TOTE CHAIRMAN’S THOUGHTS - WORLD POOL OFF AND RACING FOR 2023

Thursday 11th May 2023

The start of the year has been a busy few months for the Tote team and our partners as we lay the foundations for an exciting 2023.

The best news of all is that 2023 will be the biggest-ever World Pool season - with 25 of the world’s best racedays to feature across the year. Since the launch of World Pool by the Hong Kong Jockey Club just four years ago, it has gone from strength to strength and the initiative is already bearing fruit for the racing industry around the world.

2023’s World Pool schedule now includes magnificent meetings like the Lightning Stakes Day in Australia, The Saudi Cup in Riyadh, and Irish Derby Day. These additions spread the geographical reach of World Pool and improve the offering to customers. Major fixtures in the UK and Ireland such as Royal Ascot, Qatar Goodwood Festival, Ebor Festival at York and QIPCO British Champions Day are, once again, all World Pool days this year.

We believe that the sky is the limit in terms of the support that World Pool can provide to racing jurisdictions around the globe. In 2022, we saw gross turnover for the season grow to an enormous £521million, up from £363million. With increasing collaboration, this figure can grow even further in 2023. This additional liquidity will help to put horseracing on a more sustainable financial footing and ensure the sport we all love so much can prosper in the future.

World Pool has got off to a strong start in the UK this month with 2000 Guineas Day turnover up one million pounds to £27.1 million, despite challenging weather conditions leading to some withdrawals and smaller fields for the latter part of the card. It was exciting to see World Pool ambassador Frankie Dettori win his final 2000 Guineas on the very impressive Chaldean.

Personally, I am delighted that the World Pool Moment of the Day and Year initiatives will continue into 2023 and will now be extended to all World Pool meetings with prizes totalling £100,000 and a VIP visit to Hong Kong. It is a brilliant opportunity to highlight the amazing work of racing staff which often goes on under the radar.

Along with these encouraging developments with World Pool, the UK Tote team has now successfully integrated US thoroughbred racing into our betting products for the first time. This is an excellent example of the way the Tote’s customer experience is improving all the time. This recent innovation began with racing at Gulfstream Park at the end of January and includes features such as live streaming. In the coming months, our product team will be hard at work to improve this even further with additional pools and other innovations.

As mentioned in my last blog, we are proud that our CEO Alex Frost is now co-chairing the World Tote Association for the next two years alongside Hans Lord Skarploth of Sweden’s ATG. There are some incredibly promising discussions taking place, and we believe the organisation can be a real force for good all over the world.  

Cleary, there is much to be optimistic about this year. Of course, however, there remains much to be done, not least in working with Government on the now published Gambling White Paper so that we can ensure reforms are viable for customers, operators and for racing. I will return to this important subject later in the year.

For more information about the UK Tote Group please visit www.uktotegroup.com and follow us @UKToteGroup and @ToteRacing.