QuickCard to launch at York’s Sky Bet Ebor Festival Saturday
- QuickCard, a new simplified racecard for racegoers, will launch on Saturday 23rd August at York’s Sky Bet Ebor Festival
- QuickCard is tailored for newcomers to horse racing, supported by HBLB-funded research
- Collaborative innovation from racing’s stakeholders to develop QuickCard which will drive fan engagement
York, August 22:
This Saturday racegoers at York’s Sky Bet Ebor Festival will get an additional choice of racecard with a difference as the industry comes together to launch ‘QuickCard’ – developed and designed specifically for casual fans and newcomers to the sport.
QuickCard presents racing information through a simplified lens, featuring jargon free insights, expert analysis and educational snippets – to give those less familiar with the nuances of the sport an appropriate level of detail to begin to navigate the complexity of horse racing form and data the more regular fans embrace.
With racecourses working hard to attract newer racegoers through social first initiatives such as student days, music nights and family fun days, it is of obvious importance to make sure there is a focus on helping drive engagement with the sport itself.
This focus was applied by an industry-wide collaboration between Great British Racing, the Racecourse Association, Weatherbys, BritBet, The Jockey Club, The Large Independent Racecourses, Flutter and racing analytics experts Timeform.
The work included British Horseracing Levy Board funded research of more than one thousand racegoers over ten different race meetings including at York, which highlighted that observations of some newcomers to the sport that the current style of racecards may be difficult to navigate and interpret with the over-use of stats, form, data and racing terminology.
Michael Williamson, Head of Racing Analytics and Product at Timeform, said: “We were excited by how positively newcomers to racing responded to the first iteration of QuickCard that we trialled at courses like York over previous months in overcoming the barriers that they told us they had with existing form products.
“Indeed, the research highlighted those newcomers using the QuickCard were more likely to engage in the day’s racing and furthermore, more likely to return to the racecourse on another day. These are early findings, but nevertheless promising.
“It is also important to recognise that QuickCard doesn’t seek to replace existing form products, nor should it be seen as an attempt to ‘dumb down’ racing but more as a stepping stone to allow those new to the sport to grow familiarity and in time be able to engage with the exciting data innovation that is going on across the industry today.”
York Racecourse is hosting the exclusive launch this Saturday in a card which includes the Sky Bet Ebor, Britain’s richest flat handicap and the Sky Bet City of York Stakes, Britain’s newest Group 1 race. York Racecourse has been a strong supporter of the initiative from the outset and through the research phase. Both the QuickCard and the more traditional card will be available for the over 20,000 expected to attend Sky Bet Ebor day.
William Derby, Chief Executive at York, said: “We are delighted to announce the launch of the QuickCard on Sky Bet Ebor day – alongside our brand new Group One in the Sky Bet City of York Stakes.
“This project has been a tremendous partnership between racecourses, Timeform and Flutter to ensure we are properly considering the journey of new fans into racing and how we help explain and guide novice racegoers through the runners and riders on a raceday. We hope that QuickCard will help increase interest, engagement and enjoyment from the racing experience from those that are new or casual followers of the sport, whilst our traditional racecard will be still available for long term racing fans.
Paul Swain, Head of Raceday Experience & Communications at the RCA, said “The RCA is pleased to see the launch of QuickCard at York’s flagship Ebor Festival.
“The QuickCard has been created following extensive consumer research which we believe has resulted in a product that addresses a number of barriers which research has shown can be a barrier to casual or first-time racegoers. We look forward to seeing the reaction of racegoers at York and the subsequent rollout to more racecourses shortly afterwards.
“Our thanks to Timeform, Great British Racing, Flutter and Weatherbys for collaborating with us to bring the QuickCard to market and to the HBLB for funding this project.“
The cards are available to courses from Weatherbys for appropriate fixtures, who in the spirit of the industry collaboration are fulfilling at a cost price only. Research aside, no costs were incurred by British horseracing to bring this to customers with all parties providing their time, expertise and data to help the sport they share the passion for.
Racegoers will be able to find QuickCard in the upcoming race days as well as future fixtures at Cheltenham, Haydock and Chester:
York’s Sky Bet Sunday Series Family Fun Day (7th September)
Kelso’s Family Fun Day (5th October) and Edinburgh Gin Raceday (25th October)
Ascot’s QIPCO British Champions Day (18th October)