Tuesday, 22 May 2012: A revolutionary new website and social media platform developed exclusively for the thoroughbred racing industry has been launched in Sydney.
StableSmart.com was revealed as a world first online social racing community where fans, owners, and managers receive tailored, personalised content about horses they own, manage or follow, direct to their computer or mobile device.
Its creators claim it is a revolution for thoroughbred racing and will see trainers and owners financially rewarded for their content, creating a valuable new revenue stream and removing a barrier to racehorse ownership.
The launch unveiled an exciting partnership with trainer Peter Moody and Black Caviar where fans who join StableSmart.com will receive real-time updates from Moody on the champion mare as she embarks upon her historic campaign to take on the world's best at Royal Ascot.
“StableSmart has long term implications for the racing industry, however right now I am pleased to be utilizing this new social media site as a key communication tool to directly engage fans on her journey,” said Moody.
“We will be sending followers of Black Caviar on StableSmart exclusive video, photos, voice and text updates straight from the stable and the track both here and in the UK.”
Black Caviar's part-owner Neil Werrett attended today's launch.
“If we are going to grow participation levels, we have to do something about the economics of racing.
Stablesmart's platform and its social media features has the potential to do exactly that, hence that is why I am very interested in what is going on today,” said Werrett.
Sydney based trainer Anthony Cummings also attended the launch and reinforced the value of this new platform.
“If there is an opportunity to earn I don't see why trainers wouldn't get behind it. I have followed the development of StableSmart and am impressed with where the site is at now. I will let my owners know it is there."
“The best way to bring people together is to make money together. It's time the owners and trainers got together and this is a platform that could do that,”
StableSmart is founded on delivering fans a wealth of personalised information including exclusive content from trainers, and rewarding trainers and their owners with an equal percentage of advertising revenue generated from the updates.
“Information that is tailored specifically to the users' interests will be delivered direct to racing fans who subscribe for free and create their own thoroughbred portfolio," said StableSmart.com director Steve Brown.
"Updates provided by trainers will generate a healthy new revenue stream for trainers and owners, with our financial modeling suggesting an owner over time could effectively offset a large component of their annual training expenses via the StableSmart revenue share model.
"In terms of the economic impact on the trainer, they may soon value their followers on StableSmart.com as one of the absolute key assets to their business, just as they do their owners at present.
"We believe if the public are armed with more meaningful information they become more engaged with the horses they follow, and hence their propensity to participate in racing, whether it be wagering, attendance or even horse ownership, will increase.
“Social media is increasingly important in the everyday lives of Australians. You only have to look at the staggering number of Facebook subscribers in Australia, which is now around 10 million, to see how people are connecting and empowering themselves with information that is relevant to them.
“Similarly StableSmart.com fans will be able to converse with other fans and followers of their favourite horses, as well as gain insights and updates from trainers that was never available before to them.
“Fan subscription volume will be a critical success factor.
"Our market and industry feedback, as well as the fans signing up during our soft launch phase suggests we are on the right track. We are very keen to work with key industry associations on this and welcome them to combine efforts with us in order to achieve an outcome that can only be a positive one for the industry".
Prominent racehorse owner, breeder and racing administrator Max Whitby, who is a partner in StableSmart.com, believes passionately in the concept and its ability to positively impact racing.
“Having Peter Moody, arguably one of Australia's, and the world's most profiled trainers partnering with us demonstrates the enormous interest among trainers and the potential this has for racing,” said Whitby.
