Media Commitments and the Mounting Yard

The mounting yard in Australia has been given short shrift for the best part of a decade. Part of my rose-coloured memory suspects that when the two major states last co-operated enough that TVN was able to devote roughly equal attention to both Sydney and Melbourne racing, there may have been greater coverage given to the parade. That could also be woefully misguided.

The simple fact is Australia's racing coverage is compromised at best. Advertisers are needed to fund bloated networks running on the minimum effort required, struggling more and more to justify their existence outside of mobile screens, with coverage broadcast, with sound, remaining in only a few (and not all) pub-tabs. Last sentries of a rapidly eroded rampart of the once great game. I hear elders' stories of racing interrupting football at the MCG with sheer whimsy, as if that ever happened! With more time devoted to advertising and individual channels no longer dedicated to one, or even two jurisdictions, there simply enough time to cram it all in.

Punters are never going to be in charge of coverage, let alone programming and the over-bloated mess that is the breeders' love affair with excessive group 1 racing in this country. But let's pretend that one day, we could. What would the ideal mounting yard coverage look like, and is our current coverage of any use?

We'll start with the latter: the simple answer is 'yes', but with a significant 'if'. Horses can exhibit a number of desirable and undesirable traits prior to a race, from the stables to the parade ring, and it's impossible to spot everything that may serve as useful information even when on course. But being given so little footage of individual runners applies a certain degree of futility to the coverage to those wanting to watch it, let alone study it.

The visual component of the mounting yard is severely neglected in Australia, with it not uncommon for half a field of ten to be left unseen without the jockey already up or the horse halfway to the barriers, as if that's giving the punter a good opportunity to ascertain anything about the animal pre-race. Some broadcasts pre-record the mounting yard, to try and provide as much coverage prior to the race, but it's still not sufficient given it begins after the horses have been parading for a number of minutes.

The commentary is generally not particularly useful either, and it's no real fault of those involved. Jane Ivil was perhaps the best we had on television (ignoring Australia claiming another New Zealander) in towing the line between honest appraisal and not infuriating connections.

Working in the media is not as simple as it seems. The best advice to budding presenters would likely be 'always give yourself an out'. You can be honest, but there's a race for every horse. Every horse is (in theory) a winning chance, so try and work out how they can win. In a mounting yard sense, what's the positive they are displaying; how is this different from previous; how might they further improve?

This doesn't necessarily help us as punters, however, as the current directive is seemingly set to "don't upset anyone". For example, horses light in condition are likely to be termed "rock fit with no excess", or horses particularly stressed or anxious "fired-up and ready to go". It is generalised spin, and not many current presenters are as adept as Ivil at finding that balance in using coded honesty.

The late, great, Deane Lester's coverage on RSN's now defunct Carnival digital radio stream was the most potent mounting yard report I've heard in Australia, with Lester particularly good at identifying horses peaking on the day or improving since their last run. Of course, he wasn't making a comment on every runner so he had the luxury of picking and choosing the top couple he could push in to his top four numbers when providing a recap.

This is in no way a negative, and what I would give as a punter to have access to his informative and entertaining commentary or something similar, in every jurisdiction in Australia. I can recall quite fondly his description of Gallante, when in his early career racing in Australia as an entire: "Gallante was one of interest, getting very amorous and keen to get up on his hinds and show everyone his bits. I'm not sure today will be his day."

Besides an honest push or appraisal of the key runners in the market, which is certainly valuable information for late bettors, how else could broadcasting best suit all parties? The gold standard for English-speaking racing has and seemingly will be Hong Kong's coverage, ad-free and simulcast for free online.

Jenny Chapman is something of a champion of racing media, knowledgeable, charismatic, passionate and accurate. Her coverage, and that of her revolving door of co-hosts over the years, provides a much needed blend of replays, analysis, critical thinking, and an almost comprehensive mounting yard feed. In a field of 14, you would likely get a feel for at least 10 runners on looks, before maintaining the camera on horses galloping to the starting gates and awaiting their race.

It's fantastic coverage, and dare I say, you can quickly become hooked in the race-to-race flow and routine. Removal of incessant and annoying advertisements is a positive, as there's suddenly enough time to provide the essential information. If you're a keen form student and tune in, you would have half a chance to improve your own prices late with their coverage.

While it's niche coverage, the content they choose to include seems well thought out. The lack of live pre or post-race interviews with connections stands out, with pre-recorded jock and trainer soundbites the only talking heads forthcoming. The hosts are indeed only sighted to begin and end the day's coverage, precious live vision prioritised over the media personality or ego of individuals.

But could the HKJC's gold standard be further improved? Certainly there could be room for an optional live tote board that lives on-screen for the next race, noting the coloured changes or the 'lamps' as runners are supported late in betting. Perhaps there could even be some preproduction work to include a last start picture-in-picture replay of the horse's first 250m and last 350m from their previous run or trial, as they parade the mounting yard. This could include a last start 'heat map', visually representing the early and late speed given the sectional splits vs standard.

And why not go one step further and offer multiple angles of the mounting yard, the viewer picking from the various camera operators to hone in on their runner(s) of choice without having to wait? Given the entire coverage is already available for streaming online, surely it's just a matter of resources and bandwidth?

This is all pie in the sky stuff, and it's already the length of the Flemington straight six in front of the Australian coverage. But I'm not sure we are any closer to having a professional level of broadcast quality in Australia that tailors to anyone other than generic racing participants.

Western Australia recently launched their own streaming platform, focusing on their usual one meeting per day, but even given the luxury of half-hour gaps between races, the coverage has remained the same to what we had seen previously on Sky Thoroughbred Central and Sky Active (for the few of us who ever use it). Pre-race coverage starts roughly 10-12 minutes prior to the jump, with horses already having started parading, resulting in only 3-5 horses given a useful mounting yard visual profile, before it all descends in to a mad rush to the finish. Surely there's a more complete way to service their loyal racing state and punting base?

Let's not even discuss the mess that is Melbourne Cup week coverage, with celebrities, sponsors, storytellers and overzealous hosts all clamouring to try and be anything more than an annoyance to punters. Let alone a bemused and diminishing casual viewership trying to work out why Channel 7 and Bruce McAvaney aren't showing the Cup this year, oblivious to Australia's disastrous use of "freeview" or our digital bandwidth used to broadcast television and radio.

Whether or not Australian racing ever matures, or realises the value of the racing coverage in growing the game with punters who love the puzzle, remains to be seen. It's easy to be cynical when familiarity breeds contempt. But until the information and the comprehensive presentation matches the quality of the product, racing does appear destined to become even more niche and forgotten as sports begin to fight for limited hearts and minds.