By Hans Ebert
There’s a new gun in town and his name is Luke Ferraris. Hang on, wait. Luke Ferraris has been riding in Hong Kong since last season. The Ferraris name is well known to those who have followed horse racing in the city because of the successes of father and former trainer David.
Despite some incurring the wrath of the often kinda moody “Darth”- my nickname for him decades ago- I found David Ferraris good company.
I also always thought he never received his proper dues for everything he achieved, especially with the brilliant Hong Kong galloper Vengeance Of Rain, who, with Anthony Delpech on his back, won the world’s richest race in 2007- the Dubai Sheema Classic.
As for Luke Ferraris, after he rode the first two winners at the first night meeting of the season, my phone As for Luke Ferraris, after he rode the first two winners at the first night meeting of the season, my phone was on overload with messages about how the young South African rider could be “the next champion Hong Kong jockey”.
Hype is a strange beast as is “going the early crow” and which I have seen hobble the upward trajectory of many new names in music.
Music fans love “their” discoveries. They feel a certain amount of “ownership”. But when these same artists are also discovered by others, there’s the feeling that they’ve become “too mainstream” and have lost their “edge”.
I often think about artists like Joss Stone, Corinne Bailey Rae, Tracy Chapman, below etc who were seen as exciting new talent going places quick and wonder where they are today with their careers.
They’re probably very happy to get away from the limelight and the circus with its jugglers and clowns.
Though not in the same sphere as the music industry, with horse racing being the only game in town, jockeys in Hong Kong are often elevated into some form of deity occupying a rarefied space.
There’s also something of the song “Spinning Wheel” to all of this and the line “What goes up, must come down”.
Let’s not forget about the “viral sensation” hype built around the quirky and fabulously interesting Pakistan Star after the horse’s debut run. And after that there was everything that didn’t happen...until this fascinating animal found his role in life at Living Legends and helping those needing help and a friend.
Carole King has a song for you, handsome fella.
Getting back to Luke Ferraris and his two winners last night, the third race was taken out by another young South African- Lyle Hewitson with a runner trained by countryman Douglas Whyte.
At least for myself, these are riders who should be marketed and promoted in ways that don’t have a whiff of déjà-vu or is some racing executive’s idea of “effective advertising”. It rarely is. It’s cheese.
Probably even more pertinent is to finally make racing stories interesting enough to be read by a mainstream audience.
Luke and Lyle are young, they’re riding winners and they are personable and presentable. Being nice guys also helps.
The irony of all this happening last night on television from Happy Valley while listening to the Australian Sports and Racing radio station RSN, who, having just started a partnership with the HKJC to promote Hong Kong racing, and pushing the Australian influence on the pastime, was something not lost on me.
With four races down, the races run had been won by three South African riders and one Hong Kong Chinese. None of the four winners had been ridden or trained by an Australian.
It might have been a blessing that Australia is presently two hours ahead of Hong Kong. One doubts there’s much of an audience in the land of Oz betting on Hong Kong racing at almost midnight.
RSN is not doing anything wrong. It’s simply marketing content to its audience which means sounding off the Aussie Aussie Aussie clarion call.
Though one can’t remember racing fans in South Africa cheering on Douglas Whyte when the Durban Demon was winning thirteen consecutive Hong Kong Jockey Championship titles, this is what makes the world go round- the fact that we’re all different from each other.
For the Hong Kong Jockey Club, surely it must realise that the Fat Lady is about to burst into song with regards to the future of The Zac And João Show.
The brilliant Australian and Brazilian riders have given their best years to Hong Kong racing- and Hong Kong has repaid them like no other racing jurisdiction could.
Close to their forties, Zac Purton and João Moreira are pretty much on the final lap of their farewell tour. It’s something they haven’t exactly kept under wraps.
With the past and present English racing media in Hong Kong very much a Made In Australia Twitter product, there’s something to learn from the significant changes taking place in the communications strategies of bona fide entertainment based businesses. Much has to do with the medium for their messages and the new partnerships formed. Horse racing sees itself as “entertainment”. But how is this objective being met?
How is it served up, especially to those executive level females aged 28-42? And what about the potential audience who isn’t part of horse racing’s captive and ageing market and still to be convinced that this is something they might be interested in?
Other than Get Rich Quick Dreams, what other juicy carrots does racing in the rapidly changing landscape of Hong Kong have to offer?
Globally, do racing clubs have a Don Draper in their midst with the creative support group he would need? There’s more...
Has The KISS Theory of Keep It Simple, Stupid become a confusing buffet of everything and anything that can be cobbled together and see what sticks?
Have ways of attracting different and new consumer groups perhaps got lost in an industry reluctant to change as maybe it’s all too late?
Me? I come back to creating an emotional attachment through compelling storytelling, and making good young riding talent like Lyle Hewitson, and Luke Ferraris part of the narrative- and which captivates that mainstream audience.
It’s a good starting point...
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