"What?!" I hear some people say.

A 'ping' is a simple piece of code that alerts the web spiders to your site having been updated. You type in the URL of your blog, choose the sites you want to update and click the 'ping' button. An alert is automatically sent to the spiders to trawl your site. I means your latest information is automatically updated on the major search engines (and if you're a blogging guru you will also be pleased to know that it also helps your position on other blogrolls).

As Ping-O-Matic states: "There are a number of services designed specifically for tracking and connecting blogs. However it would be expensive for all the services to crawl all the blogs in the world all the time. By sending a small ping to each service you let them know you’ve updated so they can come check you out. They get the freshest data possible, you don’t get a thousand robots spidering your site all the time. Everybody wins.

And…

So why would you want to be on these sites? One word: traffic."

There are a couple of free 'Ping' sites available - Ping-O-Matic and Fred's Ping Service. A warning however - don't ping a site if it hasn't been updated - whilst a rabid drooling monster with large teeth won't automatically descend from the heavens and tear you into small pieces ... a few million bloggers who rely on people not abusing the system very well might!

The Moonee Valley Racing Club has announced that Don Casboult, the General Manager Marketing for AAMI, has been appointed to fill a casual vacancy on its Committee.

Casboult, who is a member of AAMI’s Senior Executive team, has played a key role in the company’s strategic direction towards becoming the No.1 insurance company in Australia.

He also offers vast experience in racing sponsorship.

AAMI currently sponsors horse racing in Victoria, NSW, Queensland, Tasmania and the Northern Territory. AAMI has also sponsored the Vase, a 2000m race for three-year-olds at Moonee Valley on Carlton Draught Cox Plate day since 1993.

In its press release, MVRC Chairman Don Abell said he was delighted with Casboult’s appointment.

“Don has extensive experience with sports sponsorship and in particular the racing industry around Australia. We are particularly pleased that he is able to join us and assist us in driving the direction of the Club,” said Abell.

“Don is a great exponent of branding, marketing, and sponsorship and we will greatly benefit from his extensive experience.”

This is the second marketing-related appointment in just 10 days (Director of leading advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi - Sharon Skeggs - also elected to the Australian Jockey Club committee) and seeks to underline the importance of marketing to today's race clubs.

The year was 1986. American actress Molly Ringwald had a huge number of adolescent females under 16 sighing over co-star Andrew McCarthy in the latest coming-of-age movie "Pretty in Pink".

Perhaps someone has been hankering for their lost youth over at the STC marketing department? This Saturday at Rosehill has been themed "Pretty in Pink Raceday" with all racegoers wearing pink given free entry. The first 1,000 ladies through the gates will receive a free piccolo of the newly released Omni Pink Sparkling wine and the first 500 men will receive a free pink lapel rose.

There'll be a fantastic racebook competition as well with entrants going in the draw to win a pair of stunning pink sapphire earrings from Rutherfords jewellers valued at $2,300.

Pink feather boas will also be sold at entry points for just $10 - which then gives you your pink attire to get in free for a fantastic day of racing!

Pink Lady, sponsors of the Pretty in Pink Raceday, will also be handing out Pink Lady apples during the day.

One could almost be mistaken for considering a passing off action when one looks to the Belmont race card for this Saturday as well. The Western Australian Turf Club will also be hosting a "Pink Lady Day" to coincide with the Belmont Oaks. Women are encouraged to "Dress up in your prettiest pink outfit and head to Belmont Park Racecourse." There will also be a Pink Lady Luncheon.

It's always good to see novel ways of promoting the Industry - particularly to those who wish to work within it.

Thoroughbred Racing SA and TAFE SA held a highly successful Careers Day at the races on Saturday 18th June at Cheltenham Racecourse.

The day included talks from Lindsay Park Stud trainers and strappers, and leading SA jockeys Dwayne Dunn and Clare Lindop as well as information booths from TAFE SA, Bonnetts, Horse SA and Thoroughbred Racing SA (TRSA). Bus Tours from the track to the TAFE SA Cheltenham Horse Skills Centre ensured everyone had the chance to see the facilities and meet with staff running the program.

The next Careers Information race day will be at Gawler Racecourse on October 9 2005.

Nominations for the TAB Most Popular Racehorse Award have closed. The finalists will be announced later this week.

The winner of the TAB Most Popular Racehorse Award will be announced at the Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year Awards proudly presented by TVN at Crown Palladium, Melbourne on Wednesday 3 August 2005.

Source: Racing Victoria media release

Everyone who is running a business - whether you are a race club, horse stud, agistment property, trainer, jockey, syndicater, vet, farrier, feed supplier - should take the time to consider the essential question: "What EXACTLY is my company's brand"?

A brand is not just about your logo and corporate colours [that's actually your corporate identity] rather, a brand is the 'human element' that is added to a product or service; the images a product or service create in the consumer's mind; the value proposition/credibility/reliability that you offer - in essence it's "a promise".

The other thing worth noting about your brand is that it is entirely reliant on customer perception. Effective communications/advertising and appealing logos play a role but ultimately a brand is built through the total experience that it offers. That is why some customers remain loyal to a brand - and others never will be. It all depends on their perception of what you are offering.

Brands may be intangible but they play an integral role in the success or failure of your business. Existing - and strong brands - can also fail if they are not nurtured.

There are a number of very skilled international marketers in Australasia - the auction houses and New Zealand Thoroughbred Marketing come immediately to mind - as they spend a lot of time marketing not just a sale or the Industry but a country alongside it. Before they can start marketing they need to know EXACTLY what it is they are selling and be able to anticipate (and respond to) public perception of that product/service in another country. This equals the need to conduct - and understand - a sophisticated brand audit.

So how is such an exercise undertaken?

It's actually an incredibly detailed process but there is a useful (and short) case study you may be interested in that puts it all in context. BrandChannel recently conducted some useful research on a city state that certainly isn't located in the South Pacific yet spends a large proportion of its time engaged in high-level marketing of thoroughbred racing (amongst other things).

The city state is Dubai. The article is titled: "Is Dubai's future a mirage?".

The article won't give you the exact map for conducting a brand audit, but it is certainly useful in terms of how the process is structured:

"One could say that Dubai is a twenty-four billion dollar brand (if we were to take only the GDP for year 2004 as a valuation yardstick). "Excitement " is the underlying brand personality factor, connoting daring, spirited and competitive."

"All brands whether products, services, or even cities can be metaphorically compared to an iceberg. Structurally any iceberg has two facets, a visible facet above water and an invisible, larger facet below water. The visible facets of a brand iceberg would be its name, logo, advertising, communications, etc. The invisible aspects considered as critical would encompass quality, production, R&D, service levels, supply chain and so on."

"...The true measure of enduring brands is often the less visible aspect of the brand iceberg. It is often said and rightfully so that while visible aspects are easily replicated by competing brands, the invisible aspects of a brand are primarily responsible for a brand's enduring competitive advantage. These intangible qualities transform a brand to stratospheric heights of esteem and reputation."

The full article appears at the following URL.

Dubai is an example of a successful brand. If anything, the case study demonstrates the significant time and resources that need to be devoted to ensuring your company intimately understands its brand promise before you start spending money on expensive advertising campaigns, brochures, PR, and other marketing communications. Otherwise you may find that your marketing efforts simply don't give you the necessary return on investment.

And yes, I appreciate that we don't all have oil wells in the back paddock to finance a 'brand team'. But what we do have is an ability to ask the big question "What is OUR promise?"; we can talk to our customers to understand whether they feel the same way about our product/services, we can read what others write about us to see if they have a different perception, we can conduct competitor analysis, track customer perception over time, and, most importantly of all, take the necessary remedial action to protect the brand when required.

I have the good fortune of being contacted by all number of fascinating people in this job. Most of these individuals are extremely talented and all are out there running businesses that are certainly putting the runs on the board.

My latest contact was contemporary equine artist (painter and sculptor) Donna Bernstein who has an interesting connection to Australia - she lives in McCall, Idaho, with her husband and their "three Aussie-dog family".

Donna 'markets' the equine industry in a unique way - through art and design.

Donna says that her artistic style was developed by following what cave artists did - drawing horses as a means of "capturing" them.

"Their very form and grace have inspired me for as long as I can remember," she says.

I confess I know precious little about art so I've had to rely on Donna's explanation of her technique: Asian-inspired ink brushwork, large-scale acrylic and mixed media canvases, and bronze sculptures. Donna describes her style as inspired by the simple power of pure line.

If you want to look at some of Donna's work you can do so at the following URL.

Patrick Patten authors a uniquely titled US Thoroughbred blog Pulling Hair and Betting Horses.

