World Pool grows 35% at Royal Ascot

Sunday 19th June 2022

• £168 million bet into World Pool across the five-day Royal meeting

• New biggest World Pool on a British race of £6.6 million on the Coronation Stakes

• World Pool returns to Ascot for the QIPCO King George Diamond Day on 23rd July

Royal Ascot set a new record with £168 million Gross Turnover for World Pool bets across the five days.

With £8.65 million in prize money on offer, the Royal meeting attracted horses from across the world and delivered spectacular sporting action for the 273,465 racegoers who attended, and the millions of racing fans enjoying around the world.

Gross Turnover for World Pool bets increased 35% on 2021’s figure of £123.9 million (£129 million referenced in 2021 included all pool bets placed on Royal Ascot, including those outside World Pool, such as the Placepot).

The three biggest pools of the week in 2022 were on the Coronation Stakes on Friday (£6.6 million), the Platinum Jubilee Stakes on Saturday (£6.4 million) and the Gold Cup on Thursday (£6.1 million). The Coronation Stakes now overtakes the Cazoo Derby as the biggest British World Pool race to date.

 Exceptional Value for Tote customers at Royal Ascot

As a collaboration of global Totes, World Pool enables racing fans from all over the globe to bet into a single pool. This creates huge liquidity and excellent value for racing fans.

The Tote offered customers exceptional value across the 35 races at Royal Ascot:

• Tote+ Win beat SP in 25 of the 35 races (and matched on the remaining 10 races with Tote Guarantee in place online)

• Tote+ Win overround was 106% vs SP overround of 126%

• Tote+ Exacta beat forecast on 29 out of 35 races

• Tote+ Trifecta beat Tricast on 22 out of 30 races

On the opening day, one Tote customer won £100,000 backing Dubai Future in the Wolferton Stakes who paid 28/1 on the Tote, compared to an Industry SP of 20/1. Another customer landed the Trifecta in the final race on the Wednesday turning a 5p perm bet into £2,951.

£5,000 won by Racing Staff for World Pool “Moment of the Day” at Royal Ascot  

At each World Pool event there is a “Moment of the Day” which will be awarded by an industry representative, with the moment decided by a standout performance. This could include a wide-margin winner; a winner from an unlikely position; an extraordinary turn of foot at any point in the race; an above expectation performance by an outsider; or a human or equine interest story.

Racing staff who look after the winning horse for each World Pool “Moment of the Day” receive £1,000 and a bottle of champagne. At Royal Ascot, the following members of Racing Staff won “World Pool Moment of the Day”:

• Tuesday:  Sinead Earl, groom of Nature Strip, the Australian star who won the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes.

• Wednesday: Reg Todd, groom of Dark Shift, winner of the Royal Hunt Cup, who has worked for Charlie Hill for over 30 years. This was his first time leading up a Royal Ascot winner.

• Thursday: Ollie Turner, groom and work rider of Claymore who won the Hampton Court Stakes. He’s travelling Head Lad for Jane Chapple-Hyam.

• Friday: Naseem Khan, groom of Latin Lover who gave Harry Eustace his first Royal Ascot winner in the Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes.

• Saturday: Liisi Hallik, groom of Holloway Boy who won the Chesham Stakes at a big price for Karl Burke on his racecourse debut.

 At the end of the World Pool season, the 16 winners of “Moment of the Day” at World Pool events will compete for the overall World Pool “Moment of the Year”, which will be presented on British Champions Day. The overall winner will be determined by a combination of scores derived from a public vote and an industry panel. The winning yard who looks after the horse will be awarded the World Pool “Moment of the Year” and receive £34,000.  

Global collaboration continues to grow World Pool

Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, said: “Royal Ascot once again produced exceptional racing which was reflected in numerous World Pool turnover records. It is clear that international racing fans have embraced the quality and depth of fields across the five days. On the occasion of Guy Henderson’s final Royal meeting as Chief Executive of Ascot Racecourse, I would like to pay tribute to his leadership over the past eight years, and in particular his work to help launch and develop World Pool with the Hong Kong Jockey Club and UK Tote back in 2019. Together we have successfully demonstrated the benefits of international cooperation and commingling with increasing buy-in from major stakeholders. This has resulted in improvements to planning and programming right across the 2022 World Pool schedule with a more attractive wagering product resulting in higher returns to the UK racing industry.”

Guy Henderson, Chief Executive at Ascot Racecourse, said: “It has been another hugely successful week for World Pool at Royal Ascot and we are thrilled with the level of turnover both on course as we welcomed back a full scale crowd and remotely. I must say a huge thank you to all our colleagues at the Hong Kong Jockey Club and the UK Tote for their continued hard work in ensuring that everything runs smoothly through the week. In my time at Ascot, the World Pool has been one of the most innovative initiatives we have been involved in and these new partnerships have proved hugely beneficial to racing at Ascot and the wider industry."

Alex Frost, Chief Executive of the UK Tote Group, said: “We’re excited that in its fourth year at Royal Ascot World Pool continues to prove increasingly popular with our customers. The huge pools, combined with our Tote Guarantee and extra 10% available online with Tote+, has ensured the Tote has provided exceptional value across the week in the Win and Exotic markets. After significant work with the Hong Kong Jockey Club, where we took on board extensive customer feedback, racing fans in the UK and Ireland are betting into a Win market with an average overround of 106% compared to 126% with the industry Starting Price, making it clear that anyone looking for value should be betting with the Tote and adding to World Pool’s momentum. I would like to thank Guy Henderson for his exceptional work during his time at Chief Executive and we look forward to continuing to work with the whole Ascot team, including incoming Chief Executive Vivien Currie, as World Pool continues to grow across racecourses in the UK and Ireland.”

Please visit https://worldpool.hkjc.com/ for full details about World Pool and follow @WorldPool on Twitter for all the latest news.

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

Please note World Pool events beyond July 2022 are subject to the approval of the Hong Kong Government but Great Britain and Ireland are set to host on the following days in 2022:

• QIPCO 2000 Guineas Day – Newmarket Rowley Mile Racecourse, Saturday 30th April

• Cazoo Oaks Day – Epsom Downs Racecourse, Friday 3rd June

• Cazoo Derby Day – Epsom Downs Racecourse, Saturday 4th June

• Royal Ascot – Ascot Racecourse, Tuesday 14th to Saturday 18th June

• QIPCO King George Diamond Day – Ascot Racecourse, Saturday 23rd July

• Qatar Goodwood Festival – Goodwood Racecourse, Tuesday 26th to Thursday 28th July

• Ebor Festival – York Racecourse, Wednesday 17th to Friday 19th August

• Longines Irish Champions Day – Leopardstown Racecourse, Saturday 10th September

• QIPCO British Champions Day – Ascot Racecourse, Saturday 15th October

There are seven bet types in World Pool for 2022, including the Exacta and Treble for the first time:

• Win (Single Leg bet) – Pick the winner of the race

• Place (Single Leg bet) – Pick a horse to be placed. Hong Kong place terms apply

• Exacta (Single Leg bet) – Pick the first two horses in the correct order 

• Trifecta (Single Leg bet) – Also known as the Tierce. Select the winner, the second, and the third horse in the correct order

• Quinella (Single Leg bet) – Select the first two finishers in either order

• Swinger (Single Leg bet) – Also known as the Quinella Place, pick two horses to finish first, second or third in any order

• Treble (Multi Leg bet) – Pick the first horse in three races 

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 funding for British horseracing. 

The 90-year-old British company is backed by racehorse owners and breeders from around the world. It 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 170 people who are based in the Tote’s main office in Wigan and a satellite office in London.