IPSWICH Cup Day has become a self-perpetuating success story but you can bet on one thing – it hasn't happened by accident.

Race clubs around the country – apart from the Melbourne Cup carnival – have watched their crowds dwindle over the years.

But Ipswich Turf Club (ITC) has done what amounts to plain commonsense – they found out what people want and then gave it to them.

The success of the Ipswich Cup as an event is a credit to the turf club committee, particularly its far-sighted chairman Wayne Patch.

ITC general manager Brett Kitching said the club understood that it was not just racing that attracted people.

“You need to have that all-encompassing entertainment option,” Kitching said.

“It's obviously working well for us.

“We're doing a couple of things different with the Ipswich Cup this year. We've got a band playing on the infield and they'll be playing basically throughout the afternoon. Last year we had two DJs in there.

“Probably no other racetrack around the place has done that. Other racetracks have a band at the end of the day – like we do – but not like that.

“There's still probably quite a bit of interest in the races from people over there but more and more it's becoming the party where people go, listen to the band, watch the races every three quarters of an hour and in between they are socialising, listening to music and admiring fashion.”

Those elements, he said, recognised that people will come to the races if you recognise the importance of social networking, fashion, music and food and beverages.

“Things have changed dramatically from 30 years ago,” he said.

“That's what we've recognised and more and more racetracks have recognised, that you need to have a lot more attractions.

“That was the core theme of this year's Australian Racing Conference.

“We still have what you call product meetings where you send the signal off to all the pubs and clubs around Australia so people can wager on the meeting.

“But the major theme of the racing conference was that the whole racing industry had to change the way they did things in the past because the racing consumer has changed dramatically from 20, 30 years ago.

“That hasn't been recognised by many people throughout the racing industry.”

Kitching said he and his staff were cleaning up after the floods and he pulled out a photo from Ipswich Cup Day in 2003 that illustrated his point perfectly.

“It's astounding with the cross-section of people in the photo with people in jeans and no head pieces for the ladies and the change from then till now,” he said

“It seems to be growing dramatically each year which is great not just for racing but for the city of Ipswich when you've got that sort of interest in the community in fashion which was previously just a side element of the race meeting.”

Also, from the old days of pies, hot dogs and hot chips, the turf club over the past five or so years has become noted for the quality of food.

“It's not just food,” Kitching said.

“The younger generation is interested in social networking and music so we supply them in conjunction with the race meeting.

“That message is something we got quite a while ago, which is one reason why we've been so successful.

“Apart from the Flemington carnival in the spring, there has been a major decline across the country in attendances.

“Here it hasn't. There are not too many race meetings around the country that are having increased attendances and increased turnover.

“Ipswich is bucking the trend. Because we have understood why there would come and provided what they want.

“You can't do it every meeting and that's where you have these product meetings.

“Racing used to be all about the horses, and wagering. The market has changed. We were told at the conference the market should be aimed at 20 to 40-year-old females.

“They want fashion, music, social networking and fine food and beverages. The colour and excitement and thrill of the punt is still important but there's a lot more to a race meeting than there was 20 or 30 years ago.

“The day Black Caviar raced at Randwick, the crowd was about the same as we get for the Ipswich Cup, which is pretty astounding.

“That's 24,000 out of a city of three million people watching the best horse in the world and the best racing in the country on the day and we have 24,000 out of a city of 170,000 for Ipswich Cup Day.

“We must be doing something right.”