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21.
Asian Racing
Conference Key Issues.
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09/03/2003 |
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New
Zealand Thoroughbred Marketing Update reports on some of the key issues
presented at the 29th Asian Racing Conference in Auckland:
Major Expansion Plans for Korean Racing
The number of racehorses in training in Korea will increase from 1400 to 2300 in
the next three years. Korea Racing association representative Park Yang-Tae
announced a number of exciting projections of growth for racing in Korea at
yesterday’s final session of the ARC on “The State Of
Racing”.
Other growth areas include:-
* Increased attendance from 16.2 million (2002) to 23 million (2006).
* The building of a new racecourse (Busan) to be completed in December 2004.
This will compliment the existing racecourses at Seoul and Jeju.
* An increase in betting turnover from $US6.3 billion (2002) to $US10.3 billion.
* An increase in the number of foals from 915 (2002) to 1015 (2006).
* Increasing the number of off-course betting centers from 28 (2003) to 48
(2006).
Betting figures being returned in Korea are huge judging by figures presented to
this week’s conference by Yang-Tae. The average number of people attending
race-meetings either on-course or at one of the 28 offcourse betting centres on
a given day is 200,000 and each of these patrons are wagering an average of $US
400 per person a day. Park Yang-Tae said the racecourses in Korea had been
developed as a “family park” not merely a place for betting for adults.
“We have developed the inside of the racetrack into a family park which
includes children’s playground, promenades, soccer fields and horse-back
riding. ‘Racing fan days’ offer free admission and drinks to patrons.
“We have made efforts to enlarge the racing fan base and diversify betting
methods. Focusing on younger generations and family fans has been an important
commitment,” he said. A number of customer-orientated facilities at the
racecourses have been developed such as a parking lot, straight walk-way with
roof and a nursery room. Yang-Tae said there were further opportunities for
racing to develop given the growing leisure and gambling market in Korea and the
introduction of a five-day working week (introduced in July this year).
Study Highlights Horse Wastage
Massey University researcher Dr Nigel Perkins revealed some interesting
statistical data as part of his “racetrack wastage” study when he addressed
the ARC.
During a three-year study of a population of more than 1500 New Zealand
racehorses, Perkins and his team proved that the most serious cause of wastage
in the performing thoroughbred is musculoskeletal related, with 35% forced out
of work by fractures. Next most common cause of loss was shin soreness (25%),
just over double the rate for ligament and tendon problems.
This latter group had the highest non-return rate, with 62% failing to make it
back to trials or races. In the musculoskeletal category, 52% never returned to
the racetrack, while just 17% of the clinically less serious shin sore group did
not make reappearance.
Horses Need to be Treated Like Humans
Humans look after our own feet with quality running shoes so why not treat
horses the same way.
That was the message from Mr Yutaka Mizuno, Ph. D, - the director of the
racehorse hospital at Japan’s Miho Training Centre – to the ARC.
“Running shoes are known to reduce the shock of ground contact and also
maintain the active force peak during the stance phase as well as having
adequate grip feature to avoid slipping or from tripping over,” Mr Mizuno
said.
“Our Polytrack woodchip track has resulted in a remarkable decrease in the
numbers and the incidence rate of fractures in horses which may be credited to
the high shock-absorbing character of the surface,” he said. “From this
point of track characteristics the implementation of the Woodchip track resulted
in a great success in preventing accidents during training.”
New Zealand Thoroughbred Marketing News
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