The same goes for Horse Racing; whether it be racing on dirt, turf or concrete; be it better jockeys, trainers or touts; better facilities and amenities at the Racetrack and OTB’s; or even Casino gaming and Numbers games combined with Horse Racing – give your customers what they want! That is the first rule of good customer service.

Within Jamaica, there exist many options for entertainment and even more for gaming. Racing competes with many other sports such as golf, car racing and sailing, as a hobby; and it also competes with casino gaming, lottery games and private card games for the gambling dollar. As a sport, there aren’t many sports which offer the opportunity for players to recoup some of their ‘investment’. Persons spend thousands of dollars each year playing golf (club dues, golf clubs, etc) or maintaining their racing cars and sail boats (painting them in various colours and designs, giving them the same names as their female friends, modifying the engines, etc); knowing fully well that they do not have an opportunity to get a return on that ‘investment’. What they do get is fun and enjoyment and the opportunity to ‘beat their chests’ when among their friends whenever they are ‘victorious’. Racing is a little different. Winners do get bragging rights, but they also get a bonus in the form of a cheque from the promoting company. So why don’t we find ways to encourage persons to participate in the Sport of Kings and to be a King – if even for a day?

Horse Racing is also considered as a Gaming opportunity competing stiffly for the gambling dollar, and it is regulated as such. Therefore, if persons are desirous of having gaming opportunities, as evidenced by the many ‘small time’ casinos which exist in various hotels, the thousands of betting shops, not to mention the many ‘poker’ boxes and the thousands (maybe even hundreds of thousands) of Lotto and Pick-a-pow outlets, which stretch across the island from Negril point to Morant point; why not incorporate it all in one large modern facility and give the people what they want? As the age old saying goes “build it and they will come”. The key words here are “BUILD IT”.

Take Tampa Bay Downs as an example. It is a ‘small’ racetrack and it has come a long way over the last ten years and is now viewed as the sport's fastest growing racetrack. Classier horses are running the same day at some of the more prestigious racetracks, but thousands of horseplayers around the USA and on sight at the track in Florida wager heavily on the Tampa product. “Ten years ago Tampa Bay Downs was a cheap track with no turf course and nothing really to offer the horseplayer that he couldn't get anyplace else. It was just one more bad track that was easy to overlook in the glutted
simulcasting market. The transformation has been remarkable. Someone at Tampa Bay Downs figured out that the key to success is to give the horseplayer what he or she wants: grass racing, big fields and competitive races that produce sizeable payoffs. More so than perhaps any track in the country, Tampa Bay Downs offers a nice portion of all three.” - Bill Finley.

The one thing that Tampa does not have is a lot of classy horses. Though the racing product has been substantially upgraded in recent years, the meet is dominated by cheap claiming races and large field sizes made up of horses from various parts of the country. Apparently, there are a lot of horseplayers who do not mind this. Access to betting is easy, it is getting the people to the track that is a bit more challenging. “But Tampa Bay Downs has defied the trend, actually getting new fans to come out for a day at the races.” – Bill Finley.

"One of the things we have tuned into is our location," said Tampa's vice president and general manager Pete Berube. "The surrounding neighborhoods around the track have developed and there are a lot of fairly affluent dollars. It would be crazy for us not to go after those people, try to nurture them and get them to the track. We put in a number of amenities to get those people to come visit us. I don't care if you come out and bet or not. I just want you to see the facility."

People are going to Tampa and are enjoying themselves and betting on the races. It is a small track where the fields are big and the races are unpredictable. It is a simple formula, but one that works – Tampa understands both its customers and its potential customers; it recognizes it strengths and leverages itself by using those strengths to its advantage. That is not too difficult a lesson? Or is it?