THE RACING TRIBE

About fifteen years ago, Oxford University anthropologist Kate Fox set out on a study of British racing, funded by the British Horseracing Board and by companies working in corporate hospitality. Would this anthropologist discover a Horseracing Tribe that is decadent, riddled with compulsive gambling, alcoholism and obesity, that vandalises its own racecourses, the public transport in which it travels and the pubs where it assembles, not to mention indulging in orgies of cruelty to horses, fixing its races, beating its wives, abandoning its children, having rampant credit-card debt, being engaged in petty theft - and all the other signs of a demoralised tribe?

Before beginning her study, Kate Fox set out to read all the available sociological and anthropological literature on the behaviour of  racegoers. She was amazed to find that almost nothing had been written on the subject. In Britain, there have for decades been sociological and anthropological research institutes that make a good living out of endless studies of football violence, political violence, police violence, family violence and pub violence. However, no-one had ever received a grant to study horseracing crowd behaviour – simply because there seemed to be no problem of crowd behaviour at horseracing. No problem – no funding – no study – no report.

From her first visit to a racecourse, Kate Fox got the impression that something interesting might be happening, unreported. Large crowds were gathering, getting excited, eating and drinking too much, indulging in the sin of gambling, but without unpleasant incidents! She was even able to report on the racing tribe’s reaction to a series of events that might have been expected to lead to expressions of extreme crowd anger. Soon after she began her study, she happened to be at Aintree when the Grand National was called off due to a bomb scare. A huge crowd was enormously disappointed, and the racecourse authorities and the police were totally unprepared. On a cold, wet afternoon, racegoers were given no information and no clear instructions, and there was no stategy for their safety. They were kept at the racecourse for hours, not able to get to their cars until the next day, and after long delays they were herded into crowded trains and inadequate emergency accommodation. However, the racing tribe treated this not as an outrage and as an excuse for riotous behaviour, but as some kind of adventure, as an opportunity to show fortitude and good humour, not anger and destruction.

In her study, Kate Fox analyses the racing tribe using the tools of anthropology. The Tribe has its Rituals – go to the parade ring, move on to the bookmakers, bet, eat and drink, watch the race, analyse the result very briefly, and then repeat the cycle. Most members of the Tribe complete the whole ritual at least once in a race day, and parts of it before each race. The Tribe has its brave and skillful Warriors (jockeys), its Shamans or miracle workers (trainers), its Medicine Men (vets), its Chiefs (the Jockey Club) and its Elders (stewards, starters, judges, etc.), and even its Scribes (the racing press). The status of owners, however, is unclear – their main role seems to be to pay for the entertainment of the rest of the tribe. From time to time the tribe makes an effort to keep owners happy and show them some deference, but any anthropologist can clearly see, by studying the body language of the participants, that it is the jockeys, trainers and horses that are the focus of attention. The owners are of little interest, even to each other, unless they are celebrities.

The bookmakers form a sub-group or caste on the edges of the tribe, shunned and hated by everyone, though of course they are recognised as a necessary evil. After each race, tribe members celebrate their own victory over the bookmaker, or anyone else’s victory, even the successful bets of complete strangers!   

Although most members of the British branch of the racing tribe claim to prefer either flat racing or jumping, Kate Fox found that, in terms of its social behaviour, there is a single racing tribe, with two clans. The racing tribe has its own power system and its own value system, and does not have the same attitude to money or social class as the rest of British society. Even the Queen of England shows through her body language at the racecourse that she is in considerable awe of her trainer and jockey. Although great wealth and conspicuous spending are generally admired by the Tribe, its most respected members, rich and poor, must be modest, polite, helpful and friendly not only to each other, but also to non-members of the Tribe, such as the catering staff.

The Tribe members can be assigned to a number of categories, though individual members do not necessarily fit exactly into any one category. British racegoers are broadly categoried as ENTHUSIASTS and SOCIALS. The proportion of Enthusiasts and Socials varies according to the size of  the event. At the big summertime celebrations of the flat clan - the Derby, the royal meeting at Ascot, the Ebor meeting at York, and Goodwood week - there is a  bigger proportion of Socials. Generally speaking, about 70% of the tribe can be classified as Enthusiasts and 30% as Socials.       

Enthusiasts are serious racegoers, in the sense that they follow racing and the racing press, and know what is going on. The majority do not take racing terribly seriously, however, and understand that the result of the 2.30 at Plumpton does not really matter, not even to the Tribe. Socials, on the ther hand, are mainly interested in socialising and having a good time. They know little about racing, and most of them are infrequent or first-time racegoers.

The main group of Enthusiasts comprises FANS, who know and enjoy racing, but are not obsessed by it. Then there are the ADDICTS, who are passionate, dedicated devotees of the sport. HORSEYS love being around horses. They are knowledgeable about horses, and probably ride or have ridden themselves, but they are not necessarily fascinated by racing. Finally, there are the ANORAKS, who have an obsessive, encyclopedic knowledge of horseracing details, which they want to share with anyone who will listen to them.

