Following the success of the Gamesmakers at last year's Olympics, the QIPCO Champions Series are launching their own version - Racemakers! Here's the full spiel: Weâre seeking racing fans to share their passion and enthusiasm for the sport â in return for free tickets and other goodies. Are you prepared to give up a few hours at the races to help new or occasional racegoers learn more about the sport? If you are, you can earn free admission, not only to the meeting you attend as a volunteer, but for a future racemeeting of your choice*. Youâll also receive a free Racemaker's QIPCO British Champions Series Jacket to keep. Weâre looking for Racemakers at: Ascot, Doncaster, Epsom, Haydock, Goodwood, Newbury, Newmarket, Sandown and York. The Racemakerâs Role We are assuming that, as a volunteer, a helpful, cheery and polite nature will come as standard! If it doesnât, then volunteering probably isnât for you. Beyond that, we want you to be yourself. Racingâs audience is varied and colourful, so our Racemakers should reflect that. How you share your knowledge and how you interact with racegoers is up to you. The structure though will be based on tours or informal talks at advertised times. In terms of your general approach to racegoers, itâs worth remembering that youâre the expert and theyâre the novice, so itâs important to make the information you impart accessible and easy to understand. And give yourself time to answer general and varied questions. Itâs important to note that customers donât need to enjoy racing on your terms but on their terms â so there is no expectation that weâre converting newcomers into an army of experts! We want novice racegoers to have fun. Our aim is to teach people more about racing, with the objective of making their overall experience as enjoyable as possible. We believe that once weâve got them curious, theyâre off! A particular focus of the Racemakers is to support the Share Your Passion campaign, focussed on racing fans bringing their friends racing. The Racemakers are there to make their visit worthwhile. The Racemakersâ Roles There are three Racemaker Roles â which one suits you the best? ⢠The Paddock Guide - The paddock Guide will help racegoers get closer to the racehorse, telling them what to look out for as the horsesâ parade. The Paddock Guide will also explain some of the mysteries inside the racecard, the significance of racing silks and all that goes on in and around the paddock and winnersâ enclosure. ⢠The Betting Guide - The Betting Guide will explain how betting works on racecourse â from the Tote to the Ring the types of bets available and how to make them. Racegoers also will be taught about odds and some of the slang surrounding them. The Betting Guide will also share some insights into the form, explaining what to look for in a racecard and how to make a quick assessment of a horse chances. ⢠The Tour Guide - The Tour Guide will provide a behind the scenes tour of the racecourse, giving insights to the pre-parade and parade Ring, the weighing room, the betting ring, the best places to watch a race. âLocal knowledgeâ will be crucial for this role - as the Tour Guide will share some of the courseâ history with racegoers. How Will Racemakers Work On The Day? There will be three, prominently branded, areas where racegoers will be directed â through signage, racecard and CCTV adverts. Three Racemakers will host each area. The branding will display a series of tours or talks at set-times â at fifteen minute intervals, enabling people to turn-up as they wish. This will ensure that the Racemakers can host talks or take small groups off at frequent intervals, providing the widest possible coverage. With the exception of the Paddock Pickers, talks and tours will cease after the first race. (Paddock Pickers will start half an hour before the first race and up to race four) After your volunteer duties, youâre free to enjoy the racing! Recruitment You can apply to be a Racemaker at any racecourse but only one application can be made per person and per role. We strongly recommend you pick a local track or one you know well, to ensure we provide the best possible service to racegoers. When applying you need to specify which Racemaker role you are applying for - Paddock, Betting and Tour Guide and on which date. Your application should, in no more than 200 words, explain why you would make a good Racemaker, your relevant experience and what sort of things youâd offer as part of your talk or tour. We anticipate high levels of applications so please be aware that many applications will be unsuccessful. The Boring But Important Stuff Racemakers will be responsible for your own transport to and from the venue. As a member of the raceday team you will need to attend a pre-racing health and safety briefing and also a briefing with the Racemakersâ manager. All Racemakers will be provided with a refreshment voucher to redeem when volunteer duties are complete. All normal racecourse admission conditions will apply to Racemakers, meaning you will have to abide by enclosure rules where applicable, including dress codes *Tickets to future BCS meetings are subject to availability. More info here Fill in your application here.
It is in essence a commendable initiative that requires practically zero finance. I'll have to rule myself out though on the grounds that I'm not cheery,polite or remotely helpful.
I think Sir Barney Chuckles would make a fine Racemaker "I say old fruit, you'd be well advised to strike a wager on Sir Henry's colt in this one" Or Shergar: KS: "Back that, it's a shoo-in" Novice Racegoer: "A what?"
...Perhaps QM as another Non606 ambassador?...."...don't back that O'Brien colt..the man is a ****!"..only kidding QM! Any other suggestions?
Nass: "The draw bias here is really interesting .......................... no, don't go away" Stick: "Apparrently the yard really fancy it" ROTO: "Sit down, this may take a while ........................" Boston Bob: "And that, my man, you can take to the bank" Utter****: "I've licked that horses rectum. Are you shocked yet?" and the King of the lot: "Yes, it won well enough, but Jim Bolger will tell you New Approach would've wiped the floor with him. That's a fact. EOS."
I'm surprised you lot aren't falling over yourselves to apply on the basis of free tickets for very little work
True PN and a massive ego massage to boot!.....I'm currently in exile in ghastly NI so not viable for me. I'd only end up in custody anyhow....
I'd love to but I already take too much time off in the year to go to proper racing at Cheltenham. None of this flat malarkey. "What do you look for in the parade?" "Well I look for the one with needle marks"
Would apply Was and Olympics Gamesmaker last year Have an interview for the Commonwealth Games volunteering on Saturday Been selected as a volunteer for the Ryder Cup next year
Quite frankly, if the "racemakers" are anything like most of the condescending, patronising, arrogant jumped up little twats laughably labelled as "gamesmakers" at the Olympics I'll never go racing again. they were like redcoats on acid. An absolute disgrace to the event and quite how they managed to get such positive publicity when they turned london into a 21st century touch feely Nuremberg is beyond me. Too many of them were truly dreadful.
If you can commute at your own expense to us, and work for free, will will give you these tickets to Goodwood on a wet Wednesday in November. Think I'll pass being the cynic i am.
Stick would be good "come back when there's a Bumper love - I'll see you all right" Fluber "sorry mate - would ove to tell you where the parade ring is but I have to go for a dump"
Heis "so this is the bar, apparently out there racing occurs" Oddy "I will be in soon, if this aircraft ever takes off"
I bet you had all your badges in the Brownies Janabelle? Just joking btw, slightly jealous at the Ryder Cup one though. Goodluck in the interview
