Ascot Racecourse and Tote sign new five year agreement

• Ascot Racecourse and the UK Tote commit to continue to grow pool betting together

• Support and development of World Pool at the heart of the agreement

   

Thursday 18th January 2024

Ascot Racecourse and the Tote have signed a new agreement which will strengthen and grow pool betting in the UK.

The agreement, which commenced on 1st January 2024, ensures all pool bets placed on racing from Ascot Racecourse will continue to support liquidity in the UK pool which has been operated by the UK Tote Group since October 2019. This includes bets placed oncourse under the “Bet with Ascot” brand, remotely via tote.co.uk, and through bookmakers and third-party partners.

Over the last four years Ascot Racecourse and the Tote have built a positive partnership. Pool betting on racing from Ascot Racecourse is growing year-on-year, and both parties are committed to accelerating this under the new agreement. The growth is due to both the quality and popularity of the racing action on the track and the innovations being brought to pool betting in the UK which are appealing to a growing number of racing fans betting on the sport. Since 2020, remote B2C turnover (British and Irish customers betting on tote.co.uk/.ie) on racing from Ascot has more than trebled, while overseas turnover (international customers) is up 22% over the same period with the help of World Pool.

Internationally, Ascot Racecourse has been central to World Pool since its inauguration at Royal Ascot in June 2019. The Royal Meeting proved a successful template for the World Pool model, whereby Tote operators from 28 countries commingle pools, hosted by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, to significantly increase liquidity and enhance the betting experience. With World Pool days on British and Irish racedays having grown to 17 days in 2023, the sport is benefiting from increased financial income through higher media rights payments, while racing fans enjoy deeper, more stable pools and enhanced competitive returns. For example, a £1 bet with the Tote on every winner on British and Irish World Pool days in 2023 paid £263 more than the industry Starting Price, with the Tote Win overround at 109% versus an industry Starting Price overround of 122%.

Ascot Racecourse, along with other British Racecourses and the Tote, will be working closely with the Hong Kong Jockey Club to help ensure the continued growth of World Pool in 2024. This will be achieved via racecourses making the race fields on World Pool days as competitive as possible, and thus attractive to bet on, while the Tote is continuing to improve the value and experience of pool betting for racing fans.

Alastair Warwick, Chief Executive of Ascot Racecourse, said: “We are delighted have a new agreement in place with the Tote which will allow us to build on what has been achieved domestically and internationally over the last four years. As one of the original architects of World Pool, alongside the Hong Kong Jockey Club and the Tote, we are excited to support the further development of World Pool to ensure both racing fans and the sport benefit from it. We were thrilled to see that Royal Ascot produced five of the top six World Pool days by total turnover in 2023 and also that QIPCO King George Day performed so well after some targeted race planning changes. We will ensure that Ascot’s top-class racing continues to be at the forefront of British racing’s efforts to see that the sport is watched and bet on by a growing domestic and global audience.”

Alex Frost, Chief Executive of the UK Tote Group, said: “The Tote is immensely proud to be a partner of Ascot Racecourse which hosts some of the most prestigious racedays in the sporting calendar. This new agreement ensures Ascot Racecourse and the Tote are perfectly positioned to work together to achieve a strong UK Pool, alongside the continued development of World Pool, which are crucial elements to the future financial sustainability of the sport. I would personally like to thank Alastair and his excellent team at Ascot Racecourse for their ongoing support, and everyone at the Tote looks forward to continuing our partnership with Ascot over the next five years.”

ENDS.

For further information, please contact:

Susannah Gill
Communications and Corporate Affairs Director
UK Tote Group
susannah.gill@uktotegroup.com
+44 (0)7751 870 929

Notes to editors

About Ascot Racecourse

Ascot Racecourse was founded in 1711 by Queen Anne, who identified the land as being ideal for horseracing when riding out from Windsor Castle. The first four day meeting at Ascot took place in 1768 and at some point in time, the race programme started being referred to as Royal Ascot.

The two tracks, Flat and Jumps, now provide racing all year round and Ascot hosts 26 days of racing each year, including the five days of Royal Ascot. It is Europe’s premier Flat racing meeting, featuring eight Group 1 races and 19 Group races in total. Typically, 300,000 racegoers attend across the five days while the event is broadcast in more than 200 territories with a reach of 650 million households.

As well as world-class racing, Ascot Racecourse is also used as a film and TV filming location and as a venue for conferences, banquets, exhibitions, product launches and weddings, with 300 non-racing events annually. The land on which Ascot Racecourse sits is leased from the Crown Estate, adjacent to Windsor Great Park, covering 179 acres.

For more information please visit www.ascot.com

About UK TOTE GROUP

The UK Tote Group is the proud owner and steward of the Tote, the UK’s leading pool betting operator. The Tote has been a core part of British horseracing since 1928 when it was established by Parliament under Winston Churchill as Chancellor of the Exchequer, to provide the public with a safe way to bet and vital funding for the sport.

The UK Tote Group is committed to fulfilling the Tote’s founding mission through revitalising the 95-year old British company to ensure it provides better value and an improved experience to customers, as well as increased funding for British horseracing. The UK Tote Group is backed by racehorse owners and breeders from around the world who believe a stronger UK and Irish host pool is an essential component in the successful future of the sport, as is the case in other successful racing jurisdictions.

The Tote is the pool partner to all 85 British and Irish racecourses, and the UK Tote Group is proud to be able to work with them and all of its media rights and bookmaker partners to bring innovations and improvements to all of its customer channels, including those within its digital business, through the Tote website (tote.co.uk/tote.ie) and the Tote App.

The UK Tote Group is a founding member of the World Tote Association and will co-chair the organisation between 2022-24. The UK Tote Group is committed to working with international partners to grow pool betting in a sustainable manner, while showcasing the benefits of the sector to stakeholders, including customers, regulators, national governments, the racing industry and society as a whole.

The Tote employs 200 people who are based in the Tote’s main office in Wigan and its satellite office in London.

For more information please visit www.uktotegroup.com and www.tote.co.uk and follow us @UKToteGroup and @ToteRacing.