I received an email from Patrick this morning which refers me to an article he has written on a "standings" system for US horses. As Patrick says "Obviously I'm not the head of the NY Times or Sports Illustrated, so little to no one will notice my blog. However, I am persevering and was wondering if anyone else would like to carry the top 3 horses in Eclipse categories on their blog in the side column. I can update the code each week."

No fanfare or recognition indeed - but when you read Patrick's original blog post from June 21/2005 (reproduced in full below) then perhaps you too will identify with his desire to introduce a system that the "everyday" race follower can understand too.

... we liked the logic enough to run with it.

EVERY SPORT HAS STANDINGS

Standings are there so you can knock the team on top or notice that your team is up and coming. The number one spot is not always the best team, and even the Devil Rays will beat the Yankees (like last night, ugh). Horse racing doesn't have standings. The fans leave it up to the talking heads at DRF, TVG, or Eclipse voters to decide the matter. Personally, I wouldn't trust those people to mow my lawn. So I came up with a score card. I talked about it earlier it's pretty easy. I give points to Graded events for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and also ran as long as they complete the race. I separate into 9 categories (2yo filly, 2yo colt, 3yo filly, 3yo colt, older horse, sprint, turf, filly & mare, filly & mare turf). Older horse is for 3&up or 4yo only and raced at a mile or longer. All races restricted to 3yo even if on the turf are in the 3yo category.

I created these categories based on the Eclipse awards. Handicap races get the same points because a grade I is a grade I. To qualify for my personal year end awards a horse has to win a grade I race. This would eliminate any trainer from entering a horse where he doesn't belong. "Ah-lukas-choo" excuse me, just couldn't control that sneeze. Currently Memorrette is the top 3yo filly, but she has never won a Gr I race so she is not eligible currently. If she wins a Gr I in any category she'd be fine. Also at the end of the year I compile all info into HOY where I weight some number for 3yo's taking on older and or girls taking on the boys. Overall the process isn't really that hard and I think many could benefit from it. God forbid our sport moves more towards the mainstream and make things easier for casual sports fans to get involved.

I list the top 5 in each category and their points, totals are in BOLD

F&M turf
mea domina 120 120
megahertz 50 50 100
honey ryder 20 50 10 80
sand springs 20 10 50 80
solar echo 80 80

Filly & Mare
dreamofsummer 80 120 200
tarlow 30 50 120 200
miss loren 120 60 180
ashado 35 10 120 165
star parade 35 80 10 30 155

Turf
sweet return 60 40 35 120 255
america alive 30 120 35 185
good reward 30 30 120 180
castledale 50 120 170
quest star 35 40 60 35 170

Sprint
forest danger 120 120
don six 40 60 10 110
harvard avenue 40 50 10 100
medallist 20 80 100
clock stopper 30 50 80

Older Horse
saint liam 120 35 120 275
eddington 60 50 30 120 260
rock hard ten 50 120 170
congrats 50 30 80 160
eurosilver 20 35 80 135

3yo Male
afleet alex 50 60 120 120 350
giacomo 40 35 120 60 35 290
high fly 5 50 120 35 35 245
high limit 50 80 35 35 200
bandini 40 120 35 195

3 yo Filly
memorette 80 80 60 35 40 295
in the gold 40 40 50 80 60 270
summerly 20 50 35 120 225
sis city 50 120 35 205
sharp lisa 50 120 10 180

Ok so where's Lost in the Fog? It's not his fault there aren't any Grade I sprint races for 3yo's and maybe this point system will show exactly where the Graded Stakes committee could add some races and spread the wealth. I only have 1 grade I stakes for F&M on the turf so far this year. Maybe I missed one, so let me know.

Here are the points

Grade1 Grade2 Grade3 Breeder's Cup
1st 120 50 20 240
2nd 80 40 10 160
3rd 60 30 5 120
alsoran 35 10 60"

A good writer tells a great story. It can be well worth taking the time to analyse some of the stories that qualify in this league to see what tools a writer uses to achieve the end result: an interesting angle, intriguing facts, quality research, tight prose, quotes that shift beyond the banal, effective use of humour ... or a combination of all of them.

A perfect example is Paul Wiecek story "Manitoba horses a trio of underdogs" that appeared in The Winnipeg Free Press (a division of FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership) on 24 June 2005.

The story concerns the 'underdogs' for this year's Queen's Plate (none of the 3, alas, won the race in question, but when you read the story that fact assumes minimal importance):

There's the precocious grey colt from Birds Hill, who shares a birthday with one of the great moments in Canadian sport.

There's the playful filly from Brunkild, who is attempting to write a storybook ending befitting the famous line of romance novels that made her owner rich.

And then there's the mysterious colt from Brandon, whose legend - and reputation - only grew yesterday when he and his minders cavalierly failed to show for a posh pre-race news conference here at Woodbine Racetrack.

Call them the Bison Bullets -- Get Down, Gold Strike and King of Jazz -- and they're maybe the best story in all of Canadian sports right now, an unlikely trio of Manitoba-bred underdogs with an opportunity to rewrite Canadian horse racing history this Sunday in the country's oldest sporting event, the Queen's Plate.

"It'd be an amazing story for Manitoba -- and racing -- if one of them wins," hall of fame jockey Sandy Hawley said here yesterday. "And I think all three of them have a shot to do it."

In the 146-year history of the Queen's Plate -- a test of Canadian champion three-year-old thoroughbreds that predates even Confederation -- an Ontario-bred horse has won the race all but twice, including the last 36 straight.

But that stranglehold on a race that is Canada's equivalent of the Kentucky Derby could come to an end on Sunday, thanks to a juggernaut of Manitoba horses the likes of which the sport has never seen.

Three of the 10 horses formally entered yesterday for Sunday's Queen's Plate are Manitoba-breds, a shockingly disproportionate representation in a race that a Plate historian says has been run for at least 52 years without so much as a single Manitoba entry.

No Manitoba-bred has ever won the $1-million Queen's Plate -- two Alberta horses are the lone exceptions to Ontario's dominance of the race -- although one Manitoba horse, Lord Fairmont, did finish second way back in 1948.

And not only are three Manitoba horses running on Sunday, but the oddsmakers suggest all three have a legitimate chance to win, leaving open the prospect of Manitoba horses finishing 1-2-3 on Sunday in what would be an all-Manitoba triactor that would have defied all odds just two months ago.

"I can't imagine what those odds would have been," Gold Strike trainer Reade Baker said yesterday. "I just wished I'd bet on them."

Gold Strike was yesterday named the morning-line second favourite to win on Sunday at odds of just 3-1, despite the fact she's attempting to become just the fifth filly in history to win the Queen's Plate and the Oaks, the top race for fillies. Gold Strike is owned by former Winnipegger Richard Bonnycastle -- the man behind the Harlequin Romance series of books -- and raced three times at Assiniboia Downs last year, the only one of the three to race in Manitoba.

Gold Strike was bred by Bonnycastle and raised on a farm near Brunkild that is owned by former Downs trainer, Tom Dodds.

King of Jazz, who was still in his stall at Churchill Downs in Kentucky yesterday and whose connections were the only ones absent from yesterday's formal post position draw here at Woodbine, is the fourth favourite at 6-1 and increasingly the darling of handicappers who love the horse's high-powered connections.

His trainer, Carl Nafzger, trained 1990 Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled, while King of Jazz's rider, Rafael Bejarano, was the winningest jockey in North America last year. The horse was expected to arrive at Woodbine this morning.

King of Jazz was bred by Gary Strath on his breeding farm just outside Brandon and is currently owned by Buckram Oak Farm, a Kentucky horse operation that was owned until just a couple months ago by millionaire Saudi oilman and diplomat, Mahmoud Fustok.

And then there's Get Down. Considered one of the leading favourites to win the race just a few weeks ago, he was installed as a 10-1 shot yesterday, a surprisingly long price for a horse that was runner-up in the Plate Trial just three weeks ago and who has attracted top New York rider Richard Migliore to fly to Toronto this weekend just to ride him in the Plate. His trainer, Nancy Triola, is attempting to become the first female trainer to win the Queen's Plate, but she does appear to have some astrology on her side -- Get Down was born Feb. 24, 2002, the same day the Canadian men beat the Americans to win hockey gold at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Get Down was bred by Winnipeg accountant Ken Lee and raised on a farm in Birds Hill, but is now owned by a New York-based syndicate that includes among its principal owners Sherman Cunningham, a native of tiny Springwater, Sask. Springwater's previous claim to fame was that it's 20 minutes from Biggar, hometown of the late Olympic gold medallist in curling, Sandra Schmirler.

