How To Run A Race Night....

What We Do:

Provide blank Race Cards
Provide completed Race Cards - once you have returned the copy to us 7 days in advance
Bring projector & films
Bring Tote tickets
Work out odds
General MC

What you do:

Sell entry tickets
Sell horses
Get sponsors
Provide ticket sellers
Provide change

Race Nights have proved amazingly successful in raising funds for charities, no other event is so versatile and so much fun. So what happens at a race night? Basically, all you do is bet on one of eight horses by purchasing numbered lottery tickets. Because you only bet on a number rather than a horse, it is classified as a lottery rather betting. In other words, it is a game of chance rather than a game of skill and as such is not governed by the laws of gambling.

Before you show any races, the evening begins with an introductory film which sets the scene and explains the rules. Even if the members of your audience have never seen a horse race before they can't fail to under stand what's going on - all they need to do is to pick a number between one and eight. Each person buys the corresponding ticket from the tote. The tote is then closed and a sealed race is chosen at random by a guest and shown. When the winner is known, the lucky ones collect their winnings (minus a percentage deducted for your expenses or charity donation). The betting then re-opens for the next race and the fun begins all over again.

In addition to taking money on the tote, there are other ways of increasing the amount you can raise from a race night.

Selling The Horses:

There are 8 horses in every race, in an 8 race evening that gives you 64 horses. You should try to sell these horses to members of your organisation and friends, for about £5.00 each, with the inducement of the prize that the sponsor provides for the owner who buys the winning horse in each race. The names of the owners and their horses are then printed in personalised race cards which are read out on the night before each race.

Sponsorship:

With 8 races you should approach local business people to sponsor each race, either by a cash donation or by donating a prize for the winning owner in each race. They then have their name printed in the personalised race cards and has their business promoted to your audience on the evening

The Auction Race:

On the last race of the evening you should auction off the horses to the highest bidder with 50% of the total going to the winning owner and 50% to your charity. Organisations as diverse as Cricket Clubs, School PTAs, Rotary Clubs, Scout Troops, etc. etc. have raised hundreds of pounds through Race Nights and we can help you to do the same.

You are of course free to organise things your own way, these are just indications of what we've found to be best over the years.

View a copy of our Unnamed Racecard (right click the photo then save as to download a copy as a jpg for printing): Unnamed Racecard

View a copy of our Named Racecard (right click the photo then save as to download a copy as a jpg for printing): Named Racecard