Interview with founder Lachlan Fitt, who lifts the lid on a $15m international competition set to be launched in 2026 featuring 12 of the world’s top riders
Horse racing is a sport steeped in centuries of tradition that does not really tend towards innovation, so when someone comes up with fresh ideas they are often greeted with a mixture of scepticism, cynicism and outright suspicion.
Lachlan Fitt might have experienced that feeling in the last few weeks since it was revealed that he and former Godolphin chief executive John Ferguson were behind a proposed new international jockeys’ league that, according to some suggestions, could revolutionise racing.
“Everyone can interpret the word ‘revolutionise’ in different ways,” says Fitt, speaking from his Sydney base. “The way we’d look at it is we’re trying to change the way 95 per cent of people, who don’t understand or engage with racing, see it and can be marketed to in a different way.”
Ferguson is a familiar face in the industry, spending decades as one of Sheikh Mohammed’s closest allies in his former roles at Darley and Godolphin.
Fitt has skin in the game through five years as a gambling analyst, plus time in senior roles with Tabcorp, Australia’s biggest betting brand, and the Australian arm of sector goliath Entain.
In his own words, his true passion is racing and bloodstock, and he is a lifelong fan of a sport he is desperate to see grow.
Hence the concept to shine a light on 12 of the world’s greatest jockeys in a manner similar to that in which popular Netflix show Drive to Survive takes viewers inside the world of Formula 1 and its drivers. Racing has its own US-based Netflix series in Race for the Crown; it is hoped the new league will tap into the same sort of audience.
Set to launch next year, finer details of the project have yet to be finalised, However, according to reports, a prize pool of $15 million is in play – with $5m going to the jockey who comes out on top via a points system after participating in up to ten grand prix-style cards on a franchise basis around the world.
Initially, there are likely to be six cards around the world in locations that “have racing as a proposition” in the build-up to major existing meetings.
Who’s who
Those jockeys have been announced and feature who’s who of the saddle. Among the 12 jockeys involved are Ryan Moore and James McDonald – currently world #1 and #2 respectively according to Thoroughbred Racing Commentary rankings – Frankie Dettori, William Buick, Japanese legend Yutaka Take and US-based pair Irad Ortiz and Flavien Prat.
The squad is completed by Hong Kong record breaker Zac Purton and longtime rival Joao ‘Magic Man’ Moreira, plus Mickael Barzalona, seven-time Japanese champ Christophe Lemaire and Golden Sixty’s rider Vincent Ho.
Rather than wearing owners’ colours, jockeys will be identified by wearing the same set of silks in every race; substitutes will also be needed.
“I know there have been concepts discussed before, whether they are
domestic or international, but the thing for me was that the jockeys genuinely want to see this happen,” Fitt explains. “They bought into the concept in that they believed this was an opportunity to better leverage them and their roles as ambassadors to grow the sport.”
Pithy promotional quotes tend to accompany the spiel in new schemes, but the riders have gone a step further in the proposal with each having equity in it.
“I guess that says they firmly believe in the concept and would like to use this as a platform to help the industry grow,” adds Fitt. “Christophe Lemaire, for instance, has really touched on the fact that, in his view, the industry hasn’t done a good enough job in investing in what is ultimately an audience for the long term. He feels passionately about the need to do that.”
Many might argue that racing’s stars are its equine celebrities. Fitt appreciates that view – but he also reckons more can be done in exposing its human participants to a wider audience.
“Every person in the world can connect with a human,” he goes on. “Most sports are human-based so there’s a human connection and we’re using the jockeys as human elements and icons, which every other sport does.
“I think that’s where the real opportunity can be. We rightly promote the horses, great races and festivals, but we can promote the human side to appeal to the part of the market that have had every opportunity to engage in racing through the way it has been promoted, but haven’t.”
Biggest challenge
Fitt acknowledges slotting in the new fixtures alongside racing’s current calendar is the biggest challenge. “We want to do this in a collaborative way,” he says.
“There’s stakes and Pattern racing around the world and we respect the jockeys have existing commitments to connections, so trying to get 12 jockeys in the same place at the same time can’t be done every time, but running between six and ten events allows us to produce a league table that has some consistency, has short gaps between the events, which builds momentum, and allows us to complement the important meetings around the world, which we’d like to assist in boosting further.”
Ascot and York are said to be high on the list as potential host venues in Britain, with Leopardstown, the Curragh, ParisLongchamp and Chantilly the other obvious European candidates. In Australia, the Melbourne Spring and Sydney Autumn Carnivals have also featured prominently in discussions; further venues in the US, Asia and the Middle East have also been mooted.
