LAMBOURN RACING FOR GREAT VALUE RACE NIGHTS IN SOUTHAMPTON, HAMPSHIRE & THE SOUTH

VENUE

The ideal venue for an event is one that holds 50 people or more, although the greater the number attending usually ensures a greater amount of money raised. On the odd occasion, where smaller venues are concerned it may be preferable to use the good old fashioned ‘beam it over their heads’ 16MM ‘Reel to Reel’ projectors rather than the directly in front of screen DVD Projectors - but we will advise on the best format to use.

Separate ‘candlelit’ tables (preferably unscented candles!) for groups of ten, or more, provides the perfect ambience and atmosphere to kick off a successful event.

COST OF ENTRY TICKETS & FOOD

We recommend that you keep the cost of the event tickets reasonably priced and ideally they should include a supper e.g. Fish/Chicken & Chips, Curry, Lasagne & Salad or a traditional Ploughman’s meal.

SPONSORSHIP, ADVANCED SALES & PRIZES

Well before the event we recommend you recruit, ideally, the services of at least eight helpers or volunteers to obtain sponsorship of the races from local companies or firms at a cost of £25, £50 - or more!

The ideal objective is for each helper to obtain the sponsorship of one race only and to pre-sell the ownership of the 8 runners in that race, for say, £5. You might ask a local firm or business to sponsor a race for say £200 - but include a table of 10 ‘free tickets’ for their employees and friends.

Owners can either select their horses from our own pre-printed race card, which is included in the price, or they can name their horse with a title of their own choosing (see Customised Race Cards below). (NOTE, people unable to attend the event can still show their support by buying horses).

Each winning owner receives a bottle of spirit or nice wine - or the equivalent - and these prizes too can be covered by sponsorship.

As a reward and to say ‘thank you’ to your sponsors, you might consider having a 9th race and calling it the “sponsors race”. Here the person (or firm) sponsoring the race corresponding to the number of the horse that wins the 9th race will win, for example, a case of wine or bottles of champagne.

The ‘whole’ team’s job is also to sell as many tickets for the event as they possibly can.

We cannot stress too highly the thoughtful delegation of these advanced sponsorship and pre-selling duties, for our experience has shown that the least impressive results have always come from where these important activities were placed on the shoulders of just too few - or the wrong individuals entirely.

CUSTOMISED RACE CARDS

If you require a customised or a more personalised race card, where all the horses are named using the names of people and businesses attending or supporting your event, we will be pleased to provide this service at a cost of £30. You may even consider raising extra money by selling advertising space in your own race cards.

ORGANISING THE TOTE

At the start of the event a rostered team of volunteers will be required to sell £1 tote tickets to the punters from behind a prominently situated betting table. (Note, due to high production and printing costs an extra £30 charge will apply if your minimum bets are to be less than 50p.)

Absolutely no knowledge of betting is required and all volunteers will be fully briefed before the start. This duty will not preclude them from placing their own bets.

THE BETTING ODDS

There is no ‘upper limit’ to the bets on the Tote. The odds are determined and announced at the end of each race, by simply dividing the ‘net-pot’ by the number of bets placed on the winning horse.

AN APPOINTED TREASURER

You should appoint a Treasurer for the evening to generally take charge of all monies raised. (Ideally, he or she should remain ‘reasonably’ sober throughout the evening!). We will supply all calculation, tickets and tote sheets and work very closely with your Treasurer and Tote team throughout the entire evening.

DEDUCTIONS FOR CHARITY

We recommend the retention figure considered acceptable for the benefit of the charity or good cause to be a maximum of 50% of all bets placed on the tote - and 50% of the income from auctions (see auctions below).

FLOAT

A float of £1 per head - consisting of mainly £1’s (plus a few 50p’s) - and also a goodly supply of £5 notes will be needed.

QUIZ

Included in the package is a ‘rolling’ general knowledge/sporting quiz. Commencing from the 2nd race onwards the first 2 persons with the correct ‘multi-choice’ answer - drawn out of a quiz bucket - will win a free bet just before the ‘Off.’

AUCTIONED RACES

In addition to deducting a percentage from the bets on the tote, major funds can be raised by auctioning the penultimate or final race. These auctions, which are included in the price, encourage the audience to bid as individuals, syndicates or tables to become either an owner or trainer of a horse.

Of the money raised on each auction 50% should go to the charity or worthy cause, with the winner or winning syndicate receiving the other half. Serious consideration should be given to auctions, especially the final race of the evening, as the amounts raised can quite often outweigh the profit made by the tote betting.

THE OWNERS/JOCKEYS CHAMPIONSHIP (A 9th RACE)

Depending on the numbers attending, the 9th race could be called the Owners or Jockeys Championship.

Here the winning Owner or Jockey of the 1st race will ride No.1 in the 9th Race, the winner of the 2nd race will ride No.2 in the 9th race - and the winner of the 3rd Race will ride No.3 in the 9th - and so on.

In the 9th Race the Owners/Jockeys coming 1st, 2nd and 3rd share ‘half of the income raised” (excluding the tote betting) and the Charity receives the other half.