"The only horse we had in those days," Cunningham, a 68-year-old electronic components magnate, recalled yesterday, "were the ones my father stood behind in the field."

Ironically, the principal obstacle standing in the way of a Manitoba victory here on Sunday is another Manitoban. McCreary native Todd Kabel, the leading jockey in Canada the past two years, will ride the 5-2 morning line favourite, Dance With Ravens.

"This is the most prestigious race we have in this country," Kabel said yesterday, "and to have all of us Manitobans in it is something to be proud of."

DoubleClick's quarterly Email Trend Report of email marketing performance reports that in the first quarter of 2005 open rates for email marketing dropped by a fifth to 30.2%, down from 38.2%. Click through rates remained relatively stable at 7.9%, down from 8.4%.

They are interesting results and well worth benchmarking your eNewsletter results against.

Everyone at Athlone was certainly pleased - the first quarter results for our fortnightly newsletter show open rates sitting at 53% and a click through rate of 36%.

It's always hard to pinpoint exactly why some newsletters work and some don't (time of delivery, frequency, content etc) - we also put our results down to the fact that we adopt a very strict approach to data cleanliness - any subscribers who don't open an email after 6 mailouts are automatically deleted from the database. Even so, these stats are certainly reassuring.

It would seem that a radio station, retail empire, leading auction house, elite band of thoroughbreds, and two other horse studs (Baramul and Strawberry Hills) aren't enough for the Singletons and Harveys of this world.

The Australian reports today that the successful businessmen have bought into Tom Simon's Vinery Stud at Scone.

It would appear that the property (that I actually have fond memories of when it was still known as Segenhoe ... the second time in 2 days I have shown my age) has yet more owners, 60 years after it was first founded.

Horse-Of-The-Year: Silent Witness (for second consecutive year)
Champion Sprinter: Silent Witness
Champion Miler: Bullish Luck
Champion Middle Distance: Vengeance Of Rain
Champion Stayer: Vengeance Of Rain
Special Achievement: Cape Of Good Hope
Champion Trainer: Tony Cruz
Champion Jockey: Douglas Whyte

Montjeu's fast becoming a bit of a star, having produced 2 Derby winners from his first crop & 7 stakes-winners world-wide from just 2 crops of racing age. The young stallion has also sired 2 Derby quinellas. The Coolmore-owned 3YO colt Hurricane Run (Montjeu-Hold On, by Surumu) won the €1.3 million Gr1 Irish Derby (12 furlongs) for 3YOs at The Curragh yesterday, defeating Susan Magnier’s colt Scorpion (Montjeu-Ardmelody, by Law Society). In the G1 English Derby earlier this month, Montjeu also sired 5-length winner Motivator (Montjeu-Out West, by Gone West) as well as the runner-up Walk In The Park (Montjeu-Classic Park, by Robellino). Not bad stats by anyone's reckoning. Windsor Park in NZ will be needing antidepressants at this rate.

Christian Nicolussi was just doing his job but his honest appraisal of Our Egyptian Raine's performance prior to her (dismal) run in the Stradbroke earlier this month was about as subtle as an axe blade.

In the Daily Telegraph article titled "Trainer defends his big-race bridesmaid", Nicolussi states:

"Our Egyptian Raine has finished second an extraordinary nine times in group company on Australian soil.

Had the mare gone one better in those races she would have doubled her career earnings to $3 million by now."

Absolutely true - so no arguments on that level. And in this Industry it all ultimately comes down to punter sentiment, and horses that go to the line as favorite over a series of races - and lose some of them by margins as wide as a hair's breadth are never going to return to scale with supporters rapt in the outcome.

...One can only imagine the gritted teeth of the trainer/owners however when they read media reports in this vein (particularly given that the 6 year old mare has earned $1,571,578 in her career and in 46 starts has won 10 times and been placed on another 19 occasions).

I guess you have to take the good with the bad.

Del Mar Thoroughbred Club 2005 racing season commences on July 20, 2005 and continues through September 7 (closed on Tuesdays). Subject to a few dates, gates are usually open at noon on weekdays and 11.30am on weekends.

Admission is only US$5 (no seat included). Active Military get in for free.

Del Mar will offer the unique "Four O'Clock Friday" this year. What this means in practice is a free concert for all race-goers. All concerts will start after the race schedule ends. The first four Fridays (July 22-Aug. 12), post time is 4 pm and concerts begin at approximately 7:30 pm. The last three Fridays, (Aug. 19-Sept. 2), post time is 3:30 pm and concerts begin at approximately 7 pm.

July 22- G. Love & Special Sauce
July 29- Super Diamond
Aug. 5- Violent Femmes
Aug. 12- Donavon Frankenreiter
Aug. 19- TBD
Aug. 26- Blues Traveler
Sept. 2- TBD

The DMTC's Saturday schedule includes two free concerts held in the infield following the last race on Aug. 13 and Aug. 27.

Aug. 13- Cake
Aug. 27- Ziggy Marley & Common Sense

It may be a sign of my age or upbringing but I can't say that I have ever attended the races to listen to a concert. Having said that, it's certainly important for Clubs to be catering to different target audiences - especially the younger ones. Hats off then to Del Mar then for adding a musical touch to the 2005 "Surf & Turf" summer racing season.

Equibase Company LLC is the official horseracing information and statistics keeper for the US thoroughbred racing industry and supplies information to a variety of media. Its database of information covers more than 100 tracks and 1,100 simulcast locations throughout North America. Equibase's Web site offers handicapping information and services. Its Virtual Stable service notifies fans with real-time results for horses they wish to follow. Formed in 1991, Equibase is a joint venture between The Jockey Club and the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of North America.

STOCK

Company Type: Joint Venture

TOP THREE OFFICERS

President and CEO, Philip T. O'Hara Jr.

EVP and COO, Hank Zeitlin

Manager Business Support, Kelley Kraeszig

KEY COMPETITORS

Daily Racing Form

NSS

SportsLine.com

INDUSTRY

Media

Information Collection & Delivery

LOCATION

821 Corporate Dr.

Lexington, KY 40503-2794

Lexington

KY

United States

http://www.equibase.com

Source: Hoover`s Company Basic Records

In his fourth race at the Louisville track and the 18th of his career, 26 yo former U.S. Marine Dana Kobriskie has taken his first win as a jockey after riding CANDY AND FLOWERS to victory in the first race at Churchill Downs last Thursday.

Now who said career changes were impossible?!

Source: Associated Press Newswires

Ballymore, a boutique Upper Hunter Valley thoroughbred breeding, agistment and spelling property, has sold at auction for $910,000. The 57-hectare property at Blandford, near Scone, was bought by Gold Coast-based bloodstock agent Tony Williams. Former owners Shaun and Catherine Darcy had expected $850,000. The property rose to prominence in 2003 when it stood the champion stallion General Nediym.

Source: The Australian Financial Review, 24 June 2005

Tony Reid, writing for The Advertiser last Friday reports that South Australia's three racing codes will benefit from a package of financial and administrative reforms offered by the State Government.

He writes: From July 1, the government will abolish on-course totalisator turnover tax and interest rate subsidies payable to racing clubs in SA. The financial benefits that will flow from this will equate to $600,000; a net financial benefit to the racing industry of approximately $336,000 per year.

In return for the benefits Clubs will:

- lose an obligation from the Government to guarantee loans to clubs.
- provision for the bookmaker betting-price information service will also cease and with the co-operation of the SA Bookmakers' League will be administered by each code, at its cost.

"The great uncertainty of thoroughbred breeding is again emphasised with the aptly named Bipolar, the likely favourite in today's Miller & Associates Handicap at Randwick" Max Presnell, The Sydney Morning Herald, 25 June 2005

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

RESULT: Bipolar third (by just 0.7 of a length - official margins a neck x a long neck). Blindside won, and amusingly perhaps (if we continue with the Presnell 'duality' pun) 'So So' ran second.

One of the better racing journalists in Australia would have to be John Hutchinson who writes for Stallions Daily Bulletin. John's columns are always considered, don't just recycle what everyone else is writing about; his prose is elegant, his wit is always measured, research and grammar perfect, and analysis excellent. In short - there's not a lot he pens that isn't worth the read.

An article published last week titled THE CLASSIC CROP is a perfect example of John's style.

The story provides hope to all those people who race horses that didn't cost $1m + a piece. Whilst he certainly acknowledges the blue bloods that have graced the winner's circle in 2005, John also looks at 11 other colts, geldings and fillies which took out the various Derbies and Oaks throughout Australia this season. The cheapest of them cost just $1,100. What they have in common - apart from speed and impressive prizemoney stats - is that they all waved a flag for a concept that Australian's hold particularly dear - egalitarianism.

