Inspirations from OGURI CAP: Making racing more sustainable
This year’s Royal Ascot was still crowded with well-dressed racegoers. Top hats, tuxedos, high heels, everywhere. The racegoers cheered to the Gold Cup winner KYPRIOS. Aidan O’Brien still reigned supreme with his promising runners. Everything in the racing world seemed to be still exciting, while behind the scenes the industry is full of worries.
What worried the industry most is the shrinkage of the customer base. Although Royal Ascot remains its prestige status, the sport becomes less and less appealing among the younger generations, who generally think racing is just something for elites and conservative guys, too far away from their daily lives, racing forms too difficult, too cruel for horses…blah blah blah. The Italy racing crisis several years ago already caught racegoers’ attention. Lately the closure of Macau and Singapore racing has made the alarm louder.
However, the sport is still blooming in Japan that racecourses are always packed with racegoers on key racedays. Some fans even queue overnight just for securing a place in the grandstand. How can such magic happen?
The key to the magic is the power of stories telling and idolization. All of these started since the legendary grey OGURI CAP (オグリキャップ) appeared on the turf in late 1980s. Japanese anthropologist Nagashima Nobuhiro is a loyal racing fans, who has investigated the phenomenon of OGURI CAP and then how racing in Japan was successfully transformed from notorious gambling to a public spotlight.
OGURI CAP, a colt with ordinary pedigree, made his debut in lower tier racecourses. However, he stunned the racegoers with his winning streak from maiden to group races in main racecourses. He also gradually gained attention from women and young men that these new racing fans entered racecourses just for a sight of their new idol “Oguri-chan” (Little Oguri). His performances could stir these new fans’ emotions as well. Everything reached the climax when he could turn the tables to win his final race Arima Kinen (the year end Grand Prix) in 1990, partnered with young idol jockey Take Yutaka, after two poorly performed races. When the duo cantered to the winner’s circle, the cheers made by the crowd in the racecourse lasted more than 10 minutes and, no matter women or men, their tears ran down.
Mr Nagashima noticed that he was especially popular among women. Besides they thought OGURI CAP’s grey body was cute, he was a living rags-to-riches fairy tale with a perfect ending, which had many resonances for these new racegoers. And they regarded entering racecourses as a new form of entertainment and star-chasing, rather than gambling. When being asked, they admitted that they knew nothing about studying form or betting, and were just able to bet 100 Yen (equivalent to 54p) on OGURI CAP as a form of support.
Don’t look down upon this 100 Yen. This symbolised these new customers had begun their racing contribution. The racing turnover could be huge when each of the fans could make contribution, while some might bet even more than 100 Yen. OGURI CAP was a miraculous successful case, and it was the best moment to make the spark into flame. It is very important to sustain their interest in the sport, in order to increase their lifetime value. And Japan has succeeded.
After his retirement, various sizes of OGURI CAP stuffed dolls were put in the market and its popularity far exceeded the manufacturer’s expectations. Pilgrimages to his stud farm increased as well, and from this Mr Nagashima could assume the cult was consolidated and would last for a considerable time. Since then, whenever idol horses emerge, their stuffed dolls are put in the market. With the emergence of OGURI CAP, the raceday attendance started to increase and marked the record high on the 1990 Japanese Derby Day, with a total of 196,517 racegoers in the Tokyo Racecourse. “Ou-en Baken” (応援馬券, supporters’ ticket), placing 100 Yen each on Win and Place for a horse, is now very popular, especially when star horses racing. Currently, “Umamusume: Pretty Derby” (ウマ娘：プリティーダービー), a racing simulation game with TV animation in which famous horses become girls, is very popular in Asia. The passion of young Japanese towards racing has not faded.
The Asian Racing Conference (ARC) just held in Sapporo in late August revealed the industry’s most urgent issues and the tackling directions, which are echoing the success of OGURI CAP in some sense. The CEO of Racing Queensland straightly warned that the industry needs to be innovative, otherwise would die. Among the strategies, telling the story of the horse in engaging ways and fans engagement have been mentioned. This reveals that the industry also agrees that well known horses with touching stories can attract more new customers. Clare Vigers, the Client Services Director of a sports agency, has noted the importance of attracting fans before they turn 14-year-old, suggesting that a tailored, family focused approach is necessary for racing the achieve this. Storytelling and corresponding peripheral products can then let those racegoers would-be have positive feelings towards the sport. With leveraging technology, the drivers of lifetime value, whose key metrics include buying habits, social networks, etc., can be found. According to Vigers, unique experiences, such as sub-events, are also important to engage younger audiences.
Of course, the Japanese style of cuteness, or, “Moe”(萌), is very difficult to replicate. But one thing is clear that the sport can be in the same pace with the younger generations with the help of contents and peripheral products. The insight from the experience of Japan is that continuous generation of new racing idols is important. If for the UK, stuffed dolls of famous horses (e.g. FRANKEL, CITY OF TROY) can also be considered and Jellycat, a famous UK stuffed toys brand whose viral videos made with its products were very popular in Instagram, is one of the choices for collaboration. As to the contents, though touching stories like RED RUM or DREAM ALLIANCE may only happen by chance, soft contents can be considered, such as the daily lives of star horses, funny moments in stables, the bonding between horses and humans, etc. It is for letting the younger generation know, and then, hopefully, like the sport.
Racing should not only be a matter of money and status, but also a sport of all the people with excitement and sentiments. The sport can have many resonances for more people if the engagement strategies are more down-to-earth and less gambling oriented. The more they like the sport, the more they would then contribute.
References
- Nagashima Nobuhiro 長島信弘 2002 Shin Keiba no Jinruigaku 新．競馬の人類学 (The Anthropology of Horseracing, Redux). Tokyo: Kodansha.
2. Liam Holton 6 Sep 2024 The Future of Racing is Horse-Centric, Data-Centric and Customer-Centric. In LinkedIn.