Young People In Racing | Te Rapa 4th May

At the bottom of this page you’ll find an e-mail I sent to a small group of racing participants on Monday 27/08/2012 8:19 PM

The 2012 date is not a typo but will probably give you an insight into a problem I could see 6 years ago and how I thought we might be able to solve it. I don’t really know what had me sitting down typing this at 8.20pm on a Monday but it’s probably the same thing that has me sitting here on a Sunday typing this one too. For some reason I care.

When The Informant announced they will have to cease publication this week I was really hurt for them and also surprised at the amount of people who suddenly want to support something they could have been supporting during it’s publication. Hopefully they get the support they need.

I find it interesting when I hear some people throw around chat that young people need to put their hand up and start helping out more. Not just in racing but other areas of the community too. That’s a great idea but will they be listened to or taken seriously? What happens when they do put their hand up? Should they care enough to keep chipping away like the 24 year old firing off e-mails at 8.20pm on a Monday evening?

Back to this 2012 e-mail. My favourite part of this story is to let you know that I didn’t get a response nor have anyone enquire about my genius plan. What an idiot. Me, not them. Thinking that it would be that easy.

When I sat with Te Akau’s David Ellis at Te Rapa on the 18th of August 2018 and he offered Boys Get Paid, two paid up 5% shares in their 2yo fillies, he wasn’t talking to me. He was talking to the 24 year old lad sitting as his laptop typing, trying to make a difference in an industry that’s probably made minimal progress in that same 6 years. David suggested I take 24 hours to think about it and whether we keep 5% for the group and 5% for BGP admin. I only needed 24 seconds to explain the 10% would be raced by anyone in the community that wanted to be involved and that any prize money would be reinvested into the group in the form of content and events.

Like everything racing, it’s a long game and unfortunately neither have hit the track yet. 1,000 people have however loved getting the updates and an insight into what a horse is doing in the background. For most of this 1,000, it is their first exposure to racing a horse.

On the 4th of May 2019, we are heading back to Te Rapa for a party and a celebration. A celebration of an idea that took 6 years to pull off. A party because why farking not. It’s been a huge last 6 months for both Te Akau and BGP. As racing starts to slow down for Winter, we’ll be busy behind the scenes working on our latest ideas, events and the ultimate goal of seeing those BGP silks pick up a Group 1 race.

Let’s make it a good one.

See you there,
Kemeys

SUBJECT: Young People In Racing
To whom it may concern, 

I hope this e-mail finds you well and you have the time to read it. 
Without getting into every detail, I would like to outline a plan to get young people into the New Zealand Racing industry and would value your opinion, thoughts and hopefully; support. 
As a young person (24) relatively new to the industry, I have heard many times that racing is not what it use to be and it is just not getting the support that it used to. Obviously there are a number of factors behind this including political and economic issues. However, I believe that racing is still an attractive sport and has many draw cards. Therefore, we need to be getting people of my generation involved so that we can find the next set of leaders of NZ Racing
In a nutshell, I am proposing a 500 member ‘syndicate’ where by every member contributes $100 at the start and in turn receives access to a website. This website will be content rich with details of the horse that would be purchased for $30,000-$40,000. Without getting carried away, any winnings of the horse would be returned to the industry in form of event days at the races where members would be paid for a day at the races etc.
As you know, there are a number of costs in racing and this is where we would require the support of people like yourselves. We would appreciate ‘sponsorship’ where by a stud could for instance sponsor the horses travel expenses for the year in return for advertising on the website initially and in the media once attention is gained. You will of course too, feel satisfaction that you are contributing to the overall goal that is enriching New Zealand Racing
This idea is about getting people to the track, increasing spending, gaining an interest and planting a seed to get the next generation of racing enthusiasts involved now.
I have tried to keep this e-mail relatively short and to the point. There is a lot more detail to be worked on and if you would like to get in touch with me then please find my cellphone number at the bottom of this e-mail.
There has already been a large amount of support from industry participants, including trainers offering free training etc. This has given me the encouragement to go further and talk to yourselves. I truly would value any feedback in the form of ideas, re-direction, support or even an expressed opinion that this won’t work so that we can hopefully prove you wrong!
Thank you for your valuable time. 
Regards, 
Luke Kemeys

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