Oisin Murphy reveals his novel answer to help grow the popularity of racing

Promotion of racing to a wider audience should focus on highlighting the biggest and best days while ensuring those who attend meetings are not overcharged, according to champion jockey Oisin Murphy.

The best way to maintain and grow the popularity of racing has been a theme throughout the week, with Rod Street, chief executive of the sport's marketing arm Great British Racing, saying more is required to "grow fans of the future".

Murphy, who is on course to win his third jockeys' championship, believes the best route to do this is by harnessing the major racedays, using Australia and Japan as examples of how differentiating the product is having a beneficial effect.

Speaking on the Racing Post's What A Shout on Friday, Murphy said: "I can compare racing to other sports. For example, do all of us follow League One football? No, but we all have a passing interest in Premier League football. So, the fact that we have five meetings on a weekday in England makes it hard to get the buzz for racing every single day.

"People have to want to go and watch and enjoy it. In Australia and Japan they have their big racing twice a week. They have their everyday racing as well but the prize-money isn't that big; they don't promote it or get too excited about it. But the big days they really push and that's where their turnover is massive.

"I honestly think we cannot, no matter how hard we try, push the everyday racing to get 20,000 people to a Lingfield or a Wolverhampton or wherever on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.

"The big days we can do that and I can promote it on my social media; so can all of the other jockeys, the bookmakers and racecourses on mainstream media."

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Murphy argues that hand-in-hand with this approach has to be a desire to make sure people enjoy racing when they get to the course, with a particular focus on the cost of entry and catering, with this ultimately leading to people wanting to come back.

"We can engage with people who might not normally go racing and I can promise you if they have a positive experience, where they're not overcharged for coming in or on food and drink, then they will come back because horses are beautiful and [racing is] an incredible puzzle people like to figure it out," he said. "It has so much to offer, genuinely."

Watch What A Shout, live now, on the Racing Post YouTube channel

Read more:

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