to the further development of international horse racing and international cooperation.

Additionally, as part of the partnership, the JRA will promote Japanese racing on the IFHA's website and social media channels.

“We are pleased to have the JRA become our partner for the Federation's signature conference,” said IFHA Chairman Louis Romanet. “Our conference, which traditionally is held in Paris, was virtual in 2020 due to COVID-19, but we are hopeful that it will be able to return to its traditional format this year.”

“The JRA is delighted to be the partner of the International Conference of Horseracing Authorities,” said JRA President and CEO Masayuki Goto. “For more than 50 years, the International Horse Racing Conference has played a major role in the development of the global horse racing industry and enables delegates from all over the world, as well as a number of other racing executives, to exchange information, provide mutual assistance and promote joint research. By becoming a partner of the historical IFHA Conference, JRA hopes to contribute to the further development of international horse racing.”

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Global Group Of Trainers, Jockeys Reflect On The Pandemic

Racing has been fortunate to forge ahead in 2020 without crowds, but it is imperative that they return as soon as possible. That was one of the overriding themes of the third panel of the virtual International Conference of Horseracing Authorities released on Monday and entitled “Participating and working in racing during a global pandemic.” Moderator Rishi Persad spoke with trainers Charlie Appleby, Chris Waller and Ger Lyons as well as jockeys Hollie Doyle and Zac Purton about the experience of being a racing professional in 2020.

“When the country was in lockdown we’d probably be what you termed the lucky ones, because we were out carrying on as normal,” Lyons recalled of the early days of the pandemic. “You could feel it in the staff that they knew they were doing a normal day’s work while everyone else was in lockdown, so that actually became a positive. The initial fear was that we weren’t going to get back racing, but they worked wonders and got us back racing relatively early. I think they did a great job and rescued a season that looked like it was in turmoil.

Appleby described reacting to the crisis while part of his team was in Dubai.

“The situation arrived in the spring when we were in Dubai so we were just at that crossover point with the horses and our staff shipping back,” he explained. “We already had the majority of the team back in the UK and a small team still in Dubai to look after those horses that were due to participate on Dubai World Cup night. So it was making sure first and foremost that they were alright and comfortable with what they were doing.

“Similar to what Ger mentioned, we’re lucky with the industry we’re in that we’re outdoors. So that was a plus, but you still have to address it in the correct manner with the staff and make sure they’re comfortable in coming to work and also that their families are comfortable with them doing that as well.”

Waller described the experience of going racing in Australia without crowds.

“It was quite surreal, but it was good because everyone was watching racing,” he said. “We were lucky in Australia, we were the first sport up and running; we didn’t stop. Australia was locked down and for at least two months there was no sport whatsoever. So racing stood tall and for all the right reasons it was seen to be a responsible sport. Through that we got a lot of good recognition. We saw that responsibility and carried it through.”

Waller was quick to praise his country’s governing bodies, particularly those in New South Wales.

“It’s all about good administration, not just in dealing with global pandemics but in racing in general,” he said. “That’s where the world needs to come together and see the countries that are doing well and the ones that are struggling and figure out why. We’re all beneficiaries of those good administrators and it’s sad to see some countries lagging behind.”

Waller said Australia’s experience dealing with a shutdown of racing in 2008 due to the equine influenza outbreak likely helped lay the foundation for the path forward this time.

“Going back in Australia to 2008 we had the equine influenza, and that did shut racing down,” he said. “I think that made the government stand up and realize how important racing is to the economy and society. We stopped racing for about three months and there was a lesson there to make sure we support racing. I think just as much as having good administrators it is about having a good relationship with the government.”

Another district that has continued to race throughout the pandemic is Hong Kong. Leading local rider Zac Purton described how international punters latched onto the product.

“One of the byproducts of the commingling that the Jockey Club has brought in here in the last few seasons has been that when other countries were not able to go ahead with their sports and different products, they were all of a sudden locked into what we were doing here in Hong Kong and commingling went through the roof,” he said. “We benefitted quite a lot from it. Our prizemoney remained the same and it’s actually gone up this year.”

Doyle and Lyons have each experienced major career milestones this summer at spectator-less meetings, and they reflected on those experiences. Doyle, who has ridden her first Royal Ascot winner and group-race winner this year, noted that the quiet has been good for some horses but a hindrance to others.

“At Ascot, for example, I had a 2-year-old running that I thought, ‘this will be ideal with no crowd. He’s a bit hot-headed, this should suit him.’ And it did,” she said. “But on the other hand I had an old handicapper running and he’s like the yard hack at home, you wouldn’t even think he’s a racehorse. But he comes alive at the races with the crowd and atmosphere. I rode him at Ascot and he was just like the old hack at home; he never came alive. So I think it affects horses in different ways.”

