LONDON: A ground-breaking new media company dedicated to the digital amplification of stories around international thoroughbred horse racing was launched here Tuesday with four racing festivals – Ascot and Goodwood Racecourses in the UK, Breeders’ Cup in the USA, and Australia’s Victoria Racing Club – as its founding partners.
Launching across the major social networks, World Horse Racing’s approach to the sport aims to earn the respect of hardcore fans and attract sports enthusiasts who have yet to explore horse racing.
World Horse Racing will focus on racing’s athletes and personalities – human and equine – along with the festivals that stage the races.
The authority and access afforded by its global network of founding partners will allow World Horse Racing to bring fans closer to the sport’s stars, and offer new, striking treatments of international thoroughbred horse racing, an official release states.
World Horse Racing will also connect the sport’s stars with its fans by providing a platform for the very best in user generated content. Coverage will be free to access on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, along with an existing network of over a million who follow founding partner pages.
“We already know horse racing is one of the most popular sports in the world,” said Ascot’s chief commercial officer, Juliet Slot, “but we felt there was real potential to tell our brilliant stories to a much wider audience. World Horse Racing gives us the perfect platform to reach a new generation of fans and give a more compelling and engaging story arc compared to standard news coverage. All four of us have so many fascinating tales to tell and it’s these ‘Wow, I never knew that’ pieces of content that we’re looking to celebrate.”
Breeders’ Cup CMO Bryan Pettigrew said of the launch: “Breeders’ Cup continues to forge relationships and collaborate with international racing leaders to move the Thoroughbred industry forward. WHR is a prime example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. We anticipate a great partnership with Ascot, Flemington and Goodwood in promoting our sport on a global platform.”
“Horse Racing has always had the most incredible stories that sit behind the sport,” said Goodwood’s MD, Adam Waterworth, “and World Horse Racing will tell those stories to a new and wider audience. In recent years the sport has become increasingly global, and so it seems the perfect time for a collection of the world’s most important festivals to launch a new platform that will enrich the existing fans experience through some real behind the scenes and previously unseen content, as well as introduce racing to a new audience by focusing on the horses, the people, and the sport.”
Neil Wilson, CEO of The Victoria Racing Club, said: “We’re excited to join with Goodwood, Ascot and Breeders’ Cup to showcase the best of horseracing around the world. This is an opportunity to broaden our reach and engage with racing fans globally by highlighting our spectacular race days including the four days of the world-renowned Melbourne Cup Carnival, our events, our equine and human athletes and the people behind it all, to new and existing audiences. World Horse Racing is a must-follow destination for fans seeking original and exclusive stories on and off the track.”
World Horse Racing’s social media will be produced and managed by Engage Digital Partners, which has a team of 80 staff in UK and India with on-ground presence in the Middle East, USA, Argentina and Australia.
