Michael O’Rourke is the perfect encapsulation of racing’s enduring allure. Prior to taking up a job as marketing manager of the Curragh in 1992, he had proven typical of someone from his profession, spending three or four years in one job before moving on to another.

Typically, the new role was in a completely different sector.

So having started in advertising at the beginning of the eighties, he took on the role as brand manager of Bord na Móna. It was O’Rourke who conceived and ran the ‘Marino Waltz’ campaign that led to the theme tune becoming a huge chart hit.

“You’re selling more records than briquettes!” one wag joked, but in fact sales of peat briquettes increased by more than 30%.

He was appointed marketing manager of British Midland Airways when they launched in Dublin in 1989 and was there until taking on the Curragh post three years later, combining that with a back-up role as press officer for the Turf Club. He has been in racing since.

“No two days are the same in racing” is O’Rourke’s explanation for the manner in which the industry has retained his attention and enthusiasm for so long. He joined Horse Racing Ireland in 2002 and has filled a number of positions from marketing and communications, to CEO of HRI Racecourses Ltd and his current role as head of strategy/director of marketing and communications.

It is busy, but activity is the oxygen for a marketing man. Right now, all eyes are on the Longines Irish Champions Weekend which is just a fortnight away. It was launched on Tuesday night at a packed function in Dublin’s Radisson Blu St Helen’s Hotel.

Earlier in the day, O’Rourke fielded a call from CNN expressing an interest in providing some coverage. This is how quickly the event has taken off approaching just its second year.

On Wednesday, Michael took nearly an hour from his hectic schedule to talk to The Irish Field.

Daragh Ó Conchúir (DOC): The launch was an example of tremendous industry support. People wanted Irish Champions Weekend to work and were delighted that it did.

Michael O’Rourke (MOR): You’re spot on. Looking back on this, when we sat down with a blank sheet of paper and said ‘What do we need to do?’ At the very top of the list we put industry support. If we can’t convert the whole flat industry in Ireland to get behind it, who else can we get? That has come on in spades and been absolutely brilliant. The trainers, the owners all the bodies, the AIR, the ITBA, the EBF… they gave us everything we could have asked for. And even all the racecourses, which is a big ask; to promote an event at another racecourse. Once you get that bit of momentum behind you, you’re off. That was definitely strategy number one. You must activate the whole industry.

DOC: There was a recognition that all stakeholders would benefit one imagines?

MOR: There is that bigger dimension to this, that it’s not just Champions Weekend. That became obvious very quickly. This was the key to revitalising interest in flat racing because we’ve been scratching our heads for a while as to how we can energise flat racing in Ireland.

We put a lot of energy into revitalising the Derby weekend but this just brings it to a different level completely.

It also gives us an international positioning. If what we’re hearing is right, this has immediately become established in international racing. People know about this. There’s no-one out there who’s not aware of Irish Champions Weekend, the races and the prize-money that’s available. That’s a big win in one year.

The second target we had and it was a big shift - we’d done it in bits and pieces - but it was the first time we said that we were going to treat Britain and Ireland as one market for flat racing here. It’s as easy to get here from the midlands in England as it is from Donegal.

They have a big appetite for flat racing. They know all our big players. So we very consciously went out to activate in Britain.

We always have our stand in Cheltenham and we started introducing it there.

Last year we went on to Chester and York. This year we did Newmarket and York. This is the nitty-gritty work that you have to do a good bit in advance.

So in the way that Punchestown is on the map for the National Hunt community in Britain, Champions Weekend is now on the map for the flat community.

The racecourses will tell you that interest in bookings for hospitality is flying from Britain, which is great. They have almost sold out.

They could sell it twice over at Leopardstown. That’s a great barometer for what will happen with ticket sales and your walk-up attendance. It creates a buzz. It’s great for the racecourses to have that business done and then concentrate on the tickets.”

DOC: There are other parts to the promotion of course. Media relationships are vital and the partnerships with Independent Newspapers, Communicorp and At The Races have contributed to a massive profile. A relationship with Tourism Ireland in London has led to a ‘Total Irish racing experience’ package that takes in Laytown, Champions Weekend and Listowel. This is building on the success of last year, with remarkable prize-money, a phenomenal standard of racing and tremendous attendances, the latter relative to what we are accustomed to in Ireland. There is massive room for improvement still on that front but in general, you must have learned a lot about better ways of organising and running an event of this scale?

MOR: Absolutely. We could write a book on it now at this stage. I think it’s the first time it’s been done to have two racecourses running one event.

So we created one marketing committee which was myself and Jane (Davis) in Horse Racing Ireland, the people from Leopardstown and the people in the Curragh. We worked together so there was one group of us in the room.

Nobody had anything hidden up their jumper. The rule was, whatever we do applies to both tracks. We had one marketing budget. It was really powerful.

We got that cooperation because it meant we could set up a brand of Irish Champions Weekend which was managed from here, so all the communications are consistent, the literature is consistent, we have the website, the social media accounts, so we’re speaking in one voice on it. Nobody is doing a solo run. Everything is on the table.

What none of us foresaw last year… we were worried whether one day would soak it all up, but what really fascinated us was we got two very different crowds in Leopardstown and the Curragh.

We live by market research and knew all along that Leopardstown is based on suburban Dublin, and the upper end of the suburbs at that. The Curragh’s catchment is more rural, with people from a lot of the surrounding commuter towns like Monasterevin and Naas.

