HORSE RACING’S YOUNG GUNS. BRINGING SOMETHING NEW TO THE TABLE…
Though not being a clairvoyant nor a master of Sri Lankan sorcery, I forsee the day when James McDonald and Zac Lloyd will be riding in the United Kingdom- and probably Japan and Botswana- and being young guns for hire.
Yesterday at Flemington racecourse, Zac Lloyd took out the 2026 Royal Oaks aboard Proxima Dea. It was the galloper’s sixth straight win.
All this is hopefully leading to some major facelifts in the makeup of racing club AND the marketing and branding of the horse racing model.
As for the financials of horse racing, yes, the prize money in Angleterre doesn’t come close to what’s being offered for winning Group 1 races like Breeders Cup in America, the Everest in Australia, or the riches and celebritydom associated with racing in Hong Kong, but the times and contracts and “personal IPs” are changing.
Racing clubs and horse racing really cannot continue to be cavalier and go it alone believing it’s the only game in town, because, well, it isn’t.
Every industry is facing competition from every other industry because money’s too tight to mention.
Those young riders who know the worth of their marquee value are very probably starting to look for managers and agents who are NOT confined to things associated with horse racing- like giant wobbling dancing plushies and the usual merchandise.
How those who bring newness to the table interact with the hardcore turnover driven racing executive to create results is going to be interesting to watch because what’s needed is balance.
Those there saw it on Melbourne Cup Day with Robbie Williams acting as a master of ceremonies who was also the ultimate Rock DJ showman.
It worked out great because what Robbie did was ENHANCE the event— enhance being a word brought to my attention by Robbie’s management some years ago about how their partnership with EMI Music for whom I was working with at the time being to ENHANCE each other’s brand personalities by taking the brand personality and energy levels up a notch.
Having the role of a Chief Enhancer? Why not?
If and when these changes happen- and they will-much newness will tumble into place which will almost definitely open doors to new career opportunities in the racing world appealing to racing fans and a much larger mainstream audience.
To be seen as a player in horse racing is an extremely closed shop right now, especially when it comes to be welcomed into the cabal of globally renowned horse owners and seen as an important part of the breeding and bloodstock industries.
As for the young gun riders everyone in horse racing has heard of New Zealand born rider James McDonald and known to be the world’s best rider who’s already ridden with success in the UK.
Zac Lloyd seems to be making up for lost time though still only 22 years young and having started riding at Dalby at 17 where his first winner was on the galloper Satine.
A friend of another wunderkind in Billy Loughnane and the son of the now retired ninety four time champion rider Jeff Lloyd who manages his career, the former two time champion apprentice of New South Wales, and now a senior jockey, introduced himself to the most regal of racing worlds when winning the Brittania Stakes aboard Moonfall, his first ride at last year’s Royal Ascot meeting.
Perhaps this meteoric rise was always on the cards as having grown up around the world of horse racing and under the tutelage of his father- The Guv’nor- we’re seeing a rider who exudes confidence- the talent and the maturity in knowing how to get wherever it is he’s going.
Some of us have been following the evolution revolution of Lloyd The Younger through his mentors, the rides he’s been offered, the big races won plus his strike rate.
Also coming into view is the picture of horse racing entering a new era with younger riders and trainers and attractive strappers, all of whom helps make horse racing appear more cool and even something with sponsorship appeal to take it a mainstream audience.
It makes horse racing become a talking point amongst those young people who make the effort to get dressed up and pay to be part of an entertaining way to spend the afternoon with like minded people, along with the excitement of watching horses race and jockeys compete against each other.
It might be stating the obvious that the career paths of especially popular and young riders will evolve into something like a travelling cultural exchange programme.
In Hong Kong for short term riding stints will be the popular and effervescent Saffi Osborne and Hollie Doyle who will be riding against Hong Kong born female apprentices Britney Wong and Nichola Yuen.
Perhaps not chicken soup for the soul for me, but, these days, at least in my life, horse racing is somewhere in the mists of Avalon and almost Arthurian in tone.
There’s no need for a cheap covers band performing “Celebration”, “Happy” or “The Macarena”.
Maybe out of all this will come something that’s a weird and surreal cross between Joe Pytka’s “Let It Ride” and David Lynch’s “Eraserhead”.
Weird is good. Fun is best of all. And horse racing must be seen as FUN at all times because fun is infectious and contagious. And FUN is also good juju.
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