The Experience

Ever wondered what the harness racing fan experience could look like if you started from scratch? Taking a page from Roman chariot racing, we re-imagine harness racing to be the ultimate sports and entertainment package.

By Darryl Kaplan

As the horses speed down the long stretch, the deep crowd rises from their chairs, cheering and screaming for what will ultimately be a blanket finish. Men, women and children, of all ages, wave flags, make noise and celebrate the final yards of a thrilling race.

This is harness racing of the 21st Century, and each person who attends will be transported to the Roman Empire - 2,000 years ago.

“We are no longer just a sport or a game,” says Inno Vation, the General Manager of the new Circus Maximus Racetrack. “This is the ultimate experience for all ages - a 2 ½ hour package that will forever change the world of sports and entertainment.”

Like the X-Games, Beach Volleyball, and Ultimate Fighting Championship before it, Circus Maximus is harness racing like never experienced. Coliseum style seating surrounds the racetrack on the outside of each rail. The five-eighths mile track is designed with the customer in mind, with two long straight-aways side by side separated by a centre median. In order to allow for safe turns, the ends of the track have been designed in a circular fashion. The track resembles a dog bone with seating more reminiscent of a basketball game than a horse race. Gone is the wasteful infield, a relic of a an uncreative past.

The opening ceremony is about to begin. All 126 horses (nine fields of fourteen) make their way through the inflatable tunnel to choreographed music, as a laser show lights up the night sky. Volunteers pump up the crowd, who have been divided into colour coded sections.

The first team enters the venue. These are the horses who have drawn saddle pad #1 in each of the night’s nine races (saddle pad numbers no longer relate to post positions to allow for fairness of each team). Alongside, an associated team driver, jockey, gladiator, musician, cheerleader and team captain sprints onto the track. With flags waving, they will compete, as a team, throughout the night. Wagering will be allowed not only on the individual races, but on which of the 14 teams will ultimately win tonight’s championship. For those sitting in the sections of the winning team, prizes will be awarded, ensuring that fans stay from start to finish.

“The days of making small tweaks to our product is over,” says Vation. “We have torn down this sport to its core. When we carefully built it back up, we left no stone unturned. Our prospective customers didn’t like the downtime, the long program or the poor sightlines of harness racing. They want a night at the races to be fun and full of energy. We looked at sports and entertainment successes outside of racing and learned from them.

“The funniest thing about our model is that many of the things our clients of today want, actually existed 2,000 years ago at the original Circus Maximus. Their events and festivals were packed with entertainment, music and amazement. True, we don’t bring lions and bears into the ring, but we can duplicate almost everything else that they did, including the world class chariot racing, and do it in a way that embraces technology and caters to an audience in 2014.

“I’ll put our product head-to-head against anything playing at any theatre or sporting venue in this country – and we will win – hands down,” says a confident Vation. “In fact, I challenge our customers to go to Cirque de Soleil, a car race or fighting event. Spend your $100 there, then come here for a fraction of the price. If you don’t have more fun, I’ll pay for your tickets out of my own pocket and we’ll cover your next visit. This is a new day of customer satisfaction.”

As Vation boasts about his racetrack, the horses behind him return to their paddocks – 14 attached, but fully glassed-in areas, totally accessible to the public and divided up by team. Before the first race, the gladiators will stay on the track. As the gladiator battles that take place before the first race and fifth race are choreographed, they are competing for points, but no wagering is allowed. The same goes for the musical and dance competitions, and the jousting event. Team captains and cheerleaders, most of them youthful volunteers, join their sections to encourage fans to cheer. Tellers move through the seats taking bets on the next horse race.

“What we have learned is that 1,500 people paying $39 each to attend our sport is about the same revenue as we can get by increasing our off-track handle by $2 million per night,” says Vation. “That’s before we factor in sponsorship dollars, private boxes, food and beverage and merchandising sales. Since we launched, handle has also risen dramatically.”

The Circus Maximus brand is medieval culture clashing with hard rock fun. Every employee is costumed, every aspect of the facility is themed, and every customer is welcomed back to a day when chariot racing meant something.

“Some people come here and tell me that we copied something from another entertainment venue, or stole an idea,” says Vation. “To me, that’s a compliment. If the X-Games or Medieval Times does something well, we’ll draw from their idea and try to do it better. We’re taking motivation from anything that excites our customers. I once saw an anthem singer ziplining into a baseball game, and the fans loved it, so we do it every night. The kids get a kick out of it.”

While race office draws are somewhat traditional, drivers and jockeys are assigned to entire teams. Tonight, six races will be contested with drivers in sulkies, and three will be under saddle. That gives the team driver and rider each an opportunity to circulate through their cheering section during down times. They sign autographs and interact with the fans of their team.

“Imagine going to a hockey game and having the captain come sit with you for part of a period,” says Vation. “That’s what we’re doing. Racing’s participants have bought in completely to this concept, and we are partners. At first, trainers and owners objected to having their drivers and jockeys chosen by draw, but once they saw the cheering sections and the excitement, they quickly bought in. We have made arrangements for them as well. To keep the straightaway clear between races for gladiators, cheerleaders, and other competitions, horses are warmed up on a hybrid training track, which partially utilizes one turn. Also, horsemen have to arrive a bit earlier than usual (for the opening ceremony) on some nights, but the disruption has not hurt morale. Our owners each receive two complimentary reserved seats in their cheering sections, and almost without exception, they buy more for friends and family.”

As Vation continues, the Mini Maximus warriors are announced onto the racetrack behind him. Dozens of local Mini Maximus Kids Club members, have been chosen randomly to compete on this night. Their parents and relatives have purchased tickets to watch their kids in mini gladiator duels, chariot races and mini jousting. Each night, Mini champions are announced along with the professionals. They all rise in the Winner’s Circle podium ceremony at the end of the evening.

The Circus Maximus brand has received acknowledgement far beyond harness racing circles. Not a single local sports media outlet missed the opening, and the facility has been profiled around the world. Similar racetracks are now planned in three other cities globally and the phenomena is growing.

“The opportunity to revolutionize this sport was extremely clear to us,” says Vation. “Quite frankly we were tired of hearing about tweaks and small changes to the existing model. We quickly recognized that if this sport is going to energize a new generation of customers, we needed to build it from the ground up. We’ve done that and we’re not looking back.

As Vation turns back to look at the breathtaking atmosphere behind him, the King and Queen on stage inform the fans that a Roman Empire Dance Competition is about to begin, and those in the audience are the contestants. As a Roman version of YMCA rocks through the speakers, and the words appears on the massive screens in the Coliseum, one thing is very clear. This is not your father’s harness racing.