American based Irish jockey Sean McDermott believes the American racing scene has a huge amount of potential that has gone unnoticed.
The Irishman joined Friday Night Racing to speak about his career and recent fracture of his T-1 vertebrae.
McDermott says American stable owners and trainers are sourcing a lot of horses from this side of the world but says the potential is right on their doorstep.
He cited the lack of race meetings as a major problem for the development of the racing scene Stateside. The Tralee native says a number of meetings have ceased to be, leading to further problems for jockeys looking to make a name for themselves.
"Out there you can't have a lot of rides, there's not a lot of races - if you'd a hundred rides in the season, that would be it. They actually lost a lot of jump racing over the years,' McDermott said.
The jockey, who is based in the United States from March to November every year, believes a change at the top may be beneficial for a new marketing strategy to boost the scene's profile and popularity. A new president is in line to take the reign.
"The governing body that runs it, the president is stepping down and there's a new guy coming in. Hopefully, he can re-market it a little bit. They shouldn't be losing race meetings,' added the Kerry man.
20-year racing veteran McDermott thinks they haven't kept up with more prominent racing countries in how the sport should be developed. He says there has been little evolution and progress.
"It should be a really growing sport but it has got an awful lot of untapped potential but they are kind of stuck behind the time, a little bit."
Friday Night Racing is brought to you in association with Horse Racing Ireland
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