“The goal is that people tune in and watch the league event on, say, the Friday or Saturday before Royal Ascot and they’re intrigued,” explains Fitt. “We’re then promoting the fact that Ryan Moore has got these big rides at Royal Ascot, so those customers we’ve brought in through the jockeys are carried over to the core product.”
Given that racing’s core product does not necessarily resemble his initiative, is Fitt concerned his proposal might bemuse new recruits? “Racing is complicated to understand,” he says. “It’s not like knowing if a soccer team is kicking the ball in the right direction, but what we, as an industry, need to do is focus on growing consumers long term and building sustainable funding.
“I guess what we’re trying to say is that, if we can get people engaged in knowing who these jockeys are as people, their stories and families, the rivalries in the league, how they became top-class sportsmen and going behind the scenes, then the fact they’re riding at Ascot next week for five days would be news to a whole chunk of people who never would have known. That’s where we think the flow-on benefit of this to the core product and industry can be.”
With the $15m prize pool in mind, sponsorship and funding avenues are still being explored, according to Fitt, whose initial background was in finance and accountancy.
Female absence
He fronts up when questioned about the obvious absence of female riders among the 12 names chosen. “Having a global group of jockeys who are de facto champions was what we were looking for,” he reasons.
“It’s early days and we’ve got a foundation group, but if we’re to be successful, what we have today might not be what we have in time. It’s a journey we’re still on.
“In the same way, we have an idea of the concept, but, when we launch, things could be different from that vision; it’s still early days.”
The lack of female representation was not the only criticism when the concept was revealed earlier this month. “There are some consistent views that this is not what punters want, admits Fitt.
“Our perspective is that might well be true, but we need to think about growing the pool of punters long term, not what the current pool are looking for.
“We can’t just focus on the customers we have today because they’re already converted and, if we were trying to replace every race in the world with our
new concept, that would be wrong and disruptive to those current customers. We don’t think this can be successful even running, for instance, 25 events a year as that would be disruptive and none of us want to disrupt the sport; we want to grow it.
“We’re trying to do this for 36 to 60 races a year among maybe 150,000-200,000 races globally,” he goes on. “It’s not like we’re changing the core product for our new customers.
“We’re trying to build a platform and it will be like a normal race meeting anyway with the exception of jockeys wearing consistent silks, so the person who has fallen in love with Christope Lemaire knows when he or she looks at whatever silks Christophe designs, that’s him in them.”
Not wanting to over-egg the Formula 1 comparisons, Fitt believes certain aspects of the sport can be “tickable” for racing. Understandably, the Formula 1 fanbase of an estimated 826.5 million, which he describes as an “astronomical growth”, has him envious.
So what would he like to achieve from the jockeys’ league? “It would be an overall growth of the audience that consumes racing on a regular basis,” he replies.
“It’s hard to know exactly, but the best number I can find of people who occasionally watch racing is 580 million. That might be they tune in to watch the Melbourne Cup, Grand National or Kentucky Derby, so once-a-year customers.
“I think the number who engage regularly is much smaller than that, but if that number is right we should be trying to grow that to a billion. It’s got to be how we grow the customers because there’s an ageing demographic and challenges in the industry that may ultimately make it unsustainable unless something is done in the shorter term.”
What the jockeys say
Frankie Dettori: It's a project they have been working on for a few months and I am super excited. It will appeal to a worldwide audience – especially after the Race For The Crown Netflix series – and I can't wait to get started.
Vincent Ho: We have been talking about this for months and I would love to be involved and competing against the best jockeys from around the globe. Hopefully this can attract different sponsors and investors around the world to horse racing, which is very important for the future I think.
Ryan Moore: The line-up of jockeys that has been assembled from across the world is incredibly strong and I'm excited about the prospect of being able to contribute to generating increased interest in the sport of horse racing globally.
Christophe Lemaire: We all want to be part of creating a stronger future for horse racing and we are confident this league is the right platform for us to contribute to that goal. We all look forward to helping to take our great sport of horse racing to another level.
James McDonald: This will be the ultimate challenge for jockeys. The 12 best, riding against each other, different distances and tactics, on different surfaces. I can’t wait to get started.
Zac Purton: I think racing has done a pretty poor job in many respects about promoting the sport and getting a new, younger audience into it. I think it will be exciting to be able to be like Formula One and LIV Golf, and take teams around the globe to new locations and build the brand.
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