Press Release

Tote Superpools launched for every race at Royal Ascot

• Huge pools on all 36 races at Royal Ascot  

• Tote Guarantee in place on all Win bets

• Tote Placepot for Royal Ascot paying to three places for races with 7 runners or more

• Tote Ten to Follow closes on Tuesday, ahead of start of Royal Ascot

Friday 12th June 2020

For every race at Royal Ascot next week Tote customers will be betting into Tote Superpools.  

Tote Superpools are the new concept from the Tote to reflect the super-sized pools that are generated from international commingling between pool betting operators for major race meetings.

Following the successful launch of World Pool last year, the Tote will once again be offering pools which are combined with those from Hong Kong and other leading racing nations. This will ensure there is far greater liquidity as racing fans from around the world bet into a single pool on British racing’s most prestigious race meeting.

The Tote plans to expand Tote Superpools to other leading British race meetings in the future.

Big Pools

Last year’s World Pool saw pools grow by over 400% from £17.9 million in 2018 to £92.2 million, with the Diamond Jubilee producing the first Win pool in excess of a million pounds on the final day of the Royal meeting. In addition, racing fans betting into the Tote’s pools received bigger winning odds in 16 races, with Tote returns betting SP by 32% over the course of the week.

Greater Value with Tote Guarantee

This year, as well as increased liquidity via Tote Superpools, Tote customers can be assured of always receiving the best odds available with Tote Guarantee in place for every Royal Ascot race. Tote Guarantee ensures the Tote will always match the industry Starting Price (SP) or exceed it if the pool price is bigger on all Win bets and is available to all customers betting on tote.co.uk.

Since British racing’s return last week there have been some examples of exceptional value offered by the Tote, including paying out bigger on the winners of the first two Classics of the season.  Tote customers were paid out £12.20 on Kameko in the 2000 Guineas, while Tote backers of Love in the 100 Guineas received £5.30, compared to industry SPs of 10/1 and 4/1 respectively.

Tote Placepot for Royal Ascot

There will be a Tote Placepot running on each day of the Royal meeting. It will run over the first 6 races on the card and pay to three places in every race with 7 runners or more in order to align with international operators betting into World Pool. The place terms apply to Place, Quadpot and Scoop 6 for Royal Ascot only.

Tote Ten to Follow

Racing fans have until 11am on Tuesday morning, ahead of the first day of Royal Ascot, to complete their stables for Tote Ten to Follow for the flat season and be in with a chance of winning over £100,000 in prizes.

There are three Leagues with big prizes and a 0% takeout by the Tote:

• A main League with just a £5 entry where the size of the top prize is dependent on the number of entries. 70% of the season win pool will go to the winner with 30% distributed between 2nd to 100th place

• A Free-to-Play League with a £5,000 top prize

• A Charity League with a £5,000 top prize

• There will be monthly prizes from June to September inclusive, with £10,000 and £1,000 for the top player each month in the main League and Free-to-Play League respectively

There have been a number of innovations to the game, making it easier for players to enjoy:

• Amending stables: For the first time, players can edit their stable at any point up until 11am on Tuesday 16th June. In the event of a dead heat, the player who entered their stable earliest will assume the higher position. The season is set to run until Champions Day at Ascot on Saturday 17th October, with a transfer window in August, but may be subject to change given potential amendments to the fixture list

• Creating silks for stables: Players can really feel like an owner by creating their own silks for their stables

• Private Leagues: Mini leagues are available allowing players to take on their friends, family, and colleagues

• Creating multiple stables: There are now two ways to play the game. If players are looking to create stables one by one, they can use Simple Mode. For those wishing to create permutations, Pro Mode allows players to create and enter their own box perms easily. Box perms allow players to be more efficient with permutations to ensure that all stables have the correct balance of horses. For example, if a player thinks they need three top quality sprinters in their stable, but like five, they can create a box that allocates three positions out of ten to sprinters and add their five picks. This would then ensure that each possible combination of any three of those sprinters is added to a stable. You can do the same for horses you think will target certain bonus races or segment your stable anyway you like

Full details about Tote Ten to Follow, including the scoring system, list of eligible horses and bonus races for the 2020 flat season can be found at www.tote.co.uk/ten-to-follow.

Alex Frost, Chief Executive of the UK Tote Group, said: “Royal Ascot once again looks set to be a spectacular week of racing. It won’t be quite in the style so many racing fans have come to enjoy as an integral feature of the British summer, but the quality of the racing action looks set to enthral and entertain us all, as it does every year.

“We are very excited to once again be working with our partners at the Hong Kong Jockey Club and Ascot Racecourse to create a Tote Superpool for customers of the Tote to bet into throughout Royal Ascot. I would like to thank everyone involved for their continued efforts to deepen the integration between us to the mutual benefit of both racing nations. Last year proved that pool betting operators can successfully work together to increase the appeal of betting on British racing. This year promises to once again bring huge liquidity into the pools, which combined with Tote Guarantee ensures the Tote really is the best place to bet for Royal Ascot. We look forward to introducing more Tote Superpools for other leading British race meetings in future.”

Alistair Warwick, Chief Operating Officer at Ascot Racecourse, said: “The inaugural World Pool at Royal Ascot last year was ground-breaking and created a bit of history when the Diamond Jubilee Stakes became the first £1 million pool. We are grateful to our partners at the Hong Kong Jockey Club and the Tote for their continued commitment to the concept.”

Richard Cheung, Executive Director, Customer and International Business Development at
the Hong Kong Jockey Club, said: “Royal Ascot is the most prestigious race meeting in the British racing calendar and much enjoyed by racing fans in Hong Kong. We are very proud of our partnership with the UK Tote and Ascot Racecourse again this year. We look forward to continuing to work together with our partners to expand pool betting opportunities on other global racing events.”

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

ENDS.

For further information, please contact:

Susannah Gill
Communications and Corporate Affairs Director
UK Tote Group
susannah.gill@uktotegroup.com
07751 870 929

Notes to Editors

About UK TOTE GROUP

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.

UK Tote Group is committed to fulfilling Churchill’s founding mission through a revitalised Tote which provides better value and an improved experience to customers, as well as increased funding to British horseracing. 

The 90-year-old British company is backed by racehorse owners and breeders from around the world and has an exclusive partnership with British racecourses to provide pool betting services to the six million people who attend race meetings in Great Britain every year, alongside an alliance with Tote Ireland.

The Tote employs 90 people who are based in the Tote’s main office in Wigan and a satellite office in London.