The full article is at the following URL.

An interesting report published by MarketingVOX yesterday claims that more than half of internet users - 56% - do not know the difference between natural search engine results and paid search listings. The story relies on data published by Harris Interactive (who surveyed more than 2,000 internet users using search engine marketing agency iCrossing).

The following results will be manna from heaven for those companies who include sponsored search as part of their web marketing campaign:

"Google users tend to know the difference between natural and paid listings (54%), followed by Yahoo users (42%) and MSN searchers (36%)."

The study comes on the heels of one by Consumers Reports, critical of search engines for not more clearly disclosing the difference.

The results do however have significant implications for people using paid search through Yahoo! (Overture) and Google advertising. If you were to rely on the results of the Harris survey then you would HAVE to consider additional investment in paid search with Overture/Yahoo! Search (even though Google is still the search engine of choice).

The MarketingVOX article went on to say:

"Though Google is the most widely used search engine at 77 percent of users, most people are not loyal to just one engine. Thirteen percent of Google searchers say they use only Google while 11 percent of AOL members use only AOL for search and 10 percent of MSN users search only MSN.

"Younger internet users were more likely to know which listings were ads. While 47 percent of 18-34-year-olds said they knew the difference, 62 percent of those 55 and over could not tell. Experience was not a determinant: 53 percent of internet users online for more than five years could not distinguish advertising content".

Paid search is a HUGE market and these results further emphasise that it's an area worth your attention if you are serious about driving traffic to your website.

Spotted at Jaspas then Stormy Weather last night (the latter an apt choice given the horrendous weather HK has been struggling with this week) were the full contingent of HK trainers (minus Tony Cruz) and jockeys who were celebrating the end of the 2004/5 racing season.

I have utterly no doubt that there were a few hangovers being nursed at Shatin this morning!

Director of leading advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi - Sharon Skeggs - has been elected to the Australian Jockey Club committee. According to an AAP report, Skeggs is just the second woman after Julia Ritchie to secure a place on the committee. The still-serving Ritchie broke new ground when she was elected five years ago.

Skeggs has been the recipient of a number of strategic marketing awards [both in Australia and London] and her appointment can only mean good things for the AJC's marketing division (which is responsible for - amongst other things - the promotion of the Easter carnival at Randwick).

Max Presnell also wrote in a column titled "All great visions come at a price" on May 30 this year that "Skeggs has an ambition that the [other candidates] find difficult to match. She hankers to be a clerk of the course and ride out with Mick Stanley on race day".

I glanced through the Coolmore newsletter today, absorbed the usual Spin, ducked around the multitudes of adjectives and arrived at the final list of stallions for 2005. Something wasn't right.

I read it again. Sure enough - there it was, half way down the second column (after a column and a half had been spent, ironically perhaps, waxing lyrical about the achievements of the stallion in question's offspring). It was, oddly, an almost throwaway line. But it would be one that would undoubtedly bring a chill to many who would have been watching the European results and thanking their lucky stars that they had a mare booked into the stallion for 2005.

Giant's Causeway isn't shuttling to Australia this season. You'll have to settle for one of his G1 winning sons.

Hang on - WHAT??

"Every cloud, so the saying goes, has a silver lining. And although Giant's Causeway himself will not now be returning to Jerrys Plains for this coming breeding season, the good news is that son Footstepsinthesand will."

There are 2 schools of thoughts circulating in the media about the sudden change on plans for the stallion who is taking all before him on the European scene: the first is that the stallion's services in the US (at 3 times his Australian fee) have been in such demand that the Stud wish to rest him. The other theory relates to a rather crippling insurance sum of $200m which makes shuttling the horse a non-starter (the question then being whether we are likely to ever see him in the Southern Hemisphere again?)

Coolmore is already resting Montjeu (who was due to shuttle to NZ) this season; to add Giant's Causeways name to that list is a real blow for the Australian breeding industry.

Baltimore marketing firm Warschawski has been selected to launch a new national thoroughbred turf racing series in the US.

"The Grand Slam of Grass" is a series of four turf racing events for three-year-old thoroughbreds that will take place over the next five months. The races will include the inaugural Colonial Turf Cup, The Grade II Virginia Derby, Grade I Secretariat Stakes and Grade I John Deere Breeders' Turf Cup.

Warschawski's media campaign will focus on making the event the richest Grand Slam in sports, with a combined US$5 million purse.

Terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Source: Baltimore Business Journal

A valuable reminder about marketing to ethnic groups, as reported in today's MarketingVOX.

"A new study of media use by members of various U.S. ethnic groups found that 45 percent of African American, Hispanic, Asian American, Native American and Arab American adults said they prefer ethnic television, radio and newspapers over mainstream media, eMarketer writes. Online usage showed similar preferences, with Arab Americans and Asian Americans more likely to visit ethnic sites."

Source: MarketingVOX

A few high profile future stallion purchases in the past week:

In Europe, Coolmore Stud & Michael Tabor have purchased 3YO colt & recent French Gr1 Prix du Jockey-Club runner-up Hurricane Run (Montjeu-Hold On, by Surumu). Vendor - German owner-breeder Dietrich von Boetticher's Gestut Ammerland.

In Australia, Widden Stud confirmed that they have purchased 40% of this year's Gr1 Golden Slipper-winner - 2YO Stratum (Redoute's Choice-Bourgeois, by Luskin Star). Vendors - Paul Perry & Terry Wallace.

Also in Australia Arrowfield confirmed that the stud has purchased a 25% share in another Redoute's Choice 2yo colt - Snitzel (ex Snippets' Lass). Co-owners Mr and Mrs Damien Flower.

You can always count on the Khaleej Times for the inside gossip on what the Dubai Racing Club Staff are up to in the off season.

This Sunday it would appear that they're braving the desert heat and are heading off to The Desert Course, Arabian Ranches for the Dubai horse racing community golf tournament.

Deano Hopewell, a familiar “voice” in Dubai will team up with Director of Racing Fin Powrie (playing off 36). Meanwhile, the man behind the organisation of the Dubai Racing Carnival - manager Martin Talty - and Gerard Bush, are listed as "hot favourites" for the tournament. Both are expected to lead - like the bluebloods they attract to Dubai every race season - from start to finish.

I'm sure the horse wouldn't quite have understand all the fuss (probably just wanted some hay and a good lie down) but nevertheless I did like the 20/6 press invitation from the Hong Kong Jockey Club:

Victorious Return of Cape Of Good Hope

Hong Kong sprinter Cape Of Good Hope will return to Hong Kong on 21 June 2005 morning after his victory in the Group One Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot on 18 June 2005. Members of the press are cordially invited to cover a welcome reception for Cape Of Good Hope. Details are as follows:

Date: Tuesday, 21 June 2005

Time:

9:15am Members of the press gather at car park next to 1000M start

9:30am Welcome reception for Cape Of Good Hope starts

Venue: Quarantine Stable Block B, Sha Tin Racecourse

Horse owner representative and Executive Director, Racing Mr. Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges will attend the welcome reception.

Cape of Good Hope is no slouch. From 37 starts the 7 year old son of Inchinor has won 7 times including the G1 Golden Jubilee Stakes (Royal Ascot at York) and the G1 Australia Stakes (Australia). He has also been group placed in all number of countries: 2nd in the G1 Hong Kong Sprint (HK), G2 King Stand (UK), G1 Chairman's Sprint (HK) [twice], G1 Centenary Cup (HK), G3 International Sprint Trial (HK) and 3rd in the G1 Chairman's Sprint (HK), G1 Lightning Stakes (Australia), G1 Sprinters Stakes (Japan), G1 Golden Jubilee (UK), G1 Bauhinia Trophy (HK), G1 Hong Kong Sprint, G3 Challenge Cup.

Alas Cape of Good Hope has had to contend with some strong local competition for much of his career, forced to settle for a view of Silent Witness' tail on all number of occasions. He (and the HKJC) also attracted some controversial press comment when reportedly "recalled" to HK from Australia earlier this year to match SW in case a lack of competition affected crowd numbers.

Meanwhile skies went from gloomy to dark at 10am local time today and remained that way for all number of hours courtesy of a series of severe thunderstorms that saw both the amber rainstorm warning signal and thunderstorm warning issued. There would be many a property in Australia who could have benefited from the 70 millimetre deluge that washed over various parts of the territory however. The source of such tempestuous conditions? An active southwest monsoon affecting the South China coastal areas.

It's been a weather-affected close to the race season as well - one meeting washed out and rescheduled to the 29th (members of the public will be given free admission to the public stand at Happy Valley Racecourse that evening; tourists and guests of Jockey Club members also to be admitted free to the Members enclosure) and punter angst courtesy of a definite track bias at Shatin last weekend.

