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Racing News |
Cartoon Racing – It's All My Fault
16/12/09
The weatherman has 'reliably' informed us that "there's a big cold front coming" so National Hunt racing fans should brace themselves for a barren time over the next week, writes Elliot Slater.
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In the past, the big freeze could mean weeks or even months of only sporadic racing, leaving punters, and in particular the betting industry, in a bit of bother. Ascot, Kelso, Haydock, Newcastle and Carlisle have already signalled that their fixtures this weekend and into next week are in serious danger due to the anticipated drop in temperatures.
These days, however, those who feel the urge to have a bet no matter what is offered to them by the betting industry are well catered for with virtual or 'cartoon' racing proving surprisingly popular, even when there is plenty of real racing to get stuck into.
I have to confess that I find it little short of astonishing that hardened punters are prepared to wager decent money on the outcome of a computerised race. Clearly, it doesn't really matter what they're betting on, as long as they are having a bet – and that's what makes the British betting industry the success it is today.
In March 2001, just hours after the abandonment of that year's Cheltenham
Festival had been announced due to the outbreak of foot and mouth disease, I got a call from Sky TV asking if I would be interested in providing the voiceover for a 'virtual race'. After receiving an explanation as to what this entailed, I went along to Granada Studios and recorded the virtual Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase and Gold Cup. I was certain this was a one-off stunt and could never catch on with the sometimes rather cynical British racing public.
I couldn't have been more wrong. Maybe if I'd not recorded such enthusiastic and 'realistic' commentaries the experiment might have sunk without trace, but in reality it has transpired that this was a product with a definite niche market.
If you're standing in a betting office over the next few weeks, lamenting the lack of NH racing and enduring Portman Park or Steepledowns, I suppose you can blame me - if it helps!