Socials, too, can be divided into categories. Firstly, there are the SUITS. These are the corporate racegoers, invited to special suites for an afternoon of serious eating, drinking and business networking (though it is a serious mistake for the host to “talk shop”). Then there are PAIR BONDERS – some young men know that it is a good dating strategy to take a young lady to the racecourse. FAMILY DAY-OUTERS are family groups – parents and grandparents can give a lot of attention to the children and to each other without missing the races. Races lasting only a minute or two at intervals of half an hour do not tax the attention span of even a five-year-old. DAY-OUTERS are same-sex (or mixed-sex) groups out for fun together. In Britain quite large all-male groups go racing. In the past, these proups would generally remain within the very tolerant standards of behaviour accepted by the racing tribe, but in recent years the aggressive, humourless drunkenness of groups of day-outers is seen as a problem by tribe elders and others. All-female groups are usually smaller, often with just two or three members. Finally, there are the BE SEENS, mainly female and most noticeable at the major celebrations. A typical Be Seen is a female in very high heels, a flamboyant hat and a very short mini-dress. Ideally blonde and with large breasts. By mid afternoon she will probably be freezing cold, and will be staggering around due to the combined effects of champagne and high heels.

Be Seens are much appreciated by tribe. Male members of the tribe of all ages are expected to make a display of ardour. They show their appreciation by staring and making witty remarks, even whistling. A respected member of the tribe would never say or do anything unchivalrous, but a combination of alcohol and ardour quite often drives males to go beyond the tribal code. Female members, including Be Seens, are safe in the knowledge that they will not be excessively harassed, however much they provoke the ardour of the males. The lady should accept the banter and a certain amount of misbehaviour in good spirit. Then she should make it clear that the male has gone too far, and he must accept this rejection. Other male members of the tribe will intervene, if necessary. This is a considerably more liberal and more tolerant code than is nowadays normal in mainstream British society, where males must be very careful to avoid political incorrectness and accusations of sexual harrassment.

In the racing tribe, great value is placed on being able to have fun without going too far. The most admired members eat heartily without counting the calories and without becoming obese. They drink a great deal, and the alcohol makes them pleasantly sociable, never obnoxious, never drunk. They enjoy a bet. Ladies make GBP 2 bets, on the tote; gentlemen bet GBP 5 or GBP 10, with a bookmaker. Members of the clan bet for fun, and do not go in for large bets. Big gambling is excessively risky and earnest behaviour, and the racing tribe goes in for only moderate and controlled risk-taking. Big gamblers often bet online or in betting shops rather than at the course. They are figures of some fascination for the tribe, but they are outsiders, not insiders. The most admired racing tribe members are modest and witty when their bets win, but they are also good losers, and happily join in the congratulations when others defeat their joint enemy, the bookmaker.

With its emphasis on good, if rather risky, social behaviour, the racing tribe behaves like a remarkably healthy and well-functioning primitive village community. A lot of eye-contact is made, and even strangers are greeted, helped and made welcome. Much of the tribe’s behaviour is deplored by the more puritanical elements in mainstream British society. However, all this risky behaviour takes place under well-controlled conditions, and this leads to a lot of fun and remarkably little unpleasantness.

Like any other village community, the racing tribe has a lot of gossip, about people and about horses. There are groups mainly of older males who sit around complaining. It is noted that even these discontented males almost never direct their complaints at horses, and rarely complain about trainers. They may blame jockeys for losing races they should have won, but even Complainers know that most of the clan admires and forgives these young heroes. The complaints are above all about the bookmakers, the caterers, and the Chief and the Elders: the Jockey Club and the racing organisers and officials, and about how much worse things are now than they were in the past. The Complainers are rarely reformers – if reforms were made, the Complainers would only have to find something else to complain about. Almost all members of the tribe go racing to enjoy themselves, and not to complain.

It is often claimed that that the British are conservative, and that the racing tribe is a particularly conservative element in British society. However, conservatism has lost a lot of ground in the Tribe and throughout British society in the last generation. A better word to describe the Tribe’s attitudes is “libertarian”. The Tribe feels strongly that its members, and everyone else, should be left to do what they want, and to regulate themselves. The Tribe does not want to be told how to behave, what to wear, what it cannot do and where it must not go. Like many other primitive communities, the Tribe in fact regulates its own social behaviour very effectively. The enemies of the racing tribe are those that try to regiment it, and those that try to use it as a business opportunity – above all the bookmakers, the caterers and insensitive organisers of racing. On the other hand, its heroes are the horses, jockeys and trainers, none of whom are interested in controlling or manipulating the tribe.            

The small and impoverished Czech clan of the racing tribe is clearly closely related to the British tribe. This is remarkable, considering that the two branches have always been geographically separated, were isolated from each other for most of the twentieth century, and even nowadays are not in close contact. The Czech racing tribe, too, has strong libertarian values, and is far from the dysfunctional horse-torturing, hard-gambling, race-fixing desperados sometimes depicted in the boulevard press.

The international horseracing tribe must protect itself from those who attempt to regulate members’ behaviour and who try to exploit the tribe’s celebrations for their own moneymaking purposes. The tribe’s horseracing rituals are exciting and beautiful. They are not merely harmless, they are therapeutic. Those of us who work in mainstream society all week know that it is good to go back to our Tribe, for an afternoon at least, as often as we can.

Fox, K., The Racing Tribe – Watching the Horse Watchers, Metro Publishing, London, 2005