Qipco Champion Stakes day at Leopardstown is very much a Dublin-style day and there’ll be a lot of emphasis on the high quality racing and the fashion element. There was a very different feel to the Palmerstown House Irish St Leger day at the Curragh… very much a family and community feel about it. Moyglare Stud have put a huge effort into the Kid Zone, the garden area and music. It almost feels like a country fair atmosphere.

So now you have two different feels to it all and we learned a lot in terms of how to pitch that, the timings of everything. It’s been interesting.

DOC: The scale of the weekend is massive. There are so many related industry and social events. An example is the Thoroughbred Trail organised by the Curragh. Prize-money is more than €4m, combining the plethora of Group 1 action with four €150,000 handicaps. The two cards were fully sponsored in the first year, while the strategy of establishing a host of commercial partnerships with the likes of Jaguar, Tote, Kildare Village and so on to cover transport, betting and fashion have all contributed significantly. It must be a marketing man’s dream.

MOR: Unusually, we started getting some enquiries. That’s how the big story came about with Longines as a naming rights partner and official partner. They got it straight away that this was a big event. They sponsor all over the world, concentrating on equestrian. Ascot, Kentucky, Japan, Dubai. They’re everywhere, but only associate themselves with Group 1 racing. So putting their name to the weekend is a recognition of how big the weekend is internationally.

DOC: The international element is critical and it was important to have British success last year. There are no Japanese runners this year. Will that happen?

MOR: We’re hopeful for more French and German runners. It’s coming on. The impact has been in Britain in significant numbers. I’m confident as the profile rises that we’ll get an even bigger international flavour.In a sense, the bigger positioning of this is the Triple Crown, linking the championships. You don’t need permission to call it a Triple Crown. It’s what it’s becoming.

No-one owns the rights to a Triple Crown of racing.

Our colleagues in Britain would acknowledge that that’s what’s happening. We’re the first leg. Then you move on to the Prix de l’Arc and then British Champions Day. You could imagine that if that begins to take shape that certainly the longer range horses could campaign themselves in Europe around those meetings.

The Champion Stakes could be the race of the year (with Golden Horn, Free Eagle, Gleneagles, defending champion The Grey Gatsby and Guiliani among the entries.) And if Jim Bolger runs Pleascach? If they all show up it will be amazing stuff. Jim appears to be saying it is very much on the cards for the filly.

They’re talking now about supplementing Arabian Queen, which would be absolutely unbelievable. They’re thinking; going to Ireland in September, if it turns up soft, that it would be worth throwing their hat into the ring.

Putting my marketing hat back on, there’s plenty to talk about there. While there will be a big social and fashion element, that adds the froth to the pint. This is all about the racing really, because there’s such high quality there’s no point pretending it’s anything else. Great racing.

DOC: What are the targets?

MOR: One of our ambitions was to increase the combined attendance by 50% over however many years. That was a target of 25,000 but we got to 24,000 last year. So we should crack the 25 this year, given any sort of weather.

Without sounding over-confident on it, there’s great energy in this. Everyone is giving us a huge push.

It’s that thing, this overflow, that it’s doing a good job for the whole flat racing industry and for Irish racing generally. It’s great to have something that can make an impression, particularly in the British market. It’s as good if not better than anything they’ve got.

I’d be optimistic this year. As we said last year in the parade ring in the Curragh when it was all over, ‘Now for the difficult second album.’ It’s gonna be a challenge. There will be expectation now, but the buzz is there.

We’ve come through years of nothing but bad news. Numbers were going down in all directions. Generally speaking there’s a recovery but this is the one that’s the most prominent part of the recovery.

DOC: Speaking of the broader spectrum, while there is a recovery, there are challenges that must be tackled.

MOR: The fall-off in attendances has slowed down and is recovering now. I would have a personal aim of getting that growth back to 5% per annum to get us back to where we were.

We need to be getting attendances up to one and a half million a year to be getting up to good figures.

The live racing product is vital.

No matter what we have in terms of money coming in, people need to turn up for the live racing. That’s what sponsors want to see. It’s what everyone wants to see. A lively betting ring. Activity.

We all know the bit the recovery hasn’t reached yet is ownership. That’s having a real dragging effect on everything. A big chunk in the drop of attendances would have been the drop of owners because they’re the ultimate fans and they bring gangs with them.

DOC: How are you addressing that?

MOR: HRI has prioritised keeping the prize-money levels up and try to make it more rewarding to run your horses. Parallel to that there’s been an effort to hold down the costs of ownership, administration charges and all that.

A good bit of extra resource has been put into ITM and getting out there. With all these things, if the recovery is coming you have to be ready for it. This is the time to start preparing on the ground.

A lot of the growth back in the day was in syndicates and things like that, the working men syndicates.

They’re gonna take time to get back together again but you’ve gotta be there, having the supports for them when they do. Anyone interested in ownership, if they pick up the phone to ITM, they’ll get every possible help.

DOC: Meanwhile, it’s all systems go for September 12-13.

MOR: The plan when we started was to get the racing industry behind it, to internationalise it, get good attendances, full hospitality sales, a big social media presence. That has become a big one for all of us in here, generating stories. We’re all becoming mini-journalists.

It’s fascinating. I have to say the whole team in here is brilliant but there is one very important person.

We got a very good committee going but within my marketing team I assigned Jane Davis.

Her entire job is racecourse marketing support and she was given this portfolio in particular to run with.

So if there’s one person that would be credited with for doing the day-to-day hard work on it, it’s Jane.

She pulls it all together and keeps everyone in line.