Lyons won his first Classic in June with Siskin (First Defense) in the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas and his second with Even So (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) the next month in the G1 Irish Oaks.

“It’s just typical me to win the two Classics in a year where there’s no crowds and prizemoney is cut,” he said.

“First and foremost, racing is about the owners in my opinion and you need owners,” Lyons added. “Myself or Chris or Charlie as trainers will handle no crowds and it’s possible we can actually do our work better on a raceday with no crowds. But we’ll all agree that racing won’t survive without crowds and we need people to come racing. You need an atmosphere and we need crowds back for the whole game to survive.”

Appleby added, “The word Ger used there that summed it all up was atmosphere. If you’re lucky enough to have a winner, as much as you get the satisfaction of winning the event, you get an immense sense of achievement when people are applauding yourself, the horse, the jockey, the owner. That’s very missed on those big occasions. We’re racing, which is the main thing, but in a sporting industry crowds are very important.”

One of the rules imposed on jockeys by the British Horseracing Authority from racing’s resumption in June was that jockeys would be permitted to ride at just one meeting per day. That became an industry talking point over the summer with many riders touting the benefits-both for career advancement and mental health. Doyle reflected on the rule, saying, “I think it swings both ways. For me now I have a retainer so it’s a bit complicated. For example, if he has a runner somewhere and Archie [Watson], who is also my boss, has a runner somewhere else, it is a bit annoying that I can’t ride for both, but I think from a mental health side of things it’s a lot nicer on everyone. I’ve picked up better spare rides on Saturdays, for instance, because the top blokes can’t do two meetings.

“What I think would be great [in the future] is if they had a cap on how many double meetings you could do a week. Maybe you could do double meetings twice a week, and that would be great because it’s not completely stopping you from doing your job but it’s giving you that little bit of freedom.”

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Deloitte Principals Deliver IFHA Keynote

The virtual International Conference of Horseracing Authorities continued on Tuesday with the delivery of the keynote address by Pete Giorgio and Alan Switzer from Deloitte.

Giorgio leads Deloitte’s U.S. sports practice and has co-authored a pair of reports concerning sports in the pandemic: Games without fans: how sports organizations can thrive now, and in the long term; and COVID-19 Outlooks for the Sports Industry.

Switzer is a director in the company’s sports business group and has worked extensively in horse racing for over 15 years.

Giorgio and Switzer discussed via video presentation Deloitte’s insights on the impact of COVID-19 on the global sports landscape, as well as ways in which sports organizations can adjust to the new landscape and how that advice can be tailored to racing organizations.

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IFHA Conference Begins With Discussion Of Pandemic Challenges, Opportunities

The 54th International Conference of Horseracing Authorities began on Monday in a virtual format, with a series of videos to be released over the first two weeks of October. The conference organized by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities is traditionally held in Paris, France on the day after the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, but the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a virtual format this year.

The first panel was entitled ‘Sustaining the Business of Racing and Sports in the Midst of a Global Pandemic and Economic Uncertainty.’ Hosted by media personality Rishi Persad, it featured Shannon Bishop Arvin (Keeneland Association), Stephen Cook (IMG), Olivier Delloye (France Galop), William Derby (York Racecourse) and Andrew Harding (Hong Kong Jockey Club).

The panelists set the scene by describing some of the less visible challenges they have faced throughout the pandemic. Delloye took it back to the early days of the pandemic when the covering season in France appeared under threat.

“At some stages we were very worried that the covering season would have to be put to an end,” he recalled. “And of course in March it would have been a disaster for the whole industry. That would have cost the whole industry fortunes for many years. There was a lot of discussion and negotiation with the government to ensure the basic [elements] of our industry were not jeopardized.”

Derby described the challenges of operating on public land.

“It’s been a huge undertaking for all racecourses,” he acknowledged. “A unique circumstance of York is that the centre of the racecourse is a public area of land so we had to put up 3 1/2 kilometres of fencing to allow people access to the centre of the course but to keep them away from the racing surface so we could keep up with the protocols of behind closed doors racing.

“We, like a lot of people, had lots of different operating plans depending on what the government would be announcing going forward like welcoming back crowds under pilot schemes, which then didn’t happen at the last minute. So there’s been a huge amount of aborted work to try and anticipate what might happen in this fast-evolving situation.”

Arvin said Keeneland has faced similar challenges in being a cherished element of the local community in Kentucky.

“Our plans have been responsible and well thought out, we’ve submitted them in advance to our government authorities so that they understand we’re being responsible,” she said. “Keeneland is a place that is generally open to the community. We have a lot of people that come here to walk their dogs and enjoy coming to watch the horses work and the sales have always been open to the pubic. So it was a difficult decision for us to have to close our grounds.

