You don't actually require a definite position on the betting exchanges debate to take offence at what's been happening lately. But for the students of marketing ...

Abusing the Role of Marketing to Return Australia to the Dark Ages - Lesson One

Lecturer: Special guest - Andrew Ramsden (Australian Racing Board Chairman)

Background: The "Race that Stops the Nation" is in less than 3 weeks. The 'international raiders' (and the world media) have arrived in Melbourne,Victoria.

Task: Your task (you seem willing to accept it) consists of the following:

1. You will use your position as the spokesman of the leading representative body of Australian Racing to attract media attention and guarantee front page headlines. You will achieve this by threatening to exclude British horses from competing in future Spring Carnival races on the dubious grounds that it's their fault (don't forget to also penalise their breeders, owners, jockeys, stable hands) that betting exchanges exist in the world. (Bonus marks will be awarded for students who can somehow link the 'evils of betting exchanges' to the 'strong probability' that an Australian ban will be imposed on British horses if Betfair is not outlawed, as well as those students who can stridently (albeit falsely) assert that "British racing is riven with corruption").

2. You will use the platform of Victoria's Spring Carnival to pander to (misinformed) public discontent with overseas horses arriving to contest the Cup (please ensure you do not utilize any form of media to remind the mob that their country also frequently sends horses overseas to challenge all number of international events in their own right).

3. Using inflammatory, baseless and spurious hyperbole you will do everything in your power to ensure that henceforth Australian racing officials (and the Industry generally) will be seen as 'absurd', 'sensationalist', 'ludicrous', 'short sighted' and with 'an appalling ignorance of what powers British Racing has over betting exchanges (nil)'.

4. From a marketing perspective (and in consideration of the huge number of people involved in promoting the Melbourne Cup, Spring Carnival and Australian Racing Industry generally) you shall ensure that you make a mockery of the significant investment made by Victorian Racing in promoting the Melbourne Cup as the premier two-mile race in the international calendar. (Part B of this question also requires thinking up a suitable explanation to the Cup's sponsor Emirates Airlines who may be a tad disconcerted at sponsoring a race "that the global Godolphin team could be excluded from participating in simply because they were based in Britain during the Northern summer".

2. Assumptions you can make: Australia obviously does not wish to be treated with any measure of respect by the international racing community.

Essential reading for this module: Arthur Miller's The Crucible. Alternatively Bill Saunders excellent (and well considered - unlike a lot of the current media) article in CyberHorse

PS - Way to go Andrew. You give more than marketing a bad name.