The price of becoming an Owner or Jockey can be discretionary but if you charge £5 a go, then the amount raised for your charity from this 9th race alone will be £160 - plus of course the profit from the tote betting.

If you think this Owners/Jockeys Race might effect the income of a planned raffle, then the cost could be reduced accordingly. A decision on whether to have this Championship can be deferred until the very start of the evening. You will however, need to delegate someone to ‘sell’ the 64 runners - and the first race must be sold before the racing starts. All the required paperwork is included in the package.

PREVIOUS EVENTS

From our experience, an event attended by 50 to 100 people can raise anything between £500 and £1,500 - depending on your ‘Team’s success in their sponsorship and advanced sales (see paragraph later and a selection of our unsolicited testimonials).

It is not uncommon however, for an event attended by 100 to 200 people to raise well in excess of £2,000. Among many of our successful events has been the raising of £8,400 and £6,100 from 190 and 96 attendees respectively.

LEGAL PERMISSION

A special licence is not required for these Horse Racing events, although real money is being bet on the tote as opposed to ‘fun’ money, as these “ticket only” functions are permitted under Section 15 of The Lotteries and Amusement Act 1976 provided no skill is involved in taking part and no prior knowledge of the race is divulged to the audience before the tote is closed and the disk/film is then loaded.

These horse racing events must not be advertised publicly and where licensed premises are involved, the room in which the event is being held, must not be open to members of the public - neither must it have a Gaming Licence, such as a Bingo or Casino room.

Entry must be by a pre-purchased ticket only and the event must be only open to Friends, Families, Supporters or Members of the bona fide cause or charity for which the fund raising occasion is being organised.

OCCASIONAL LIQUOR LICENCES & ‘TEMPORARY EVENT NOTICES’ (TENS)

Should the event/venue require a special licence from local magistrates to sell alcoholic drinks, we advise that you contact us before applying for permission for it is most important that you use the correct phraseology when making your application.

'INTER-COURSE RACING'
AND
'GALLOPING GOURMET'
EVENINGS

The next time you plan a Charity Dinner why not consider Inter-Course Racing? A personalised race card is placed on each chair and each card will contain the names of horses, especially created by us, by using the names of your attending guests and sponsors - and also details of the fund raising objectives.

The first race is run after the main course, the second after the dessert and the third during the cheese and coffee. Before the start of a race each horse is auctioned and of the money raised 50% will go to the winning owner, or syndicate, with the other 50% going to your charity. Settlement of the bids can be by cash, cheques or, if you know the individuals concerned - signed promissory notes.

The average income achieved by our auctioneers is currently between £900 - £1000 per race. One 3 race event grossed over £1,350 per race and made a £2,600 net profit for the Charity. Another particular event, held specifically to raise money for a friend who was fighting cancer and who also happened to be a much loved character, raised £10,600 from just 3 ‘Inter-course’ races.

These ‘Inter-course’ auctioned races do not interfere with the evening’s timetable, the speakers or the serving of dinner. On the other hand a ‘Galloping Gourmet’ (GG) evening is dedicated to Horse Racing and has full tote betting facilities. ‘GG’ races are especially designed to dovetail-in with the serving and eating of food.

Our fully inclusive charge for either of these two events is £275.

(again VAT is not payable)

Our prices are thoughtfully composed to communicate just how much we value ourselves, our customers and our racing presentations. We are probably the most experienced racing presenters in the south of England having developed a unique style when it comes to entertaining our audiences.

We pride ourselves on being a caring company when it comes to helping you and your team plan and prepare for your event. If necessary, we will come and meet with you and your team to advise on what to do and more importantly what not to do when it comes to making a Horse Race evening a perfect vehicle for raising money for a charity or a good cause.

Among the important guarantees that we promise is one where YOU the customer will always have full control over all the monies raised from the event. We do not remove or take charge of the Tote - and then send on a contribution at a later date, neither do we take a percentage of the Tote profits. Secondly, wherever humanly possible, either John or Susan will present your event for you and - should yours be the only booking on your particular night - then you will get both of us! We will not sub-contract your event to another firm unless it is with your express permission!

Finally, as we deliberately intend to remain under the required maximum turn-over for VAT registration, no value added taxes will be charged or deducted.

Our sole objective is to encourage you to apply careful thought and pre-planning, to make shrewd appointments and delegations, so that well before the date of your function you are showing a clear profit - after allowing for all overheads and inherent costs.

Why not click on the TESTIMONIALS button above and see just a few of the messages received from satisfied customers, many of whom have come back to us time and time again over the last 19 years. We are sure most of them will have no problem in us passing their name onto you should you need a verbal reference before placing a booking with us.

Good luck - thank you for your time in reading this comprehensive guide and we sincerely hope we can be of assistance to you in the near future. Remember, we strive to put the ‘Fun’ into Fund Raising!

LAMBOURN RACING PRODUCTIONS

A PARTNERSHIP ESTABLISHED IN 1989 AND STILL FINDING THE GOING GOOD TO EXCELLENT!