Floyd's Column: Can you see the light?

“CAN YOU SEE THE LIGHT?” 

The Reverend James Brown pleads. 

The clouds part – a shaft of celestial luminescence strikes Jake Blues. 

‘Yes Yes Yes. I can see the light!’ 

A scene from my favourite movie – The Blues Brothers. 

What has any of this got to do with the Greyhound Racing UK takeover of Towcester? 

Well I would like to start by asking you a question. 

Do you. . . deep down. . . believe that greyhound racing is worth your time and effort? 

If you are a newbie, and judging by the fact that you are reading this, you presumably enjoy the sport from one angle or another. Hopefully, many. 

Of course, you have nothing to compare it against. 

However, if you are one of us fossils, who has seen nothing but decades of decline, you are entitled to be a little soured or pessimistic. 

That is nothing to be embarrassed about. 

Personally, I think 90+% of greyhound is boring. 

You can watch greyhound racing for 12 hours a day, for free. 

But would you really want to? 

My great friend and racing legend Nick Savva recently admitted that he had no regrets about dedicating his life to greyhound racing. 

But 70 years on, if he was introduced to it in its current state – he wouldn’t have given it the time of day. 

I get it. 

It’s like asking someone who has seen Elvis live what they think about a tribute act. 

Unfortunately, so many of the people involved in the running and management of the greyhound industry have neither seen Elvis, or are unimpressed with his less talented double. 

They simply don’t see greyhound racing as a long term sustainable act. 

‘We put it on because it makes money from the saddos who will watch anything.’ 

There has been minimal innovation in greyhound racing in decades. 

The introduction of fabulous live programmes on SKY, hosted by a young Jeff Stelling, was probably the last big splurge and it worked. 

That was followed by Racing Post TV which did an admirable job on a fraction of the budget which was then shaved to extinction. 

In terms of tracks, literally dozens have closed in my time at Greyhound Star. 

Not long after I joined on a full time basis, we produced the Daily Mirror Fact File. 

(The sponsorship was not a coincidence. Three of my four bosses were senior Fleet Street journalists whose greatest task was attempting to turn a thick kennel lad into a writer. Doh!) 

Published in 1988, The Fact File listed 37 NGRC tracks (including the anticipated Enfield - which never happened), along with 58 independent tracks. 

We currently have 18 and 1. Soon to be 17 and 1. 

There would have been less back then had various track owners been able to get planning permission and cash in their eight acres. 

For decades, the mentality has all been short term. 

Survival not growth. 

Investment – in short supply – has come from businessmen who were also greyhound owners and enthusiasts. 

Maurice Kirby built Swaffham. Tony Nicholls built Harlow. Maurice Buckland built the new Perry Barr and of course, Kevin Boothby. 

Big Kev gets lots of stick when things go wrong at his tracks. 

Yet this is the man that delayed the closure of Henlow by 20 years. He re-opened Mildenhall. He resurrected Oxford and most pertinently, resuscitated our number one venue, Towcester. 

Nobody else would even have attempted what Kevin has achieved and when the history of greyhound racing is written, Kevin Boothby’s role will be writ large. 

Over the years, my written thoughts about greyhound racing’s slow decline and its missed opportunities will have destroyed forests writing and burned through gigawatts of electricity. 

I will not be recycling those views suffice to say, I have never given up on the absolute unshakable belief, that greyhound racing, run properly, is, or should be, a fabulous spectacle. 

So it was particularly interesting - probably 18 months ago, to hear Mike Davis’ plans for breathing fresh life into greyhound racing. 

Given the size of the task, I wasn’t optimistic. 

The costs and commitment seemed just too great. 

But he is doing it. 

The vehicle – Greyhound Racing UK – is an organisation built on an ideal. 

There are no scams or ulterior motives. 

But unlike, the Maurices, Kevin, and the rest, Mike Davis’ ambitions are bigger. 

Mike heads a team of people assembled to deliver greyhound racing to the wider public. 80% of the people employed in the not-for-profit company have no greyhound background. 

But they have a variety of skills appropriate to selling greyhound racing to the wider public. There are graphics, video, social media, marketing and a variety of other skill sets that this industry has never had previously employed so strategically or in such depth.  

So why Towcester? 

Two reasons. 

The first and most important relates to one of Mike Davis’ core principles, “Don’t talk. Demonstrate’. 

The world is full of ‘I-would-but’ blaggers. 

If you want to show greyhound racing in its best light, reveal its untapped potential, you can’t just talk about it, or tell other people how they should be doing it. 

The Davis ethos: ‘put up or shut up’. 

The second reason for ‘why Towcester’, is equally important. 

It is a huge canvas. 

If you want to create a focal point for the industry, somewhere to represent the best that greyhound racing has to offer across a wide variety of parameters, a Henlow or Pelaw would never fit the bill. 

As a venue though, Towcester has great strengths and weaknesses. 

Among its issues, it is comparatively isolated. Great for an ‘event’ but not a night out for the village folk on a cold night in January. Burning ten pound notes would be cheaper than heating the huge grandstand for 200 paying customers. 

A facility of that size is generally a huge drain on resources and sad to say, Towcester has grown increasingly tatty. 

As hard as the Boothby family has tried, the customer experience has deteriorated. 

It is entirely understandable and no reflection on the efforts made. It is simple economics.  

Consider it this way. The running costs on a small track like Suffolk Downs would be a fraction of those at Towcester, but the income from SIS was the same – race for race. 

As a greyhound fanatic, Kevin Boothby has loved promoting greyhound racing. His accountant presumably thinks he should be certified. 

Anybody who knows anything about Mike Davis will testify that he has the resources and he doesn’t cut corners. 

Whatever it takes to enhance the customer experience will be delivered. 

So what does the future look like? 

Ironically, Towcester is fine with big crowds, or no crowds. It’s the ‘250 through the gate’ that are hard to justify. 

Put on a daytime race meeting funded by the betting shops and small crowds are more trouble than they are worth. 

The flip side is Towcester’s unique ability to accommodate several thousand people in better weather. 

That might be a June English Derby where people will make the effort to travel to see the finest racers in Britain or Ireland. 

There should be plenty of top class events spread between at least three of the seasons plus the regular ‘betting shop’ meetings throughout the year.  

But this has to be about so much more than just dog racing if Towcester is to pay its bills. 

The place could easily accommodate 5,000 people for a music concert. 2,000 for a craft fair. 3,000 for a car show. Loads of room for parking or camping. Facilities for toilets and refreshments on site. 

This is not a new concept for Towcester.  

Being able to deliver it is!

You can’t just open the gates and expect thousands of people to turn up. 

And that is Mike Davis’ strong suit. 

His understanding of marketing – simply based on his career record – puts him on a different level to anyone else in this industry. 

Whether it is marketing a Towcester event, or raising the profile of the sport, Greyhound Racing UK is ready and able to deliver.  

So while it might be premature to ask if anyone has yet ‘seen the light’ as suggested by the Rev. Brown, maybe there is one at the end of a long tunnel.