“I would say all the tracks in Kentucky have done a great job communicating with each other, with government authorities and the racing commission. We were able to have our race meet in July with the cooperation of Ellis Park because everybody realized it was in the best interest of everybody for Keeneland to be racing those days.”

Derby described some of the challenges racing in the UK has experienced as a crossover between the sports, agriculture and hospitality industries which has been ultimately forced to identify as a sport only.

“We have to stick with one department to speak with government and that has been DCMS [Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport] for the UK,” he explained. “They wouldn’t be one of the biggest departments unlike in France with the department of agriculture, so we have to fight for time with the minister and time with the senior government, and obviously they’re dealing with a pandemic which we have to understand. They’re dealing with schools re-opening and hospitals, so sports takes its part in the queue.

“We got back early racing behind closed doors which was vitally important for the sport but in the UK restaurants and bars have re-opened, and in the York city centre not more than a mile away there is a busy, vibrant feel to the bars and restaurants, but we have huge restaurants on the racecourse that we have not been able to re-open so that’s been a frustration, it feels like a contradiction and a slight unfairness.”

In identifying the greatest challenges that still face the racing industry in the midst of the pandemic, the retention of owners and fans were a common theme.

“Taking care of owners, and keeping as many owners as possible on board [will be the greatest challenge],” Delloye said. “We’ve all witnessed the damage of the pandemic on owners and the yearling market is evidence of this. These people need some visibility on when they can enjoy going back racing.”

Derby added, “Building on Olivier’s point, I think relevance as the world emerges from the pandemic and people get busier and maybe get out of the habit of watching or betting on racing. It’s ensuring that racing seizes the opportunity that has presented itself this summer of limited other sports and people at home.”

Cook, who brought an outside perspective to the panel as the director of content for IMG Studios, said, “my job is all to do with revenue and profitability, and it’s not going to be just the average person on the street that will have less to spend off the back of this, but federations and broadcasters themselves are going to be looking to cut their cloth accordingly. So I think for us it’s a need to continue telling great narratives, great stories, and hope that when crowds do return that the broadcasters and federations will have the money to spend again on the product.”

Harding took the focus of looking at the health of some of the smaller industries that provide a backbone to the larger racing nations.

“I think the greatest challenge globally will be how long it takes for us to get back to normal and whether in some jurisdictions that’s going to be too long,” he said. “As hard as it’s been in the UK and France there are some countries where they just haven’t been able to operate in a manner that is profitable. How long that’s sustainable is something that is terribly troubling. That will have an impact globally in terms of things like the foal crop. That is something that has an impact on Hong Kong. We don’t have a breeding industry, everything that races here is imported, so we do depend on a strong racing ecosystem in other countries.”

Reflecting on what silver linings have emerged from a terrible situation with the pandemic, Arvin reflected on innovations that can emerge in times of crisis.

“Somebody asked if I was an optimist. I think I’m a realist with an optimistic spin, and I think there are definitely silver linings to come out of the pandemic and I think we have to keep looking for them,” she said. “I think the perseverance that so many in our industry have shown and that resiliency is shining through and showing us the silver linings. Winston Churchill said, ‘never let a good crisis go to waste’ and I think of how the Keeneland sales actually started, which was during World War II because we weren’t able to ship horses up to New York so we started our own sale and now it’s such a critical part of our business and a key part of the industry.”

Derby and Harding each touched on the opportunity to get racing into the national spotlight.

“I think from our perspective it’s been that focus on the horse and really using digital platforms and getting behind the scenes access to the racehorses that are at the heart of our business,” Derby said. “We did a big project building up to our flagship meeting, meeting the horses in the yard, traveling with them to the races, seeing them unloaded, really trying to get the fans to see the characters and unearth the personalities both human and equine. I hope we hold onto that going forward, the behind the scenes access.”

Harding added, “as an Australian and as part of the international federation what I see is that globally it has given racing a monopoly on attention. I certainly know that was true in Australia-for a long period it was the only sport you could watch. The viewer numbers went up and people that used to like racing remembered why they liked it and people that hadn’t previously taken an interest in it were exposed to it.”

Cook described how the pandemic and other sociopolitical issues in 2020 have allowed an opportunity to reassess how businesses are run.

“I think it’s helped us reset the dial a little,” he said. “It’s enabled us to look at the structure of our business and ask, ‘are we doing things the right way?’ There have been lots of other things happening around the world while this pandemic has been going on. The Black Lives Matter movement has helped us look at, ‘are we as diverse and inclusive as we should be as an organization?’ Probably not, and we’re going to work on that. We’ve also looked at sustainability. We’re part of an initiative called Green To Screen that looks at our carbon footprint. All these things that get put to one side when you’re on the wheel of making television day in and day out.”

The next video in the International Conference of Horseracing Authorities series, to be released on Tuesday, will feature the conference’s keynote address from Pete Giorgio and Alan Switzer from Deloitte.

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