Written on July 15, 2009

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Ken Dunn

Image and Schedule Change Translates into Economic Gains

Calder Race Course , Inc. is a thoroughbred race track located in the northern part of Dade County, Florida. It offers thoroughbred horse racing from late April through December operating under two permits issued by the State. The Calder permit typically presents live horse racing from late April until mid-October with the Tropical Park permit operating from mid-October through December.

In October 1990, I assumed the position of president of Calder race Course inheriting a financially sound company that had very little visibility outside of the immediate market area, particularly from May through October. Calder's only real national exposure occurred during the Tropical Park session when horses, jockeys , trainers and prominent owners came to South Florida for the winter. The Miami and Fort Lauderdale media virtually ignored Calder Race Course through the long summer and fall racing season.

At about this time the national thoroughbred industry was undergoing a major change in the way racing was being marketed. Simulcasting , the process of sending ones live racing signal to other licensed facilities, was beginning to grow nationally. Previously, all revenue was derived from wagering on races at one's home race track and from parking, admissions, sale of programs, reserved seats and food and beverage. New technology and new state laws were allowing tracks to export their live races, for a negotiated percentage of the money wagered on them, to facilities all over the western hemisphere.

My challenge was to alter the image of Calder Race Course in the national market, improve the quality of the product, create more local media coverage and expose Calder to potential new customers. There was a need to generate more revenue through increased wagering on track and to capture a reasonable segment of the new simulcasting market.

The first step was to take inventory of our available product to see if it was feasible to affect meaningful changes in the racing program without negatively impacting our relationship with the local horse owners and trainers .I assessed the strengths and weaknesses of the on track experience and the product that we were making available to simulcast sites and quickly determined that changes had to be made if we were to meet the challenge.

The most important races conducted at race tracks are stakes races. During the Calder race season the previous practice was to conduct$30,000 to $50,000 stakes races every Saturday, Sunday and selected days throughout the entire six month racing season. The only exception occurred in mid-October when Calder ran two stakes races for two year olds with a purse of $400,000 for each race. These races were conducted over a weekend with the majority of the purse money being paid by horse owners through a series of nomination payments. This type of schedule meant that the same horses would compete against each other all season long, leaving the media with little or nothing new or exciting to write about and nothing that could call real attention to Calder's product at the simulcast sites. We needed to find an identity , but we were limited in funds that could allow us to offer races that could attract attention.

Calder's summer program had developed many young horses that had gone on to success as older horses and we did have the two $400,000 races for two year olds. Why not capitalize on our two year old reputation and create a racing event day in October that could be our signature day like other tracks had done. We moved both $400,000 stakes to a Saturday, cancelled some of the Sunday stakes, moved stakes from other dates earlier in the season and created a race event that featured eight stakes races all with purse values well above those that had been typically offered. In order to attract the new or casual customer, we presented rides and games in our picnic area for children, brought in horse-related entertainment and established a Horse Fair that showcased over fifteen different breeds of horses. This race day event was supported with our largest advertising buy of the year and The Festival of the Sun was born.

The Festival of the Sun generated the second largest attendance in the track's history by its second running. It captured the attention of the local media with print and television stories leading up to and after the event. It also received much coverage through all the horse racing publications which gave Calder the kind of exposure sought at the simulcast sites.