But not all is doom and gloom - Tony Cruz made history last weekend (albeit the HKJC didn't issue a press release about it ...), passing former Australian trainer George Moore's 25-year-old record for most wins in a season (87 in the 1980 season). Cruz claimed the new title when MR GENKI won over 1400m at Sha Tin. A comparison between Cruz and Moore is quite interesting - Cruz having now won 10 premierships in HK: 2 as leading trainer (2 others as an apprentice and 6 as a jockey) whilst Moore won the HK premiership 11 times.

And at the Intercontinental hotel in Kowloon today, preparations are underway for David Hayes' farewell dinner. The HKJC are renowned for their client service - and what better way to demonstrate goodness and kindliness to those trainers and jockeys who have to get out of bed at 3am every day than to arrange for a 6pm kick-off to dinner to ensure everyone can be safely tucked away in their beds by 10pm. (... Now we're just trying to figure out how the owners will get to the party on time given that HK work commitments usually dictate that events that start much before 9 ('ish) involve a fair amount of diary rescheduling and anxious moments cross-checking the "to do" list).

Finally, if you were wondering what were the names of the colts/entires in HK (given that they remain somewhat rare compared to their gelded counterparts) - here's the list (current to 17/6): SIROCCO, MR BEAUTIFUL, AMBITIOUS TYCOON, CHERISHED, FLORAL DYNAMITE, CZAR OF PRUSSIA, GOOD HEART, DANSERT MAESTRO, SUPER KID, PEACH BLOSSOM, INDUSTRIAL SUCCESS, KA KA WIN, A PLUS FIT, GRASS HOPPER, RED POWER, LUCKY CORDELIA, HIGHLILLI, DEVIL MOON, BODACIOUS, KING OF TURBOT, SAINT THOMAS, LIFELINE RAPIDE, WHATABOB, GIANFANTI, WIND WINNER, CELESTIAL STEEL, DON FELIPE, CLASSIC NAVIGATOR, LUCKY GOOD DAY, DREAMS COME TRUE, DANEMAN HILL, THE KING, GREEN WARRIOR, SYLLABUS, TOURELLE LAD, TIME SUPREME, AMPLE GAINS, VICTORY TREASURE, GREAT LEADER, TIGER STORM, BRIGHT AND GAY, FRIENDSHIP, FOKINE, EL PRADO STAR, AWESOME EAGLE, CALIFORNIA HEART, ROYAL FALCON, CAPABILITY, EVERGREEN, ART TRADER, RICE FIELD, EXPEDITIOUS, DAY OR NIGHT, EVER KING, INDUSTRIAL GLORY, ZONUS, CAPITALAND, MILLION SUCCESS, EXCELLENT DAY, CALIFORNIASUNSHINE, SEVENS HEAVEN, SOPRANO, SILVER WRAITH, SABRE AND GOLD, CHATEAU KING PRAWN, STABLE MAIL, AQUA-TREASURE, SPY KING, RUM SHOT, SANZIRO, SUPER MAN, LUCKY UNICORN, ROCKET WIN, QUALITY-QUALITY, SUDDEN SPLENDOR, WINNING REWARD, MEGA EXPRESSO, PROPELLOR, SUGAR AND SON, ELEGANT KING PRAWN, TOP STITCH, BLISS STAR, WINNING SUCCESS, and BULLISH STAR.

Last week you could have been excused for thinking that:

- the Gold Coast had turned into Keeneland,
- potential buyers were closet weight lifters (courtesy of the phone book sized catalogues they were lugging around.... hint to Magic Millions - PLEASE follow Keeneland's lead and publish MORE THAN ONE book in future); and
- the "something for everyone" mantra (at least in thoroughbred terms) was actually true.

The Magic Millions National Sale boasted the fact that it was "the largest ever Australian thoroughbred sale" and after 8 days of trading (yearlings, weanlings, broodmares, stallions, nominations and shares), AUD $52.4 million changed hands, the last Danehill yearling (well...) was sold, multiple G1 winner Regimental Gal secured $800,000, 124 mares sold for $100,000 or more, Darley received my ethics gold medal for not hyping a first season sire (not a single one of the 7 Noverre weanlings making more than their sires 2003 service fee of $27,500 ...sadly, apart from the ethics, there was minimal good news for the 7 vendors); meanwhile Rock of Gibraltar's average of $288,000 from 6 sold (top price $660,000) and Choisir's $86,600 (from 5 sold; top price $130,000) demonstrated that, all things being equal, the 2006 yearling sales rings should have a fair amount of money/hype/egos playing tag as well.

Spotted in today's Gulf News:

"Hong Kong claimed a famous win at the [Royal Ascot at York] meeting when Cape of Good Hope won the Golden Jubilee Stakes (Gr 1) on Saturday.

Owned and trained in Hong Kong, a great maritime city of crowed backstreets and mysterious smoked fish, Cape of Good Hope scored a victory of the internationalisation of horse racing.

A horse that has collected more air miles than Christopher Columbus Cape of Good Hope provided Hong Kong with their first victory on a British racecourse".

The Columbus analogy adopted by staff reporter Leslie Wilson Jr is certainly impressive ... albeit perhaps not exactly correct! (Given I live in HK I am also intrigued by the reference to the 'crowed' back streets and the 'mysterious smoked fish'!!)

There was an interesting article in The Age last week that discussed the yawning chasm between the Melbourne Cup (which continues to go from strength to strength courtesy of the ever expanding girth of its prize pool, and some exceptional international marketing on behalf of the VRC) whilst at the other end of the spectrum the other so-called "big 3200-metre races" are struggling for relevance.

The writer states: "The cups in Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide are no longer the premier events of their respective carnivals and are falling so far behind the Melbourne Cup in terms of prizemoney and significance that there is little resemblance to that race, other than that they also are run over 3200 metres. Just slower and with relatively few people watching. Or betting."

"It seems the sport of distance thoroughbred racing has lost its appeal for most breeders, owners, punters and, seemingly, officials for all but one day of the year. So what is to become of the Melbourne Cup?"

The logical answer will, of course, be music to the international promoters of "the race that stops a nation" but of less comfort to those who get cold feet at the thought of an increasing number of international raiders descending on Melbourne with the sole purpose of carting off the Cup.

The author does has a point however - we are straying more and more to a quick return on the hefty investments made in the yearling ring, the ever enticing dollars of the rich 2yo sprints ensuring that the "good old days" where horses were left in their paddocks until they were 3yo's is, sadly, rapidly becoming a thing of the past.

And if you needed any further convincing - the home of the stayer - New Zealand - announced last week that one of its studs (Ashwell Farm) will stand the 2yo G3 Canberra Black Opal Stakes-winner & stakes-placed 3YO Handsome Ransom. Ashwell proprietor Ray Knight stated: "This is the 1st time we have been able to secure a top-class Australian speed-oriented 2YO of the highest quality to join our stallion line-up. In the past we have stood middle-distance stallion types which have been suitable for NZ's traditional classic horse market. But the sales market has changed markedly & it is now vital to offer buyers horses which will show early maturity & Handsome Ransom demonstrated blistering speed as a 2YO."

Interesting times are these.

I can't help but feel a bit sorry for the globetrotting Elvstroem. It was announced yesterday that after a whirlwind world tour the son of Danehill is set for yet ANOTHER stamp in his passport - a Paris finale his last ditch attempt to enhance any possible "shuttling" prospects.

Elvstroem may have won the G1 Dubai Duty Free (UAE) in March, run second in the G1 Prix D'Lspahan at Longchamp (France) in May and then run third in the G1 Prince of Wales' Stakes (2100m) at York (UK) last week, but it would appear that that hasn't been enough to secure instant stud approval amongst the fussy European set.

... Well, whatever they say, I'd challenge anyone (European - fussy - or both) to argue that this horse hasn't got an incredible constitution (he's also no doubt made some anonymous travel agent deliriously happy).


Elvstroem in Hong Kong May 2005. Photo (c) Athlone & Associates Ltd.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

UPDATE 26/06/2005: Elvstroem ended his racetrack career running fourth to Alkaased in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud over 2400 metres in France.

No idea what your marketing budget should be? Because marketing needs and costs vary widely, there are no simple rules for determining what you marketing budget should be. A popular method with small business owners is to allocate a small percentage of gross sales for the most recent year. This usually amounts to about 2% for an existing business. However, if you are planning on launching a new product/service or business, you may want to increase your marketing budget figure, to as much as 10 percent of your expected gross sales.

