:lol:

I'd love to see it as a spectacle, but who holds the horse, and what would happen in Darren Beadman or Damien Oliver broke an ankle trying to mount their steeds?

As far as your other comments go, racing is a great spectacle for me, because of my keen interest.

The perception by the general public is that horseracing equals gambling.
That's the fundamental difference between racing and most other sports.

There are gamblers (and Australia has a larger percentage than a lot of other countries) and non gamblers.
For non gamblers, racing offers nothing to speak of at this point. However, I regard our top jockeys as great athletes and just love a ding dong battle between two hoops playing cat and mouse or head to head as they approach the line.

Racing caters for gamblers and on rare occasions, they have family days and associated events for kids, but I'm guessing that the it's only the punters in general who bring their families to these events.

Why aren't there racing shows on commercial television?
Because the audience is simply not there to warrant it.
In a previous life, I worked in the radio industry and looked into ratings for both t.v. and radio.
That's why the big Spring carnivals are televised, but all racing shows and indeed most Saturday race coverage has been shelved.
SKY now handles and is industry focused.

SKY is different to commercial television, in that all viewers who watch SKY, switch it on because they enjoy a punt and sports in general.

However, commercial TV is not focused on racing or the punter.

You put up some interesting ideas, and I agree with your take on classes and racing within your own class etc.