Punters gathered at Sydney’s Randwick racecourse over the weekend to watch 12 of the “very best sprinters” compete in the world’s richest horseracing event. And trackside at the $15 million TAB Everest, media coverage rolled in just as smoothly as the money flowed.
Crikey ran the numbers on punting papers.
Since October 9 The Sydney Morning Herald and its Sunday sister The Sun-Herald have published 58 articles on The Everest. These stories profiled mares from both human and horse perspectives, stroked the egos of trainers, talked in fairy-tale terms of “heroes” and “villains”, workshopped solutions for horse hay fever, and gave plenty of space to Racing NSW CEO (and chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission) Peter V’landys. They also threw in a bet from the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Compare this to 20 stories from The Australian and 30 from The Daily Telegraph and its Sunday edition.
The Melbourne Cup has been running for more than 160 years, and yet the six-year-old Everest has turned heads and printing presses at a much faster rate.
No doubt a few key marketing moments have helped put the race on the radar. In 2018 the race draw was projected onto the Sydney Opera House, transforming the sails into the nation’s biggest billboard. This year the harbour hosted 501 synchronised drones that spelled “12” alongside a riding jersey. The SMH coined it a “spectacular light show”.
So what’s the deal? Or more to the point, is there a commercial deal in place?
Crikey approached Nine, the Australian Turf Club (ATC) and Racing NSW about whether there was an official media partner in place. The ATC said this was a “question best addressed to Racing NSW” and to “come back to us after you’ve spoken to Racing NSW”.
Neither Nine nor Racing NSW answered or returned our calls.