The Japan Racing Association ("JRA") is set to open 111 of the 221 races that carry Group or Listed status by 2007 to foreign horses.

That's a bit of a jump from the JRA's current ceiling of 22 races.

58 races will be offered this year and 85 next year.

The surprise shift in focus apparently relates to Japan's desire to increase support of racing at the local level plus seek promotion of the races from Part II to Part I of the Blue Book (published by the International Cataloguing Standards Committee) which is used by sales' companies to record black-type races.

The new policy is expected to also result in an increased number of Japanese horses racing overseas given that the criteria for inclusion in Part I of The Blue Book is that "a country should prove the quality of its best horses by racing them outside their own country".

The Bloodhorse reports that Albert-Culver Co., which first sponsored a Breeders' Cup race in 1989, has signed on as title sponsor of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) and the Juvenile Fillies Division, effective 2005. The Breeders' Cup, for the first time, now has title sponsors for all eight World Thoroughbred Championships races.

Founder of Victoria's Blue Gum Farm - former Australian professional golfer and prominent thoroughbred breeder Graham Campbell - died this week.

Blue Gum farm (now run by Graham's son Phillip) was founded in 1980 (140 acres) and now spreads across 800 acres in Euora.

Graham was responsible for a number of "firsts" in thoroughbred promotion: he sold Victoria’s first six-figure Australian yearling [a son of Planet Kingdom] in 1981. He also introduced videos of yearlings, brochures, stall cards, and brass nameplates for halters.

With this weblog fast approaching its first anniversary we have a new problem - it's become far bigger than we ever imagined (case in point: to the end of May 2005 we had published 132,729 words ... which makes for quite a few posts!)

To allow easier searching and archiving by category we have looked seriously at switching the blog to a new software platform (still integrated with the Athlone site). Alas we have been told that this will cause too many issues with the transfer of current archives (plus various other nuances of IT that I won't bore you with).

So whilst we wait (and wait ...) for Google to upgrade their blogging platform we have purchased an interim solution - a 'search add-on'. The search box is positioned in the left hand side column approximately half way down the page. Just type the word you are looking for in the search box and click 'find'. All posts within the blog that include the keyword you are looking for (eg. Danehill, PR, branding, advertising etc etc etc) will then be listed for you.

We hope this helps! Any problems please just let us know.

One can almost imagine the expression on Matt Stewart's face as he typed his article Outsmarting the world that appeared in yesterday's Melbourne Herald Sun.

The tone of the story would suggest Matt had just survived a somewhat difficult dinner party/pub/workplace discussion where someone had dared to suggest that Australian horses (and their owners, trainers and jockeys) weren't QUITE up with the rest of the world "... not saying they're bad or anything though mate".

Australian horses (and those that work with them) certainly have the stats on the board this year and Matt isn't short of research material. If you have ever waved the Australian flag at the cricket, enjoyed vegemite on your toast, followed Aussie-Rules and/or know more than the first 12 words of the National Anthem - then this one's definitely for you:

"Long gone are the days where our racing and breeding industries were colonial outposts that occasionally fluked a genetic freak capable of mixing it with the world's best...

"There will come a time when the penny drops overseas that Australian horses are as good as theirs, that our riders think more than theirs and that our trainers don't need top hats and tails to make an impression. "

The full article is at the following URL

(and a postscript from one of our readers - Matt apparently got it wrong - Smarty Jones won the Preakness by 11 lengths)

We've been reading the stories and been caught up in the hype for months now:

"The last nine on earth. The book will close that day on the progeny of the super champion Danehill" (errr - that was in January ... )

"The biggest crop of final Danehills"

"The last Southern-Hemisphere born Danehills "

"The final Karaka Danehills"

"Final Danehills at Easter"

... it was all getting a bit exhausting working out which sale was actually going to be the one that DID sell the final Danehill yearling (and indeed, how "final" was actually defined - a few commentators did seem to be getting a bit liberal in their interpretations).

Despite all this it would now appear that the Southern Hemisphere has (and I say that with an ounce of hesitancy as you just never know in this business....) seen the very last Danehill yearling go through the ring.

The second day of the Magic Millions National Yearling Sale at the Gold Coast (June 10) was the day.

Four Danehill’s were offered at the sale. Lot 352 was the one that made history for being the "last ever": the Danehill colt from the South African-bred Group winner Geordoba was purchased by Melbourne trainer John Moloney (on behalf of John Shannon) for $450,000

Michael Ford (Keeper of The Australian Stud Book) has announced the release of Volume 41 of the Stud Book.

In addition to the traditional breeding records format (46,000 broodmares for the breeding seasons 1999-2004) Volume 41 also contains:

- Colour photographs of 32 winners of 7 selected major Australian races since 1999
- Lists of every winner of the selected major races
- Pedigrees of prolific winners of stakes races since 1990
- Pedigrees of the most prolific dams & sires of stakes race winners
- Bruce Lowe family numbers for each of the 20,000 new broodmares
- Short history of the Australian Stud Book

Volume 41 is priced at AUD$330 per copy. If you would like to purchase a copy please ring the ASB on +61 2 9663 8411 for more information.

History was made this week when the five-day Royal Ascot meeting "with all its thrills and finery" moved 350 km from Ascot, south-west of London to the northern city of York.

"Major redevelopment work at Ascot has closed the track until next year which means a large-scale exodus for the glitterati who regularly adorn the royal meeting.

Extra trains have been laid on and special plans are in place to deal with the huge volume of traffic arriving at York’s Knavesmire course.

Romans staged a form of organised racing in the York area and the Knavesmire has held races since at least 1730, albeit 19 years after Royal Ascot was founded by Queen Anne".

Source: Dave Thompson (Reuters) reported in the Khaleej Times Online (Dubai, UAE)

Your trainer sends you a "confirmed starter" email.

This is generally considered GREAT news - you've been financing the horse in question for all number of years and it's helpful to see it out there trying to earn its keep.

The problem arises however when the horse is racing on the same day you are working in a remote part of the world that not only has limited Internet access BUT (just to make life more challenging) also bans access to race sites AND your phone doesn't roam in the country in question. The upshot of all this is that you usually don't get the result of the race until about 9 hours after the winning photo has been developed - with no guarantee that the carrier pigeon will in fact arrive on time (or with the right message)!

Globalisation, politics, long haul flights, technology and remote assignments! They are oft times a lethal combination when there is also a thoroughbred involved!

If flight schedules are kind I should be back on deck on Saturday. I meanwhile remain ever hopeful (as you must in this Industry) that the horse stepping up to the mark in Victoria on Friday will run even faster given there is one less person watching.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Postscript. She didn't ... (run faster that is)!

FastNet Rock may be heading home to the lush pastures of Coolmore courtesy of the lingering effects of a bout of travel sickness but another of the Aussies currently accruing frequent flyer points - Starcraft - certainly didn't disgrace himself, his new trainer, or the country he represents when he ran third in the Gr1 Queen Anne Stakes on the opening day of this year's Royal Ascot carnival at York yesterday.

Starcraft (Soviet Star-Flying Floozie, by Pompeii Court) was having his first start for new trainer Luca Cumani.

Prior to travelingg to the UK, the 4yo entire had had 17 starts in Australia for 9 wins (including G1 victories in The Mudgway Stakes, AJC Derby and the Chipping Norton Stakes) and had won almost $2.5 million in prize money.

If you were wondering what marketing blogs rate as "the best" in the world - 170,000+ readers have voted in the Marketing Sherpa 10 Best Blogs for 2005 Awards.

Winners are as follows (and if you are involved in marketing/PR it is well worth bookmarking all of them or adding the URL's to your RSS news feeds as most of these writers not only offer a very individual voice but they churn out a huge amount of quality - and free- content):

Best individual's blog on the general topic of marketing and advertising

Awarded to: Seth Godin's Blog

Honorable Mention: Adrants

Best group weblog on the general topic of marketing and advertising

Winner: MarketingVOX

Honorable Mention (Tie):
Marketing Genius
Church of the Customer

Best PR-topic blog

Winner: Media Guerrilla

Honorable Mention: Strategic Public Relations

Best B-to-B marketing-topic blog

Winner: Guerrilla Consulting

Honorable Mention: B-to-B Lead Generation Blog

Best blog on small business marketing

Winner: Duct Tape Marketing

Honorable Mention: Small Business Trends

Best blog on online marketing

Winner: Chris Baggott's Best Practices in Email

Honorable Mention: Charlotte Li's Blog

Blogs on Search Marketing

Winner: Search Engine Roundtable

Honorable Mention: Brad Fallon

Best Blog on Niche Marketing

Winners (tie):
Ypulse - Media for the Next Generation

WonderBranding - Marketing to Women

Honorable Mention:
Lipsticking- Smart marketing to women online

Best non-English-Language Blog

Winner: MarketingFacts (completely in Dutch)

Honorable mention: Media Culpa (in Swedish with some English)

Top readers' choice write-in vote

Winner: Easy Bake Weblogs

Honorable Mention: Collateral Damage (CMO Magazine)

He's back - Platinum Scissors trying the breeding game for the second time (being successful at the racing game the second time around after a low sperm count cut his days short on the lush grass of Arrowfield). The 5yo G1 winner (who also finished runner-up in the Gr1 Doomben Cup last month) will stand this season at Victoria's Rangal Park Stud.

