World Pool: The precious beacon of hope for racing around the globe

Monday 7th October 2024

At the end of an extremely busy summer for the Tote I wanted to reflect on discussions which took place at the 40th Asian Racing Conference in Sapporo, Japan in August.

The Asian Racing Conference happens bi-annually and is the most significant event in racing, bringing together the key decision-makers to discuss the big issues facing the sport. It is led by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, but a different nation hosts each conference.

For the 40th edition, the Japan Racing Association were exceptional hosts to the 800 delegates from 40 countries who attended. The event included a fascinating business programme along with cultural festivities, sightseeing opportunities and the chance to attend a race meeting at Sapporo Racecourse.

The Business Programme featured nine sessions over three days with key figures in global racing sharing their insights on big issues, from betting and attracting new fans to the sport, to integrity, equine safety and the breeding of the racehorse.

Clearly the first of those topics is close to our hearts at the Tote and I am delighted that the UK Tote’s Chief Executive, Alex Frost, was one of the five speakers who took part in the “Betting: How Innovation is changing the future”. He was alongside four other key players in this crucial area for the sport: Michael Fitzsimons, Executive Director Wagering Products at the Hong Kong Jockey Club; Martin Purbrick, Chairperson of the Asian Racing Federation Council on Anti-Illegal Betting and Related Financial Crime; Nick Smith, Director of Racing and Public Affairs at Ascot Racecourse; and Lachlan Fitt, Chief Financial Officer and Deputy CEO at Entain Australia and New Zealand.

The overarching theme of the session was how to increase betting on racing in a world where the global illegal market is enormous – US$17 trillion and growing!

The beacon of hope in this challenging environment is World Pool. By bringing together global pools across leading racing nations, it creates the most competitive betting product for consumer on the most compelling sport. After only six years, World Pool is already generating millions in extra revenue for British racing, from only a small number of fixtures, as the chart below highlights:

Crucially, World Pool is still in its early stages, and its creators, the Hong Kong Jockey Club, have huge ambitions for it. Michael Fitzsimons summarised very neatly during his presentation: “To meet the challenge of the illegal market, we can’t and won’t stop until we, too, have a convenient product with all the world’s best races in one place, available to a global audience, through the national pool operators in every country.”

This “product” he talks of is World Pool and it is very exciting for British and Irish racing that with the UK Tote’s long-term agreement in place with the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the sport is well placed to be part of the future of World Pool.

Suzanne Eade, Chief Executive of Horseracing Ireland, captured World Pool perfectly when she said during the opening session which was hosted by Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, CEO of the Hong Kong Jockey Club and Chair of the Asian Racing Conference, “World Pool in Ireland for us has made our good days great, it really has. We treat our World Pool days as very precious.”

We really do have something precious with World Pool and it’s up to all of us to make the most of the benefits it can bring to the sport. We are certainly all-in on this opportunity at the Tote.

All presentations from the Asian Racing Conference are available here: The 40th ARC, Sapporo 2024 | Asian Racing Federation.

The 41st Asian Racing Conference will be hosted by the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia in 2026 which we can all look forward to.

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