Racing to an end

In a recent interview in the Racing Post, BBC commentator John Inverdale lamented the current state of British horse-racing. Inverdale commented that the sport has too little to offer, especially to TV audiences (sometimes there might only be three or four races, each lasting less than 10 minutes, over a three or four hour period). In addition, he complained that races are scheduled to appear on TV at times when the total audience size is very small, and that racing is becoming evermore elitist. Indeed, Inverdale regrettably noted that 75% of people who go racing for the first time, never go again. Is Inverdale right, perhaps horse-racing really is in desperate trouble; or are these the views of an unnecessarily pessimistic racing fan who hankers after a return to a former golden age of racing? Given the role that the media plays in sport, its coverage, its popularisation and its financing, surely racing must therefore have to change in order to remain solvent, popular, relevant and contemporary? Is there a further, equally as important, and inextricably linked issue: does competition structure and race format have to change in order to bring horse-racing into the 21st Century? Would this mean resorting to new short-format racing, in much the same way as cricket, snooker and golf have introduced new short-format competitions? Could there be another way, other than the short-format option, whereby the configuration of media, competition format, horse ownership, course utilisation and betting activities changes? And what role should the latter - betting - play in shaping the future for horse-racing? (Thanks to Graham Daniels for the 'heads-up' on horse-racing's problems).