It helps being the full brother to the $220K star at Arrowfield one suspects ... and for $11,000 one hopes your mare is ready to be serviced on day one of the breeding season, and patience and vet bills are part and parcel of your life plan!

May the force be with you ...

Whilst it would be fair to say that there wasn't much 'spin' applicable to the results from the NSW and NZ weanling sales this year, the Magic Millions National Weanling Sale certainly appears to have attracted not only some decent weanlings ... but a fair few buyers with deep pockets as well.

The sale concluded today - 397 youngsters sold for over $10 million at an average of $25,369. The clearance rate was a very strong 92 per cent.

The sale broke the Australian record price for a weanling when a Rock Of Gibraltar (ex Skating) colt (a half brother to Magic Millions 2YO Classic winner Bradbury's Luck) was knocked down to Tim Stakemire (the Australian agent for Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum) for $660,000.

SALE STATISTICS:

(2004 statistics in brackets)

Total Lots Sold: 397 (194)
Total Sale Aggregate: $10,071,400 ($4,569,800)
Average Price: $25,369 ($23,556)
Top Price: $660,000 ($140,000)
Lots Withdrawn: 64 (40)
Lots Passed: 36 (23)
Lots Catalogued: 497 (257)
Sold %: 92 (89)

OVERALL TOP PRICES

$660,000 - Rock of Gibraltar-Skating brown or grey colt - Tim Stakemire
$250,000 - Rock of Gibraltar-Emulate bay colt - Anton Koolman Bloodstock
$235,000 - Redoute's Choice-Russian Flair bay filly - Magic Millions as agent
$210,000 - Rock of Gibraltar-Incommunicado bay filly - Magic Millions as agent
$180,000 - Redoute's Choice-Bridie Jo bay filly - Ron Crogan
$170,000 - Rock of Gibraltar-Casuarina Beach bay colt - Magic Millions as agent
$165,000 - Rubiton-Sparkling Bounty bay or brown filly - Accomac Holdings P/L
$150,000 - Tale of the Cat-Nanny Maroon brown colt - Accomac Holdings P/L
$150,000 - Rock of Gibraltar-Joker's Girl chestnut filly - Magic Millions as agent
$140,000 - More Than Ready-Forest Bronze chestnut filly - Accomac Holdings P/L
$130,000 - Giant's Causeway-Mattiocco bay colt - Magic Millions as agent
$130,000 - Choisir-Hayden Clan chestnut colt - Starcrest Thoroughbreds
$125,000 - Choisir-Bonelli chestnut colt - Accomac Holdings P/L
$125,000 - Johannesburg-Prickly Problem brown colt - KP Thoroughbreds
$125,000 - Danehill Dancer-Twilight Hour brown colt - Magic Millions as agent
$120,000 - Tale of the Cat-All Things to Come chestnut colt - E Thoroughbred
$115,000 - Fusaichi Pegasus-Deadly Nightshade bay or brown colt - Magic Millions as agent
$100,000 - More Than Ready-Lupenta bay colt - Accomac Holdings P/L
$100,000 - Choisir-Deanna's Smile bay filly - Magic Millions as agent

The American Horse Publications named the THOROUGHBRED TIMES
("the Times") the Best Overall Publication in a Seattle awards ceremony last weekend.

The Times was praised for:

- bright heads
- superior photography that is accompanied by solid, informative captions
- good subheads or entry points
- exhaustive, thorough coverage, and fine, lively writing.

All of this is produced in very tight time constraints.

For the fifth consecutive year and the 15th time since 1985, the Times also received the General Excellence Award as best tabloid/newspaper.

The Queen's Birthday Honours list for 2005 was announced today and there were a few names with the requisite thoroughbred connection in there:

ORDER OF AUSTRALIA

William Herbert RUTLEDGE, Gosford NSW. Service to the thoroughbred racing industry.

Medal (OAM) in the General Division : For service to the community

Peter Anthony NEALL, Rosewater SA. Horseracing, sporting and charitable organisations.

John Vincent O'NEIL, Grange SA. Service to media as racing commentator and journalist.

Margot Elizabeth SMART, Launceston Tas. Local govt; thoroughbred horseracing industry.

Coolmore know a lot about the benefit of tax-free income. An article in today's UK Sunday Times - Business puts some concrete numbers to the talk.

It's a windfall by anyone's imagination.

"COOLMORE, the Tipperary-based stud farm owned by John Magnier, is set to earn more than €30m in tax-free income this year from Giant’s Causeway. The stallion’s nomination fees were increased from €60,000 to €160,000 for the 2005 season. Sources close to the international breeding group claim that Giant’s Causeway will have covered about 200 mares by the time the five-month breeding season ends on July 15. This would bring in €32m in fees, with all the money exempt from tax under controversial laws that are being reviewed by European Union officials in Brussels.

"The good news for Magnier doesn’t end there. Fees for Montjeu, another Coolmore stallion, are likely to be increased substantially for the 2006 season following Motivator’s easy victory in the Vodafone Derby at Epsom last weekend. Both Motivator and second-placed Walk in the Park are sons of Montjeu."

Click here for the full article

Source: F Fitzgibbon and D Walsh "Coolmore stallion to earn Magnier €30m tax free" The Sunday Times Business Online.

On June 11, 1919 SIR BARTON won the Belmont Stakes, becoming horse racing’s first Triple Crown winner.

What were the names of the first 3yo virtually identical twin thoroughbred fillies to compete against each other in North America? At what track did they run?

Speaking of twins, what is the percentage survival rate for thoroughbred twins and of that percent what percentage then go on to race?

Canadian Sportsman contributor Doug Abraham (2004 winner of the Dr. Clara Christie-Might Award), writing for the The Calgary Herald wrote a lovely story last week titled "Twins' legacy continues to live on" (the web link is unfortunately not working for this story).

The 2 fillies he focuses on - Moshi and Mindiera (the latter who, remarkably, won as a 3yo) - are currently boarded at Gemstone Farm in Kentucky and whilst still being the smallest broodmares on the property, remarkably, have produced a swag of winners between them - Moshi leading her sister by producing four winners from four starters.

Now, who said size was everything?!

(And for those that are interested: the virtually identical pair of thoroughbred fillies -Moshi (who weighed between 50-60 pounds when born) and Mindiera - made international news on April 5, 1995 by becoming the first twins to ever race against each other in a North American pari-mutuel race. Their 15 minutes actually shrank to about 43 seconds, the time it took for these two runners to finish up the track in a four-furlong dash at Stampede Park. Only about two per cent of thoroughbred twins even survive birth and only five per cent of those go on to race. The twins' debut race was highly-publicized, Stampede Park offered free admission to watch the tiny identical twins take on the rest of the field.)

Jonathan Kranz has written a useful article titled "Five Ways to Improve Your Web Copy Immediately".

He analyses the differences between writing copy for print vs the web and his tips don't require technical/IT expertise or vast quantities of cash to implement (always handy!).

He narrows it to 5 areas:

1. Write informative, keyword-rich hyperlinks
2. Use headlines and subheads
3. Include alternate spellings
4. Become ruthlessly specific
5. Learn from your Web stats

The full article is at the following URL

It was inevitable that technology would collide in a positive way with the Sport of Kings. Hong Kong already makes good use of mobile phone technology - 2G mobile phone users able to bet on horse racing via SMS technology. On the 3G front, 3 Hong Kong offers a HK$28 (AUD$4.70) monthly plan that allows customers to use their video mobile phone to gain access to i-CABLE's “iHorse” Portal which provides updated racing information, including the odds (Win, Place, Quinella and Quinella Place), results and dividends of all races, as well as the details of racing tracks, courses and distances. Tips and recommended combinations from a panel of commentators is also provided. Post-race there is a library of free content via streaming video including a clip of every race.

