was ACHIEVERS day at Big T a wasted exercise ?

Morning gents, was a great day, the kids are wrecked and Mrs S is having her beauty sleep chain.

cheers

have a few photos, possibly 5 good ones from 200

Brad and Lee ,the lads are over the moon after winning a share in the horse.


Philip the Barman or "Philup our glass"


Young Achievers Lee ,Brad, emm,emm and umm


Great day had by all,and everyone still in party mood leaving the BIGT

For what it is worth - myself and the three "new to racing" people I brought with yesterday had an absolute ball and would definately be back for more.

Plus so far I've signed up for the ABC forum plus the Facebook page to get more info on upcoming racing events

As for whether or not people would bet with their own money - The four of us betted on every race from race 2 - 9 with $$ out of our own pockets (Admittedly it was minimum bet) but there was a lot of interest in sitting on the balcony and watching the horses come in.

On top of that we left scheming how we would get a share in a racehorse so from that perspective I reckon it worked.

Dunno - that's our feedback

ElvisisKing Wrote:

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> mr hawaii, you asked me am I " prepared to give
> something back to ensure the future of the sport "
> If it's not sponsorship, then what else do you
> have in mind ?

If ever another event is put on then I'm sure a gentle word in your then qualified daughter's ear would result in an apperance which would make the ladies in the room very happy - small thing but big result

mr hawaii, by all accounts it seems the achievers had a great time. The aim is now to keep them interested, & bring them back for more.
I would have been on course if young elvis's decent ride not been scratched. She was left with a ride on 100 / 1 no hoper so I gave it a miss.

I believe Shaheen S was the M.C. or something similar. Yo can't get better than him, he is a GREAT ASSET to racing.

I would have thought you would have invited young Gavin Lerena or young Dereck David to come & say a few words to the 500 or so achievers during the course of the afternoon. Likewise young Nicola should have been invited as well to show the fairer sex that young ladies are also involved in the racing game, not only as punters, & owners.

SUMMER CUP DAY is 28 NOV. Pencil this day in, have another achievers day, get another 500 youngsters on course....... just maybe this year we can get MORE THAN 10,000 people on course. We've got a long, long way to go to compare with July day or the MET.

Have another horse on offer.
P & R.A. you've got to speculate to accumulate ! Spend some of that hard earned cash you have sitting in the bank !

You've got to think OUTSIDE THE BOX to survive.

A really great way to promote the sport... however, without sounding sour, I believe it should not have been limited to students from Universities. What about those that have graduated already? You'll should have phone a few companies in different sectors or poasted an ad in the business times for top juniors in their companies whom they believed will be future leaders and chosen from there as well...What about those who cannot afford to go university but achieve great things from Entrepreneurial gains.... Maybe the next time this event is run all these things wil be considered. But a great anitiative none the less.

Russel i have responded on FR - we had a substantial amount of older people involved(predominately invited by a present RA staffer and Mr Naidoo and myself as we knew very few people under 30 and felt that waiting 10-15 years for students to reach financial freedom would achieve naught)
Elvis I personally invited Tex Lerena to bring up members hence Gav and Dereck coming up - Always remember it was a day of firsts for many of us so I'm sure the people responsible for future events will take up the challenge and expand the event - I must add that Phumelela contributed vastly to the event through many of their divisions and staff members which was pleasing - not to forget the many people (Dave Scott and his sponsored bus, Brent etc )that went out of their way to invite people. Also the youth committee invited most of the younger set and have almost been forgotten in all the drama - their input and suggestions were invaluable and I do hope the RA will give them some reward(perhaps another party just for them and another 500 friends!!)

What an absolutely fantastic day. Everything from the competitions to the explanations of various terms and racing jargon was well planned and made easy to understand for some of the new guys. Personally to put things in perspective for those who were not there the day was absolutely perfect.

I am amazed at the amount of effort that the RA put into this event. There was not a single person who I spoke to that wasn't planning their next punt or raving about who they just met or spoke to. Once Race 9 was over the guys didn't stop there they just switched their attention to the racing from the UK and the party continued. The only winner I got on the day was the RA fashion show. No.3 was golden! I was lucky enough to share a few laughs with some champion boxers, have a drink with a jockey or two and even got interviewed by the chairman of the RA.

We're already planning our next day to the track. Sign me up.

I have always believed in giving credit where it is due, and from the reports on this thread I think all involved needs to be congratulated (and to acknowkledge/recognize that improvement/expansion is still possible, is also a good sign imo) . However (and this is not to critisize, but rather a reality check) this was the easy part; ensuring that those that have shown interest stay interested is going to be the hard part.

Mr H, could you perhaps enlighten us as to whether follow-up plans have been made, and what those would entail?

Frodo I would suggest you wait until the RA release their plans for the future as the day's data and data base needs to be consolidated and refined - I'm sure Mr Naidoo et al will expand on plans in time

If I can make a humble suggestion - if you wait until November to do it again you will lose a lot of the momentum that was developed from yesterday. You will also potentially be clashing with the tail end of the university exam season.

If you want to build on what was achieved yesterday then you have to keep it fresh in peoples minds and keep it as a place for young people to go and socialise.

It doesn't have to be a case of a full buffet lunch plus a racehorse plus all the other sponsored prizes being given away each time. I suspect you could get young people there with the promise of a beer and a prego and a bit of fun on the balcony watching the races. So long as there is shade, a bit of music going and an opportunity to socialise I suspect you could get those people back there again.

Also just a thought - bottles of wine on the table worked well for the ladies but for the guys I thought drinks prices may have been a little steep. I was being charged R26.50 for a single Spice Gold and Coke. Yeah you don't want to attract the dregs with cheap booze but remember that's something that young people have to take into consideration and as somebody pointed out above - once the drinks budget has run out they tend to drift away...

Duly noted - will pass on the feedback