Tote offers exclusive direct access to massive French pools for Arc meeting

• Agreement between Tote and PMU gives British and Irish racing fans exclusive access to French pools

   

Tuesday 1st October 2024

This weekend the Tote is offering British and Irish pool betting customers exclusive access to the huge pools offered by the PMU.

Since September 2023, the Tote has been the only way British and Irish racing fans can access the significant pools offered by the PMU. This covers racing throughout the year, including all races from the 2024 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe meeting on Saturday (5th October) and Sunday (6th October).

For Arc weekend, the PMU typically offers pools of over €750,000 on each race, or over €17.5 million for the meeting.

The pool mechanism means the Tote never restricts customers for winning, regardless of stake size, and all the races are streamed for free on tote.co.uk.

The Tote will be offering customers great value this weekend. For example in 2023:

Prix Jean Luc Lagardere:

• Winner Rosallion overpaid by 29% (£7.10 vs 9/2) due to the majority of money being on the hotly fancied French- trained Beauvatier.

 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe:

• £420,717.50 Swinger pool (pick two of the first three horses) with Ace Impact (1st) and Westover (2nd) paying £4.30, and Ace Impact (1st) and Onesto (3rd) paying £19.40.

 Prix de la Foret:

• Winner Kelina overpaid by 25% (£28.80 vs SP of 22/1)/

Tote customers wanting to try something new can make use of two of the bets which are popular in France and offer huge pools, and potentially big payouts: Quinella (Select the first two finishers in either order) and Swinger (Pick two horses to finish first, second or third in any order).

Jordan Hopkins, the Tote’s French racing specialist, said: “There is exceptional value to be found in the French pools this weekend, and crucially punters can bet with unrestricted stakes, into a highly liquid market. Particular focus should be placed on races where there is a hotly fancied French-trained runner, as excessive local support makes for a distorted pool that offers overpays on the rest of the market with respect to industry SP. For example, Zarigana will most likely start the odds-on favourite in the Prix Marcel Boussac on Sunday, which should offer value in the pool on the rest of the field.”

The Tote will be offering a placepot on the weekend’s racing from Longchamp, along with the six most popular single leg pools:

• Win – Pick the winner of the race

• Place – Pick a horse to be placed

• Exacta – Pick the first two horses in the correct order (available on fields of 4+ runners)

• Trifecta – Select the winner, the second, and the third horse in the correct order (available on fields of 4+ runners)

• Quinella – Select the first two finishers in either order (available on fields of 8+ runners)

• Swinger – Pick two horses to finish first, second or third in any order (available on fields of 8+ runners)

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 UK TOTE GROUP

The UK Tote Group is the proud owner and steward of the Tote, the UK’s leading pool betting operator since 1928.

UK Tote Group investors are passionate about horseracing. They include owners and the Racehorse Owners Association, breeders and individuals based in the UK and globally.

The Tote is working with everyone in horseracing in the UK, Ireland and globally to revitalise and grow pool betting to ensure it is part of a sustainable and successful future for the sport.

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, along with 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 Tote is a founding member of the World Tote Association and plays an active role in encouraging collaboration between pool betting operators around the globe. Central to this international collaboration is World Pool which is creating huge pools for racing fans from around the globe to bet into and providing substantial new funding for horseracing.

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.

 About PMU

Number One operator of “pari-mutuel” horse race betting in Europe and third largest worldwide, PMU’s main activity is to market bets on horse races in a responsible and trusting environment. With 1,100 employees, the company operates in France (via its 13,800 retail outlets, at French racecourses, on the Internet) and internationally with more than 120 partners across 56 countries. Horse race betting represents more than 90% of PMU's business. Operating since 1930, PMU also diversified into sports betting and poker when the French online gaming market was opened to competition in 2010.

PMU’s result is fully redistributed to the French horse racing associations which organize the races. PMU finances the French horse racing industry, ensuring its sustainability, as well as supporting 60,000 direct and indirect jobs in the horse racing industry.