A new arena for the image maker

13 April 2012

Take a good look at Ian Renton. His mission - and he's already chosen to accept it - is to be the human face of capitalism.

After this year's Martell Grand National on 7 April, Renton leaves his posts as clerk of the course at Aintree and celebrated south-western tracks Wincanton and Salisbury to become Arena's full-time director of racing.

Cue crowd booing. Enter Arena, a fox among chickens on the racecourse scene.

In June 1997, they acquired Lingfield Park. Less than four years later, they operate five more tracks - Folkestone, Southwell, Windsor, Wolverhampton and Worcester - and counting, including the strategic acquisition of an all-weather monopoly in the UK.

Their technological arm, Arena Online, are the third entity in the Go Racing consortium - along with Channel 4 and Sky - who are currently engaged in lengthy negotiations over their £400 million offer for racing's media rights with the Racecourse Association.

From nowhere to big cheese in an instant, for that alone Arena would always be regarded with distrust. Racing worried that, as a fully quoted company on London's Stock Exchange, money would go to the shareholders rather than be reinvested in the sport's future. As Arena's share price peaked at 260p last February before succumbing to the dot.com malady, low levels of prize money at some of their courses, combined with widespread criticism of their attitude towards owners, trainers, jockeys and stable staff, appeared to lend strength to suspicion.

Then, within the last 25 days, two PR disasters struck.

Supposed Saturday-afternoon all-weather stalwart Lingfield has twice been abandoned due to the track becoming frozen - and all played out in the harsh TV lights of Channel 4 Racing. It's alleged that regular but costly maintenance work on the surface has been neglected while Arena fried bigger fish. But 2001 already rings the changes. Out go Graham Parr as chief executive and all-weather pioneer Richard Muddle as director of racing. In come, in the respective roles, former finance director Ian Penrose, who came to prominence during the media rights manoeuvring, and Renton.

As the most publicly recognisable figure in the new Arena set-up, much of the weight of transforming their image will rest on 42-year-old Renton's shoulders. What they need is the kind of magic that recently saw Wincanton voted south-west racecourse of the year for the 11th successive time.

"Arena is the black sheep of the racing industry," acknowledged Renton, who was prised from his 13-year south-western stint by "the challenge" his new role presents.

"There's no doubt Arena have an image problem, much of it unjustified. But there are one or two things wrong that go beyond pure perception. These must be worked on and put right. Part of turning that around is to ensure its six racecourses and their facilities win the respect of the sport's professionals."

Renton is steeped in racing. His grandfather, Bobby Renton, was the Yorkshire trainer who saddled Freebooter to win the 1950 Grand National and, just prior to retirement in 1972, housed the great Red Rum in his early days as a hurdler.

Before studying land economy at Cambridge, Renton spent a gap year working on US stud farms.

But after university he turned to his second love, fine wines, having been told to "come back when you're 40" by racing employers. Luckily, he had only four years to wait until Cheltenham appointed him trainee manager.

During Renton's subsequent south-western reign, Wincanton catapulted from quiet local track to jump-racing gem.

Moves such as switching the Badger Brewery Chase to a Saturday slot, tailoring the race conditions to suit professionals' needs and capturing both larger attendances and TV coverage, are typical of his approach. He also introduced detailed graphic going reports to help trainers finalise their plans.

In the fiercer arena of Flat racing, Renton won Salisbury the reputation of the little track with big ideas. Track maintenance, race programme and customer care combine to ensure it's a favourite haunt for the very best trainers seeking a welcoming debut venue for topdrawer two-year-olds.

"It's not rocket science," said Renton. "It's balancing the needs of all of your customer bases. It's about communication and honesty - I like to think I have won the respect of almost all owners, trainers and jockeys.

"But it all begins with the racing surface. Get that right, then the races you can put on, prize money and attendances follow."

Pinpointing Worcester as a potential National Hunt flagship track, once drainage problems are solved, and Windsor as the new Salisbury, Renton plans to continue a winning formula at Arena. He will speculate to accumulate.

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