In Australia TVN offers a mobile service and Breeding & Racing's Daily News reported today that the UK have followed HK's lead and now offer 3G services as well:

"British TV channel At The Races & bookmaking firm William Hill have launched "the UK's first live, daily, interactive 3G sports service on 3 (UK's leading video mobile network)," reported racenews.co.uk. At The Races 3G "will make available all of At The Races' previews, news, analysis & UK & Irish horseracing content as a live broadcast to over 3 million subscribers on the 3 video mobile network". With over 6 million 3G handsets now in use in the UK, "the mobile video market is tipped to explode as interactive content becomes more readily available to users via video short codes". At The Races chief executive Matthew Imi said: "We are delighted to be the 1st UK broadcaster to launch a service of this kind & particularly pleased it is British & Irish horseracing leading the field. 3G technology is perfectly suited to coupling horseracing content with a betting application. . . . . . Transmission by means of the 3G video stream is no more than a second behind the TV broadcast." And through an agreement with William Hill (the world's largest telephone bookmaker) "At The Races 3G allows users to place bets while they watch live racing on their phone"."

John Doerr has written a great article titled Staying Top of Mind (Without Being a Pain in the Neck).

If you have ever battled with the eternal dilemma of "Just how OFTEN should I call my customers" then I suspect you'll enjoy this offering from the MarketingProfs site.

Doerr's article destroys the myth that a past client (even one that genuinely likes what you offer) will automatically call you when they need something eg. they want a mare served or a horse pre-trained; and uncovers the worrying reality that people will generally use whatever is most convenient - no matter how good your service was last time.

The result? The once-a-year(or less) approach to "staying in touch" is a non-starter if you want to get regular work off a client.

So how often can you/should you contact people?

The article provides five easy to implement guidelines "for keeping top of mind".

The full article appears at the following URL.

No charges have been laid but there are a few people - including some Independent Commission Against Corruption ("ICAC") reps - interested in the AUD$20,000 that appeared in a Mauritian bungalow last week.

The bungalow is the home of Australian jockey Jason Taylor. The Bigpond Horse Racing story didn't make it clear how the ICAC turned up at the bungalow in the first place given they are not a group prone to your everyday "Avon calling" style visits or general fireside chats. Nevertheless Taylor has been questioned, and a few more Australian jockeys have also been called in today: Brent Stanley and Danny Craven plus local riders Yashin Emamdee and Vinay Naiko.

Taylor's story is that his father-in-law (who left Mauritius just after the sixth race meeting) gave part of this money to him as gift "but he couldn’t explain where the rest of the sum came from".

It's a "no escape to Queensland" ticket for Taylor as the ICAC have lodged an 'objection to departure' order.

The inquiry continues. Hopefully Taylor's memory will improve in the interim ...

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

UPDATE 2 July 2005: Jason Taylor has been allowed to leave Mauritius after the ICAC cleared him of any race fixing allegations. Fellow Australian jockey Danny Craven will also leave Mauritius after he also was found to have no case to answer while Brent Stanley, is already back in Sydney.

It's a lovely site and one that gives every indication of it being run by a savvy professional team.

... Such a shame then about the mistake on one of the main pages that would have us all believe we're perhaps a little over dressed?!

I've rabbited on about RSS before ... may as well do so again!

RSS - otherwise known as Really Simple Syndication - allows quick and easy syndication of news, headlines etc. I often refer to it as a "pull" format of receiving news rather than a "push" format ie. I select what news I receive - and when - which means the publishers don't push data at me that I don't want and I can scan news very, very quickly as I only receive headlines and a short summary. If the item is of interest the hypertext link is also attached which gives me access to the full text. Easy! Even better you are completely safe from spam.

To give you an example: To ensure the content on this weblog is sufficiently "different" I track (literally) a few hundred websites. I simply couldn't do it without having RSS feeds delivering the majority of the news I'm looking for to my news aggregater each day. (I use Feed Demon; of note not every site I monitor is RSS-enabled so a lot has to be tracked manually - Yahoo and Google updaters are fabulous for tracking non RSS-sites, there are quite a few Industry updaters/portals and if all else fails the Reuters/Lexis-Nexis combination is foolproof - between them all I seem to find enough to write about!).


I read with interest a post in this morning's MarketingVOX that discussed a talk given by Simon Waldman of the Guardian. Waldman concluded that "we are looking at the first moves in a quite profound and permanent shift in the way that people engage with content. And that brings with it both opportunities and threats."

He adds: "Those who deal with the issues thrown up by RSS and aggregation over the next 18 months will, I believe, find themselves in a much, much healthier shape to face the next set of challenges that the internet throws our way."

"The reward", he sums up, is likely to be this: "Relevance, presence and revenues in a fickle and fragmented world."

Your website is competing with a million (and counting) competitors. You want their eyes on your site and you want your name in their minds. Make their life easier - add XML (RSS) format to your site (and if technology makes you feel cold and clammy just ask your IT person to help out) and then, if your clients (current/potential) have a news feeder, your latest information will automatically appear on it.

It's such a cheap and easy way of marketing.

As reported in MarketingVOX today, an AdWeek report shows that search advertising has been found to be more effective than ads in trade magazines and other business-to-business media. This is good news for those pushing on with their online campaigns as part of their ad spend.

The folks over at Marketing Sherpa have produced another series of cartoons aimed at the online marketers. They're also kindly allowing people to throw a link to their site (a good example of viral marketing .... I tell you, it works!). Here are links to the 2 most relevant cartoons:

Senior Management & Online Marketing

"Lost in translation".

Seven months and four million dollars later, the Queensland Racing Industry has been given the all clear. State Racing Minister Robert Schwarten is reported by ABC Online as saying that racing in Queensland isn't the viper's nest that people have claimed but a healthy and thriving industry.

This one is probably worth filing if you ever arrange quiz nights: it's 100 facts and figures (most of which you probably didn't know) about the Belmont Stakes. The New York Daily has the full story which includes the following:

Fact 9: The 2001 Breeders' Cup at Belmont was the first international sporting event held in New York after the 9-11 attacks.

Fact 35: The phrase "Triple Crown" didn't come into existence until the second horse to win the three jewels, Gallant Fox, did so in 1930.

Fact 53: Bill Belichick used the video of Tiznow's gritty win in the 2001 Breeders' Cup Classic as an inspirational film for the Patriots.

Fact 92: Secretariat's 31-length win in the 1973 Belmont is a stakes record.

Fact 100: Trainer Nick Zito finished second five times in the Belmont Stakes before winning last year with Birdstone.

Have you checked out the home page of the Sydney Morning Herald recently? Fairfax not only offers a series of blogs as well as the regular news but I have just been informed that they also now offer mobile alerts (not so helpful for me as I dont carry an Australian mobile phone except when I am visiting ... but very useful if you actually live in Australia and want the updates as they happen). Details at the following URL.

I'm unashamedly biased when it comes to Hong Kong champion SILENT WITNESS. His loss to stable mate Bullish Luck last month when taking on the mile for the first time was not just about ending a winning streak of 17 consecutive victories; it was also about the effect of the loss (which had, I guess, to come eventually) on the home crowd.

Those who have been at Shatin in person to see Silent Witness race will know what I mean when I talk about the huge number of supporters who turn out to see this horse run and the wall of noise that traditionally accompanies him across the line. When he races on the straight course the swell of sound starts at about the 300 metre mark. When he races over distances longer than 1000m the roar is deafening by the time he gets to the turn.

I was in London on business the day he lost to Bullish Luck but watching the replay afterwards the thing that struck me most was the silence. You could have heard a pin drop after the two horses crossed the line. As David Raphael was heard to remark it was probably the first time in Hong Kong racing history where the winner of a race wouldn't want to be paraded before the crowd in case it was lynched.

Despite racing over a mile again (a distance which I honestly don't think is ideal), in a different country, facing a left hand turn, having no cover, and being at the end of an extremely long preparation, Silent Witness still went within a half length of winning the G1 Yasuda Kinen in Japan today, expatriate Australian commentator Murray Johnson calling the action.

Bias aside, the son of El Moxie lost no glory in today's defeat - even though some media immediately headlined their stories "Hong Kong sensation Silent Witness narrowly suffers second defeat". Despite being in front two furlongs from home he was clearly struggling approaching the wire, and was swamped in the shadows of the post by the Japanese-trained Asakusa Den'en and the fast finishing Sweep Tosho. Bullish Luck was fourth.

Sometimes a horse shows just as much in defeat as they do in winning and seeing his gutsy effort today and those ears pinned back against his head as he lunged at the line (given he usually races with his ears pricked) did nothing to change my view: he's one hell of a horse.

The Winnipeg Free Press reports that PRIME TIME TV's debut in Canada last month "was the greatest single performance at the Portage Avenue thoroughbred race track in