Having ground out a more-than-satisfactory result in 2008-09 against the dire background of the global economic crisis, the Jockey Club is already looking at some pivotal big-picture strategies for the new term, reports the Racing Post in Hong Kong.It says: The coming season will represent the Jockey Club's 125th anniversary and chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges intends to use the energy and goodwill created by the occasion as a springboard to bigger things in the immediate future. En

Having ground out a more-than-satisfactory result in 2008-09 against the dire background of the global economic crisis, the Jockey Club is already looking at some pivotal big-picture strategies for the new term, reports the Racing Post in Hong Kong.

It says: The coming season will represent the Jockey Club's 125th anniversary and chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges intends to use the energy and goodwill created by the occasion as a springboard to bigger things in the immediate future. Engelbrecht-Bresges isn't one to let the grass grow under his feet. In fact, in an increasingly green world there could even be protests that he never gives the blades an even break at all.

Less than 24 hours after the Sha Tin finale on Wednesday, the captain and crew were locked in planning and strategy meetings at the Sports Road headquarters. "We are looking to the future and I'm particularly interested to discover ways to make the racing product more attractive," he said. "We have come off a successful season and we must now identify the major issues that will help us grow our business and build towards the future. One of the lessons of the past few years is that there are clearly differentiated customer segments and that we must be careful not to mix them. We want to develop a programme to attract and retain new customers, including those that are more leisure and fun oriented, with a lighter understanding of the racing product."